Geisha by Lisa Dalby.....An American anthropologist interested in Japanese culture, becomes a Geisha herself and gives the reader , the inside story of Geisha...Lisa Dalby's work is full of facts about the Geisha community. Who is a Geisha...What is the profession about...How does one become a Geisha..How does one survive in the profession...Can a Geisha marry?...What are her qualifications...What sort of attire does she sport and what is the significance of the same..How is a Geisha named...what is a shamisen...How important is a Geisha to the Japanese culture....All these and much much more are divulged by Lisa Dalby. You have to accept her take on Geisha for she had lived as one and shares authentic facts...She tries to bring a lil story line with the real life Geisha with whom she was associated and has managed to give an intriguing account....But ,I felt it was just another objectification of women per se...The book saddened me inspite of being mollycoddled as culture and society and class...Read about the Geisha ,yet another account of how a women is glorified and placed in a pedestal only to be used for the whims and fancies of a man in a chavanistic society...

This book is certainly an excellent place to start one’s study of geisha, and I am unaware of a better option to recommend. The author reveals that geisha are mainly verbal and visual entertainers. People love to gossip about sex, so the possibility that geisha might take a lover who would be their patron and financial backer has led to a lot of misunderstanding and over-simplification among ignorant outsiders of what it is that geisha do. Mainly, they attend parties and talk to the all-male guests. Up to the point that Dalby’s did her research in the 1970s, Japanese wives were not expected to be able to converse on topics that interested their husbands, nor socialize together in public. Therefore geisha filled the niche of women who could be interesting in male conversational settings, as well as artists who dedicated their lives to learning the performing arts of song, dance, and music. I wonder if someone were to write a follow-up today, whether cultural norms have shifted at all. My questions would include: Are there fewer than ever geisha now because so many Japanese women attend college and presumably are interesting conversational partners? Are there fewer geisha now because women have other job opportunities they prefer? Do men and women socialize together in public the way we do in the U.S., making the role of geisha obsolete except as an artist?

The book is full of fascinating nuance and personal stories that mostly made it an interesting read. It was odd that the book opened with tragedy regarding people we didn’t yet know well. I think it would have had more emotional resonance if she had saved the sad story for the end.

I studied Japanese culture and language when I was a teenager and in my early twenties. For a few years I thought I might become an anthropologist and spend time in Japan (I ended up changing my mind, minoring in social & cultural anthropology, and majoring in History). I recall reading this book or perhaps Dalby’s dissertation in the 1990s, when I was too young to really understand what I was reading. I know I was too young because I remember that I thought the word “courtesan” meant the female version of “courtier,” and that that’s what geisha were, whereas my mother explained to me that a courtesan is more like a mistress or prostitute—which this book makes clear is very much not what geisha are or have ever been. However, the word “courtesan” doesn’t appear until near the end of this book, so it must have been some other book I read about geisha in addition to Dalby’s book, which I definitely also read.

Geisha by Lisa Dalby.....An American anthropologist interested in Japanese culture, becomes a Geisha herself and gives the reader , the inside story of Geisha...Lisa Dalby's work is full of facts about the Geisha community. Who is a Geisha...What is the profession about...How does one become a Geisha..How does one survive in the profession...Can a Geisha marry?...What are her qualifications...What sort of attire does she sport and what is the significance of the same..How is a Geisha named...what is a shamisen...How important is a Geisha to the Japanese culture....All these and much much more are divulged by Lisa Dalby. You have to accept her take on Geisha for she had lived as one and shares authentic facts...She tries to bring a lil story line with the real life Geisha with whom she was associated and has managed to give an intriguing account....But ,I felt it was just another objectification of women per se...The book saddened me inspite of being mollycoddled as culture and society and class...Read about the Geisha ,yet another account of how a women is glorified and placed in a pedestal only to be used for the whims and fancies of a man in a chavanistic society...

Truly beautiful and heartfelt account of the lives behind the painted faces of the geisha. Granted this was written in the 70s so a lot of it is fairly outdated but all the same it's a wonderful piece of work.

Geisha by Liza Dalby was an interesting and enlightening read. Her experiences and her original composition of the text are from the 1970s and 1980s. Therefore, some of her commentary on the general role of women/wives feels a little outdated thirty years on, as things have changed over that time. However, this book still offers great insight into the life of a geisha and how their roles and training have changed and/or stayed the same over the decades and centuries. The photographs and illustrations are a lovely addition to the text and the book is well presented, with topics introduced by theme chapter by chapter. This is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the geisha and Japanese culture in general.

