Tag: Tomita-ya

Geiko Yachiyo with a Heian Period Hat 1910shttps://embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Geiko Yachiyo with a Heian Period Hat, 1910′s
Yachiyo dressed for the Ashibe odori (Ashibe public dance), holding a travelling hat from the Heian Period.

Yachiyo (1887-1924) was a famous geiko (geisha) from Osaka, known for her elegance and her lovely personality. People were said to weep with joy at the sight of her dancing. She became a maiko (apprentice geisha) at the age of thirteen and left the profession to marry the artist Suga Tatehiko at the age of twenty-nine. / src: Blue Ruin

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Osaka Maiko Yachiyo II - 1915https://embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Osaka Maiko Yachiyo II, 1915
Myōseki (inherited names) are often used when naming a new Maiko (Apprentice Geisha) as a mark of respect for a former Geiko (Geisha) and as a means of carrying the cachet of celebrity down through generations.

The geimei (professional name) of a meigi (famous geisha) who has retired from the profession is given to a promising young maiko, but with the suffix ‘the second’ added to it. This can carry on ad infinitum i.e. ‘the third, the fourth, etc.’ with successive generations. This hereditary naming system applies to almost all artisan professions in Japan, including Tayuu (Courtesans) and Kabuki Artists. source: Blue Ruin

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