Geisha: Ritual Kinship in Art and Society

The Geisha of Japan have fascinated the western mind since first contact was made between east and west in this island nation. Too often they are viewed as women of pleasure by the uninformed, an assumption that denies the rich cultural heritage of the Japanese people, their art, and their complex social hierarchies. In this work, the longstanding traditions of ritual kinship in the social world of the Japanese are examined as they apply to the geisha and life in the pleasure districts. By looking closely at how the geisha culture supports Japanese culture, social values, religious ideals, and art aesthetics, we can view the institution of the geisha in a much more honest light than portrayed in westernized art and literature. Through this examination we begin to see how geisha are not simply women of pleasure, but rather they are bearers of Japanese culture itself.