Hanamachi

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Refimprove Template:Italic title A Template:Nihongo3 is a district where geisha live and work in Japan. Each Template:Transliteration typically has its own name, crest, and distinct geisha population, with geisha not typically working outside of their own district. Template:Transliteration usually contain Template:Transliteration (geisha houses) and Template:Transliteration (teahouses where geisha entertain).

Historically, Template:Transliteration could contain a high number of Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration, and would also contain a Template:Nihongo as well – a communal meeting place for geisha, typically containing a theater, rooms where classes in the traditional arts could be held, and a Template:Transliteration (registry office) who would process a geisha's pay, regulation of the profession, and other related matters.

Gion, a geisha district in Kyoto, also has a vocational school, called Template:Transliteration. Many of the teachers there are designated as Living National Treasures.Template:Citation needed

Template:Transliteration

Template:Transliteration were preceded by the registered red-light districts of Japan, known as Template:Nihongo3. Three Template:Transliteration were established in Japan in the early 1600s: Shimabara in Kyoto in 1640,<ref name="FTFW">Avery, Anne Louise. Flowers of the Floating World: Geisha and Courtesans in Japanese Prints and Photographs, 1772–1926 [Exhibition Catalogue] (Sanders of Oxford & Mayfield Press: Oxford, 2006)</ref> Shinmachi in Osaka between 1624 and 1644,<ref name="FTFW"/> and Yoshiwara in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) in 1617.<ref name="FTFW"/> Template:Transliteration were originally a place of work for both Template:Nihongo3 and Template:Transliteration (courtesans). Template:Transliteration, technically the highest rank of courtesan, also lived in the red-light districts; however, unlike Template:Transliteration, they did not engage in sex work, and were instead renowned as upper-class entertainers prized for their training in the traditional arts, which typically began at an early age. Template:Transliteration were only engaged by men of the upper classes, and could choose which clients they wished to engage, unlike other courtesans.

Following the development of the geisha profession in the Template:Transliteration in the mid-1700s, many geisha, working inside the Template:Transliteration alongside Template:Transliteration and courtesans, began to compete with them; though the entertainment they offered was mostly (and in official terms, entirely) devoid from sex work, geisha instead offered companionship and entertainment to men at parties, and were commonly not bound to the same controlling contracts that many courtesans were.

Having developed from a previously-male profession of entertainers who performed at the parties of some Template:Transliteration, geisha were at times legally prevented from operating outside of Template:Transliteration, despite also being legally prevented from appearing as, operating as and stealing clients from courtesans; as a result, many Template:Transliteration went on to develop into Template:Transliteration.

All three Template:Transliteration are now defunct, both as courtesan districts and geisha districts, though Template:Transliteration reenactors continue to practice the performing arts of upper-class courtesans in Shimabara, Kyoto, and some conventional sex work establishments continue to exist in Yoshiwara, Tokyo.

Kyoto Template:Transliteration

Template:External media There are currently five active Template:Transliteration in Kyoto, generally referred to as Template:Transliteration in the local Kyoto dialect instead of Template:Transliteration, and sometimes referred to collectively as the Template:Nihongo3:

• Gion (separated as Gion Kōbu and Gion Higashi)
• Miyagawa-chō
• Kamishichiken
• Pontochō

As a Template:Transliteration for geisha, the district of Shimabara is defunct; having previously formed part of the city's six districts (collectively referred to as the Template:Nihongo3), when Shimabara's last geisha departed in the late 20th century, the district was considered defunct, despite the continuation of Template:Transliteration within the district.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The geisha districts of Kyoto are primarily clustered around the Kamo River, from Sanjō Street (3rd Street) to Gojō Street (5th Street), particularly around Shijō Street – four of the five districts are in this area. Kamishichiken is separated from the others, being far to the northwest, while the defunct district of Shimabara is also located to the west; most districts are roughly centered around their respective rehearsal halls, known as Template:Nihongo3.

