There is something so hypnotic about Japanese performance. The swaying pace, the haunting music... it reminds me of those Indonesian Javanese palace dancers, very slow and trance-like.
The oiran is awesome with every step she takes. Even to walk in her shoes and her attire in balance and grace with the help of the one beside her to steady her is an accomplishment of athletic art.
Yes! The main and telling difference indeed. Oiran is a lot more intense. If they weren't the best looking or best performing in their profession, then they will be simple, miserable yujo slaves. Geisha had the chance to exist even if they were good, just-allright or simply have good work ethics.
This is the oiran putting up a show when she was booked and this is her walking to her client. I just realised that everyone knows who the client was if she walked to his house like this. So.... this means that back then, being rich enough to hire an oiran was a status thingy? These man wanted to show off their wealth and status?
Yes it was a wealth and status thing for both the house she belonged to, her quality, and as a compliment to the client. And the first few visits to this client were just getting to know one another, and at some point she would decide if he was worth sleeping with or not. The identity of the client was not known, she did not go to his house. They met somewhere else.
@Wardog Fights I think they’re really going to sleep with them, though I think it’s sometimes for show but the one seen here is maybe the annual festival.
@Wardog Fights Ya this Oiran walk is meant like this . But Oiran in this video no longer sleep with their clients because real Oiran business was dead since 1957 Japanese AntiProstitution Law . These Oiran in this video are just maintaining culture . They usually show their famous walk in festivals .
This is not an ordinary Oiran but the highest kind - Tayu. They are freaking expensive and this exclusive class of oirans supposedly do not engage in any sex despite Oirans being courtesans (high class prostitutes). Oirans typically serve royalty while Geishas, the merchant class.
@Wardog Fights this is a Tayu (highest class of Oirans), they do not have sex with their customers. Other Oirans, as courtesans, do. They serve the upper crust of society such as royalty.
I think all of the announcing and orchestron is really distracting, it would not have been that way before. crowds were silent when oiran were still around, and the only thing that was heard was the man in the front announcing that the oiran was coming through and the chant of her attendants calling back.
I know that the life of oiran was a lot of competition, psychological trauma and she had no other choice but try to be the best in her job or live in utmost misery. There is something inebriating in the fact that oiran is a master of her sexuality and through her sexuality she is the master. Like a bird of fire, whereas geisha is the shadow of that bird, it doesn't burn.
Aprentices to the Oiran- they are selected as young girls for their grace and beauty. They act as servants and maids for 6 to 10 years while learning to play music, dance, sing, etc., before becoming oiran themselves. Much like how maiko are trained to become geisha.
they're kamuro. child attendants to the courtesans, today they are volunteers. in the past they were always girls born from the prostitutes or girls sold into the profession. the prettiest and more talented ones were allowed to go on to train as a higher rank courtesan, the less fortunate ones often stayed in the background so to speak, and were called taiko shinzo.
Oiran dochu re-enactment. Oiran were high class courtesans, educated and articulate and skilled in song and dance- but they served as courtesans to the wealthiest men. (Disclaimer: They are not geisha) They had the option to turn down customers whereas regular prostitutes could not. Dochu is just a word for procession or parade specific to Oiran and Tayu. Their decline happened due to the rise of geisha and ultimately disappeared in WWII. This display would have been done to show the wealth and quality of the house she came from, and as a compliment to her client. It was also a way to show off her beauty, as no regular person could ever afford to spend time with one. In the past this would have been a spectacle to see, and there would not be an announcer like there is in the video. This is a modern look on Oiran, not an accurate one. They had a multitude of hairstyles and traditions that are largely ignored in place of a mainstream look and the fact that there are only a small handful of people who can make these hairstyles.
I saw a video about this culture, the price of being a night with a ordinary oiran in the17th century was $6,000, imagine what the highest level of them cost🌝 It's was for show off the wealth n power
you couldnt marry one. to marry one she would have to retire, and you'd have to buy her out so that she could leave the hell she was kept in. these women often didnt survive beyond 10 years of service.
not entirely, since the front tied obi was commonplace for everyone before the establishment and popularity of geisha. oiran kept to the tradition, and it doesnt really mean "they're open for business" this type of obi is displaying the mark of her house and the season, her rank, and that she is on parade. lower ranking courtesans and her attendants will wear smaller tied obi, usually in the shape of a bow-tie. when she is no longer in her parade and with a client it comes off, and she has a wrapped obi underneath, that is not seen unless she removes the large obi and her uchikake.
