Japanese Notion of Beauty: Geisha Art

Japanese Notion of Beauty: Geisha Arts; Dance and Music

Japanese Geisha study music and dance at a young age which continues throughout their lives, is a cultural practice that promotes the beauty through art. The notion of beauty within the geisha culture is defined by the arts, incorporating femininity and skill. In Japan the dance of the geisha has evolved from dance performed from the dance performed on the kabuki stage, to a more subtle, stylized, and controlled form of dance. This cultural shift demonstrates discipline, similar to tai chi, where every dance uses gestures to tell a story with subdued symbolism. Take a tiny hand gesture representing reading love letter for example, along with holding the corner of a handkerchief in ones mouth represents coquetry, and the long sleeves of the elaborate kimono are often used to symbolize dabbing tears. Geisha dance sends a message of femininity, through small and elegant range of movement.

Geisha dances are accompanied by traditional Japanese music, with the primary music being the shamisen. The shamisen is a banjo like three-stringed instrument that is played with a plectrum, originating in Okinawa. The shamisen has a very distinct, melancholy sound that is often accompanied by the flute, this takes years to master and only a very experienced geisha can play with precision and passion. Playing a shamisen is a requirement for all geisha, along with a ko-tsuzumi, a small, hourglass shaped shoulder drum, and the taiko, a large floor drum. Playing different traditional instruments is the art of the geisha, as skills are learned for entertainment.

Japanese geisha have created a notion of beauty that is intertwined with the arts; dance and music, and in comparison to the Byron Hurt film Hip-Hop beyond the beats and rhymes, both in hip-hop and geisha arts female performances have a great deal to do with the roles that women are placed in to please me, providing an image of women that is fictitious. The cultural practice of geisha dance and music has created a form of beauty that is feminine and skilled, as tradition is acknowledged and held as the center piece in the geisha culture.

“Geisha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisha (Accessed May 7, 2010)

Reynolds, Wayne; Gallagher, and Reynolds, Wayne; Gallagher, John. 2003. Geisha : A Unique World of Tradition, Elegance and Art. PRC Publishing.

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