Traditions

File:Kitano Odori.jpg

The Template:Transliteration, a kabuki dance performed annually by the geisha of Kamishichiken

Each district has a distinctive crest (Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration), which appears on geisha's kimono, as well as on lanterns.

A summer tradition around the time of the Gion Festival among the Template:Transliteration of Kyoto is to distribute personalized Template:Nihongo3 to favored patrons and stores that both Template:Transliteration and geisha frequent. These feature a crest of the geisha house on the front, and the geisha's name on the back (house name, then personal name). These are produced by Template:Nihongo, and are known as Template:Nihongo3.<ref>Komaruya Sumii Template:Webarchive (English)</ref><ref name="kvg">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Establishments such as bars that are particularly frequented by geisha often accumulate many of these fans, and typically display them in the summer months.<ref name="kvg" /><ref>"Wagashi: Kamishichiken Oimatsu Bitter Citrus Summer Jelly", Kyoto Foodie, August 23, 2010</ref>

All the Kyoto Template:Transliteration stage public dances annually, known as Template:Transliteration (generally written in the traditional kana spelling of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, rather than modern spelling of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), featuring both Template:Transliteration and geisha. These also feature an optional tea ceremony (tea and Template:Transliteration served by Template:Transliteration) before the performance. These are performed for several weeks, mostly in the spring – four Template:Transliteration hold them in the spring with one (Gion Higashi) holding theirs in the autumn. Different districts started public performances in different years; the oldest are those of Gion Kōbu and Pontochō, whose performances started at the Kyoto exhibition of 1872,<ref>Miyako Odori Template:Webarchive "A Brief History of the Miyako Odori"</ref><ref>Maiko Dance Template:Webarchive</ref> while others (Kamishichiken, Miyagawachō) started performing in the 1950s. There are many performances, with tickets being inexpensive, ranging from around 1500 yen to 4500 yen.<ref name="geishadances">Geisha dances Template:Webarchive</ref> The best-known is the Template:Transliteration performed in Gion Kōbu, which is one of the two oldest and has the most performances.

The dances are as follows (listed in order of performance through the year):

• Template:Nihongo – Kamishichiken (since 1953), spring, varying dates, currently last week of March and first week of April
• Template:Nihongo – Gion Kōbu (since 1872), all of April
• Template:Nihongo – Miyagawa-chō (since the 1950s), first 2 weeks of April
• Template:Nihongo – Pontochō (since 1872), most of May
• Template:Nihongo – Gion Higashi, early November

The district of Shimabara previously produced the Template:Nihongo from 1873 to 1880.

There is also a combined show of all five districts, which is called Template:Nihongo, or more formally Template:Nihongo.<ref>京都五花街合同伝統芸能特別公演 Template:In lang</ref> This takes place during the daytime on two days (Saturday and Sunday) on a weekend in late June (typically last or second-to-last weekend) at a large venue, and tickets are significantly more expensive than those for individual districts. Connected with this event, in the evening on these two days there are evening performances with Template:Transliteration meals, either a combined event, or separate ones per district. This is known as the Template:Nihongo, and is quite expensive (as is usual for Template:Transliteration and very limited availability; this has been held since 1994.

Tokyo Template:Transliteration

• Shinbashi
• Akasaka
• Asakusa
• Yoshichō
• Kagurazaka
• Mukojima
• Omori Kaigan

Template:Transliteration near Tokyo

• Hachiōji

Areas historically renowned as Template:Transliteration

• Torimori
• Shintomichō
• Fukagawa
• Maruyamachō
• Yanagibashi
• Nakano Shinbashi

In Osaka

• Kita Shinchi
• Minami Shinchi
• Shinmachi

In Kanazawa

Kanazawa's geisha districts were most active between the periods of 1820–1830 and 1867–1954. Now referred to as the Template:Transliteration, the three districts survive and often feature public performances during peak tourist seasons.

• Higashi Chaya Gai (eastern teahouse district)
• Nishi Chaya Gai (western teahouse district)
• Kazuemachi (the accountant's town)