Hanamachi

Hanamachi (花街) (lit., "flower town") is the Japanese term for districts where geisha live and work. Each hanamachi typically has its own name, crest and distinct geisha population, with geisha not typically working outside of their own district. Hanamachi usually contain okiya (geisha houses) and ochaya (teahouses where geisha entertain).

Historically, hanamachi could contain a high number of okiya and ochaya, and would also contain a kaburenjō (歌舞練所) as well - a communal meeting place for geisha, typically containing a theatre, rooms where classes in the traditional arts could be held, and a kenban (registry office), who would process a geisha's pay, regulation of the profession, and other related matters.

Gion, a geisha district in Kyoto, also has a vocational school, called nyokoba. Many of the teachers there are designated as Living National Treasures.

Yūkaku

Hanamachi were preceded by the registered red-light districts of Japan, known as yūkaku (遊廓、遊郭). Three yūkaku were established in Japan in the early 1600s; Shimabara in Kyoto in 1640;[1]), Shinmachi in Osaka between 1624 and 1644;[1] and Yoshiwara in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) in 1617.[1]. Yūkaku were originally a place of work for both {{yūjo (遊女) (lit., "prostitute") and courtesans, both of whom were categories of sex worker, though courtesans were also well-renowned for their training in the traditional arts.

However, following the development of the geisha profession in the yūkaku in the mid-1700s, many geisha operated out of yūkaku alongside yūjo and courtesans, though the entertainment they offered was mostly (and in officially, entirely) not sex work, instead offering companionship and entertainment to men at parties. Geisha, having developed from a previously-male profession of entertainers who performed at the parties of some sex workers, were at times legally prevented from operating outside of yūkaku, despite also being legally prevented from appearing as, operating as and stealing clients from courtesans; as a result, many yūkaku went on to develop into hanamachi.

All three yūkaku are now defunct, both as courtesan districts and geisha districts, though some tourist-oriented establishments are preserved in Shimabara, Kyoto, and some conventional sex work establishments continue to exist in Yoshiwara, Tokyo.

Kyoto hanamachi
External image
Map of Kyoto kagai[2]

There are currently five active hanamachi in Kyoto (generally referred to as the kagai in the local Kyoto dialect instead of hanamachi), sometimes referred to as gokagai (五花街, "5 flower towns")

Defunct:

  • Shimabara - there were previous 6 hanamachi in Kyoto, known as the "rōkkagai" (lit., "6 flower towns"); however, following the departure of Shimabara's last geisha in the late 20th century, it is now considered defunct as a geisha district, and now operates only as a tourist attraction for tayū re-enactors.[3]

The geisha districts of Kyoto are primarily clustered around the Kamo River, from Sanjō Street (3rd Street) to Gojō Street (5th Street), particularly around Shijō Street – four of the five districts are in this area. Kamishichiken is separated from the others, being far to the northwest, while the defunct district of Shimabara is also located to the west; most districts are roughlt centered around their respective rehearsal halls (歌舞練場, kaburenjō, lit., "singing and dancing training space").

Traditions

Each district has a distinctive crest (kamon), which appears on geisha's kimono, as well as on lanterns.

A summer tradition around the time of the Gion Festival among the hanamachi of Kyoto is to distribute personalized uchiwa (団扇, flat fans) to favored patrons and stores that both maiko and geisha frequent. These feature a crest of the geisha house on the front, and the geisha's name on the back (house name, then personal name). These are produced by Komaru-ya Sumii (小丸屋　住井, Sumii (family name) Small circle house), and are known as Kyōmaru-uchiwa (京丸うちわ, Kyoto round uchiwa).[4][5] Establishments such as bars that are particularly frequented by geisha often accumulate many of these fans, and typically display them in the summer months.[5][6]

All the Kyoto hanamachi stage public dances annually, known as odori (generally written in the traditional kana spelling of をどり, rather than modern spelling of おどり), featuring both maiko and geisha. These also feature an optional tea ceremony (tea and wagashi served by maiko) before the performance. These are performed for several weeks, mostly in the spring – four hanamachi hold them in the spring with one (Gion Higashi) holding theirs in the autumn. Different districts started public performances in different years; the oldest are those of Gion Kōbu and Pontochō, whose performances started at the Kyoto exhibition of 1872,[7][8] while others (Kamishichiken, Miyagawachō) started performing in the 1950s. There are many performances, with tickets being inexpensive, ranging from around 1500 yen to 4500 yen.[9] The best-known is Miyako odori performed in Gion Kōbu, which is one of the two oldest and has the most performances.

