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A Gei Old TimeA little while ago I was tickled to see some Rotem Gear tops featured in a fashion blog from Spain. When I popped over there in order to add them my blog list and looked around, I found that MundoChica is much more than a shopping blog; it’s plump with some fun looks at fashion throughout the ages and around the world. One video I immediately found on MundoChica shows a maiko, or apprentice geisha, going through the pain-staking process of applying her make-up. It’s a bit long, but the transformation is amazing and quite interesting, if you haven’t seen such a thing before.
By the way, for those who do not know, geisha are not, have never been, prostitutes. The word is generally mis-used. Gei means “art” and sha “person” (hmph, my kanji are not showing up after publishing, must learn how to do that in WordPress) so a geisha is someone who is steeped in the arts, in this case, singing, dancing, tea ceremony, engaging in witty conversation and banter — all activities for which geisha train for years — and making guests feel welcome and happy. A girl can become maiko at around 17 (generations ago it was around 12); modern Japanese law requires children to attend school through age 16. 
2 comments to A Gei Old Time |
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That was fascinating!
Interesting to see the difference in that style – which is obviously considered attractive – and what we traditionally do in the west (use of red on the eyes and making the mouth smaller [whereas we strive to look as Jolie / smacked-in-the-mouth-with-a-board as possible])
The bloody director was irritating as crap, though! LOL
It’s all in the eye …! It was even more different in earlier centuries in Japan, by the way. Nobility-class Japanese women would shave off their eyebrows, replace them with a smudge higher up on the forehead. And white teeth were considered unattractive, so they’d blacken them with iron oxide.
There is a 12-century story I like called The Lady Who Loved Insects, about a very unconventional young woman who collects insects and caterpillars, and perhaps worse, refuses to shave her eyebrows and blacken her teeth. People are horrified by her hobby and appearance, and compare her natural eyebrows to the caterpillars she collects, and her teeth to peeled caterpillars. I like her