A Geisha Art Display

Term Paper # 101336

Art
Asian Studies > East Asian Cultures

This paper describes an art exhibit that will show the importance of Geisha to the Japanese culture.

822 words () | 6 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper explains the importance of Geisha to the Japanese culture. The paper explains that Geisha means "a person of the arts" and the typical geisha was adept in flower arranging, calligraphy, music, dance, and the unique Japanese tea ceremony. The paper describes the art exhibit that will include the Kimono traditional clothing, Ikebana (flower arranging) and Japanese calligraphy. The paper relates that visitors to the art exhibition will leave with a clear understanding of geisha's striking contrast with the reserved nature of the regular Japanese culture. The paper includes images of the Kimono clothing, flower arranging and Japanese calligraphy.

Outline:
Geisha Art Display
The Art Pieces
Kimono
Ikebana
Calligraphy

From the Paper:

"To understand the importance of Geisha to the Japanese culture as well as its significance within that culture, one must first understand Japanese culture. Within Japan the Japanese language epitomizes the culture with its emphasis on order and structure while such aspects as clothing, epitomized by the kimono which means literally "something that is worn" are widely seen within the culture as the ideal of Japanese garments (Sugimoto 43). Additionally, Japanese culture takes art forms such as painting, wood block prints, and especially calligraphy based on Chinese characters and makes of them a highly stylized, abstract art form. Yet, Japanese are, in their daily lives, quite reserved and adhere to strict social mores regarding behavior, speech, and a high regard for social order (Sugimoto 14). Thus, it can be imagined that where the typical historical Japanese woman might be reserved and less forward in not wanting to bring attention to herself geisha became a highly stylized representation of the Japanese woman. That is, without the social constraints of folkway and mores that barred traditional Japanese women from self-expression, geisha might be thought of as the unconscious expression of how many women, and men, conceived them to be."

Sample of Sources Used:

Hume, Nancy G., ed. Japanese Aesthetics and Culture : A Reader. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1995.
Matsunosuke, Nishiyama. Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600-1868. Trans. Gerald Groemer. Ed. Gerald Groemer. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997.
Meech-Pekarik, Julia. The World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New Civilization. 1st ed. New York: Weatherhill, 1986.
Seigle, Cecilia Segawa. Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
Sugimoto, Yoshio. An Introduction to Japanese Society. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2003.