The dances (name of performance and explanation) are as follows (listed in order of performance through the year):

  • Kitano odori (北野をどり, name of area – see Kitano Tenman-gū) – Kamishichiken (since 1953), spring, varying dates, currently last week of March and first week of April
  • Miyako odori (都をどり, capital) – Gion Kōbu (since 1872), all of April
  • Kyō odori (京をどり, Kyo(to), capital) – Miyagawa-chō (since the 1950s), first 2 weeks of April
  • Kamogawa odori (鴨川をどり, Kamo River) – Pontochō (since 1872), most of May
  • Gion odori (祇園をどり, Gion) – Gion Higashi, early November

There was also previously:

  • Aoyagi odori (青柳踊, Green willow, willow in leaf) – Shimabara (from 1873 to 1880; ceased in 1881)

There is also a combined show of all five districts, which is called "Five Geisha District Combined Public Performance" (五花街合同公演, gokagai gōdō kōen), or more formally "Kyoto's five geisha districts combined traditional theater special public performance" (京都五花街合同伝統芸能特別公演, Kyōto gokagai gōdō dentō geinō tokubetsu kōen).[10] This takes place during the daytime on two days (Saturday and Sunday) on a weekend in late June (typically last or second-to-last weekend) at a large venue, and tickets are significantly more expensive than those for individual districts. Connected with this event, in the evening on these two days there are evening performances with kaiseki meals, either a combined event, or separate ones per district. This is known as the "Five Geisha Districts Evening" (五花街の夕べ, gokagai no yūbe), and is quite expensive (as is usual for kaiseki) and very limited availability; this has been held since 1994.

Tokyo hanamachi

Hanamachi near Tokyo
  • Hachiōji

Areas historically renowned as hanamachi/kagai
  • Torimori
  • Shintomichō
  • Fukagawa
  • Maruyamachō
  • Yanagibashi
  • Nakano Shinbashi

Yoshiwara was the Tokyo courtesans' district and is sometimes referred to as a hanamachi.

Hanamachi in Osaka

Hanamachi in Kanazawa

Kanazawa's geisha districts were most active during 1820–30 and c. 1867–1954 (just before Meiji revolution until prostitution was outlawed). Now called "chayagai", the three survive and often feature public performances during peak tourist seasons.

  • Higashi Chaya Gai (eastern teahouse district)
  • Nishi Chaya Gai (western teahouse district)
  • Kazuemachi (the accountant's town)
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References
  1. Avery, Anne Louise. Flowers of the Floating World: Geisha and Courtesans in Japanese Prints and Photographs, 1772–1926 [Exhibition Catalogue] (Sanders of Oxford & Mayfield Press: Oxford, 2006)
  2. 京都の花街 (in Japanese)
  3. Dalby, Liza. "new geisha notes", no.12. http://www.lizadalby.com/LD/newgeishanotes.html
  4. Komaruya Sumii Archived July 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (English)
  5. "Uchiwa Japanese Fans: The revival of Fukakusa Uchiwa by Komaruya Sumii". Kyoto Visitor’s Guide. July 2007. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009.
  6. "Wagashi: Kamishichiken Oimatsu Bitter Citrus Summer Jelly", Kyoto Foodie, August 23, 2010
  7. Miyako Odori Archived April 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine "A Brief History of the Miyako Odori"
  8. Maiko Dance Archived March 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  9. Geisha dances Archived January 2, 2013, at Archive.today
  10. 京都五花街合同伝統芸能特別公演 (in Japanese)


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