EMC: Abstract: Secret Life of Geisha, The

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Secret Life of Geisha, The

• 1999 ----- color ----- 93 min ----- vhs
• For hundreds of years, geishas have been a fixture of Japanese society, but at the dawn of a new millennium, their numbers are dwindling fast. Long hidden behind the rice-paper curtain of "The Floating World", this production provides an intimate look at the culture, history, training and private lives of these alluring figures. Surprising revelations--the family structure of the geisha house, its joys and its restrictions including the absolute vow of secrecy--together with extensive footage from inside exclusive teahouses in Kyoto and Tokyo shows the service clients receive for upwards of $1000 per evening. In exclusive, intimate interviews, geishas talk of the years of training that go into their craft, and of the unique pressures they feel. Photographs and diaries document some of the love affairs that have become legend. Anthropologist Liza Dalby (Geisha) who was the first Westerner accepted as a maiko, an apprentice geisha, and novelist Arthur Golden (Memoires of a Geisha) examine the role of the geisha in Japanese society over the centuries. (Closed-Captioned)
• Topics: (Anthropology: Cultural, Asian Languages and Literature, Biography, Far Eastern Studies, History: Asian, Japan, Women Studies)

		Educational Media Collection risimiki@u.washington.edu Modified: January 11, 2007