(at 53)
If the Takase canal was purely practical, the Kamo River was exxentially aesthetic. Though unsuited for navigation, the Kamogawa became associated with tasks such as rinsing lng, unfurled bolts of freshly dyed silks. The pattern of the brightly colored kimono cloth rippling in the clear waters was a favorite subject for poetry and painting. Another imaged associated with this river is that of the small water birds called chidori (plovers) that once skimmed the shallow ripples with their poignant cries. The chidori was adopted by the geisha of Pontocho as their special mark or crest, jsut as their public dances are called the Kamo River Dances.

(at 89)
The matters of geishas; wages has alwyas been camouflaged. This is undoubtedly because it is awkward to admit that one side of a festive gathering is paid to be there. No one would deny the fact, but no one wants his nose rubbed in it--hence the euphemistic terms for geishas' fees: flower money, jewel money, incense money, and shugi, literally, an honorarium (in effect, a tip) on top of that.

Reformers wanted to sweep all these flowery terms away and standardize geishas' wages--for the cusomers' benefit, of course....

(at 217)
This choice engenders its converse: if, for a geisha, art is life, then it also true that her life must become art. A geisha strives to become so permeated with her art that everything she does is informed by it, including the way she walks, sits, and speaks. for this ideal to become real, constant watchfulness is necessary utnil the required deportment and professional manner become second nature. To polish one's life inot a work of art, however high flown it may sound to non-Japanese, is the idea behind the discipline of a geisha.

(at 268-269
Even more wonderful
As they fall,
The cherry blossoms.
Does anything last
In this grievous world?

Tales of Ise, chap . 82
(ninth century)

The world we see is painful, sad, and wretched, according to Buddhist thought. This being the case, it is fortunate the world is also illusion, and that true reality lies elsewhere. The uniyo, or "grievous world," in this poem is as transitory as cherry blossoms, and we would do well to recognize the fact.

(at 303)
An almost palpable stillness descends upon Kyoto in the summer. Daytime life slows down under the continuous drone of cicadas, a sound that "penetrates the rock," in the image of a well-known haiku.1 The constant "Mi mii muum" is the auditory equivalent of the oppressive humid heat. Mornings are pleasant, though, and except for the geisha, who sleep late as usual, people often get up early to take advantage of the cool. In the Zen temples, acolytes do thier first meditation at 4:00 A.M., another at 6:00, and another at 9:00. They break during midday because of the heat.

1 The quiet
Penetaating the rock,
Voices of locusts.
Matsuo Basho

I enjoyed reading her account of living as a geisha and her outsiders view. Although her study was done in the 70s, I think a lot of aspects of Japanese culture still hold true. I also like that the Memoirs of a Geisha author used her research for his book. Very interesting read!

Very intresting book, gives good insight into the geisha world and culture.

I read this before Memoirs of a Geisha, since this is a firsthand point of view. I did not expect it to be as fascinating as it was. It instantly made me a Liza Dalby fan.

I like this much, much more than Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, but ti's still a bit problematic. A 1970's sociologist studying Japan's geisha culture, Liza Dalby presents an intriguing, nuanced look at the subject. Whether discussing the finer points of tying kimono or handling tipsy customers, Dalby manages to craft an engaging, elegant read that is insightful and illuminating. Part of me had trouble shaking the feeling that this was still vaguely Orientalist in its orientation, but her research is good and her writing sympathetic and well-stated. A very good read.

Great look inside world of geishas - women of art, "owners" of those feminine characteristics not considered in Japanese culture as owned or shouldn't been showned by wives like sexiness. Geishas are men's companions, but when they got married, they have to resign from being geisha.

Book explains differences in Japanese views on women taking in consideration their positions like wife, geisha or unmmaried woman. There are descriptions of ceremonies, status levels in The Flower and Willow World, things that a girl has to learn to become a geisha. It also gives an explaination about the fact that people from West (Europe, America) often treat geishas as exclusive prostitutes, which is very untrue. Geishas are entertainers. Liza Dalby wrote that in cities being popular resorts to spend holidays often existed a category of women that were acting like geishas, but were prostitutes.

Any aspiring Madame Butterfly or person about to direct Madame Butterfly....or Japanophile, or person interested in Geisha history and/or modern Geisha reality should read this book. Liza Dalby is knowledgeable and interesting, and her story is one for the books. Literally.