Geisha : A Living Tradition (Hardcover)

~ Kyoko Aihara (Author) "Take a stroll along Hanamikoji in Kyoto, where the cherry blossom is viewed in the Spring or Shinbashi-dori (New Bridge Street) in the hanamachi of..." (more)
Key Phrases: new maiko, new geiko, one geiko, Cherry Dance, World War Two, Edo Period (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This stunning, illustrated book provides revealing insight into their remarkable world, exploring every aspect of their lives.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Carlton Publishing Group (May 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858689708
• ISBN-13: 978-1858689708
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #914,235 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A good idea but obviously too rushed, July 9, 2000

By	PETER MACINTOSH "pmac in kyoto" (KYOTO, Japan) - See all my reviews

I must admit that I saw the outline for this book at a publisher long before it came into print and I was really looking forward to seeing a Japanese women's view of the geisha world. However, this book presented a good deal of specific information, such as festival names for certain events and aspects of geisha life that would confuse a reader that is not familiar with Japan and especially Kyoto. Having been living in Kyoto for the past number of years and having access to many sources of information (in Japanese and English), I find the information that she gives just a tranlation of one or many of the books on geisha published for Japanese tourists that come to Kyoto. The are also many incorrect photo titles mixing up geisha and maiko(apprentice geisha) not to mention a photo of a tourist dressed as a geisha labled as a geisha. About the " original " photography, I think that it speaks for itsellf with the many amatuerish mitakes such as bad lighting and focusing.( There are a few semi-professional) nice shots I might add. Overall, the author tries to lead the reader into thinking that they are getting some real original and unique information from a "well connected" insider into the geisha world, when actually they are getting a semi-informative original tranlation of the information that the author( being Japanese) was able to pick up at the local bookshop, read and rewrite into English. It is obvious that she is a journalist (definetely not a photo-journalist) and knew when to time her hop onto the "geisha book bandwagon" and get published. I salute the idea and layout of this book but it was obviosly rushed and has too many fine details without an original perspective from the author. The use of a professional photographer ( and maybe a different printer) would have helped to hide some of the other weak points and maybe given me a chance to write a more positive review .

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, October 31, 2000

By	Erica Anderson (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The pictures of the geisha and maiko were gorgeous. Unfortunately I have seen a couple of these pics in other books on geisha too. I think that was a dead giveaway that the author was a journalist and did not know what it was like being a geisha firsthand unlike Liz Dalby who was only a grad student when she became a geisha briefly in the 1970s. I found this book pretty to look at but lacks the substance that Geisha by Liz Dalby had.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Pictures :), September 17, 2002

By	AxeTopher "AxeTopher" - See all my reviews

I really recommend this book to anyone interested in Geisha. Though the text is admittedly not as detailed as "Geisha" By Liza Dalby, the pictures are all in full color and there are many of them. Of all the books I have about geisha and maiko, including the ones in Japanese, I love the pictures in this book the best, as they are large and with many close ups. I especially enjoyed the pictures of all the kanzashi, kimono, dance classes, and different hairstyles. It is nice to see pictures of geisha and okaasan, as well as maiko. Most of my other books concentrate on pictures of maiko while talking about geisha. The text is very easy to read and is pretty informative. I think the picture on page 123 (of a tourist dressed as a maiko) is actually the author herself (compare the picture with the picture of the author on the back flap), which seems perfectly acceptable to me.