Fukagawa geisha is said to have originated from dancers in Edo. They moved to Fukagawa fearing fire, from the Great Fire of Akechi in 1657. Many samurai families, temples and merchants moved to Fukagawa as well, establishing a thriving area for the geisha to work in despite not receiving recognition from the shogunate like the...
Category: Fukagawa Geisha History – pre Meiji
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Fukagawa Geisha History – pre Meiji
From the Edo period, at first, geisha were all men but not women. During the mid-1700s, male geisha were hired to be entertainers for the parties in the Yoshiwara and somewhere else. However, later female entertainers started feeling they should be geisha too when they realized how popular male geisha was. So in 1751, the...
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The Origin of “Tatsumi”
As anyone looking into Fukagawa geisha will quickly find out, the geisha of Fukagawa were known by two names; one being the obvious title of “Fukagawa Geisha” and the other being the less straightforward misnomer, “Tatsumi Geisha”. Naturally, there’s not much of a story behind their first name, however the term “Tatsumi” has quite an...
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How Fukagawa Was Primed For Geisha
Fukagawa may have only been a small district in the history of geisha in Tokyo, however there are several historical aspects that make the Fukagawa geisha stand out, such as how the very beginning of female geisha is said to have originated within this districts borders. This major aspect of Geisha history makes it important...
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The Legendary Kikuya
Throughout all of geisha history there are a few names that withstand the tests of time and are passed down through the years as records of talented women who bore them. One of these names belongs to a young girl from edo-era Fukagawa whose renown and actions changed Japanese culture forever: Kikuya. To understand...