Behind the mask of a Geisha

 “I had the strange sensation of having lost all feeling in my face; every time I touched my cheek, I could feel only a vague sense of pressure from my finger. I did it so many times Auntie had to redo my makeup. Afterward as I studied myself in the mirror, a most peculiar thing happened. I knew that the person kneeling before the makeup stand was me, but so was the unfamiliar girl gazing back. I actually reached out to touch her. She wore the magnificent makeup of a geisha. Her lips were flowering red on a stark white face, with her cheeks tinted a soft pink. Her hair was ornamented with silk flowers and sprigs of un-husked rice.”

Arthur Golden – Memoirs of a geisha.

In the Western visualization, Japan is a very mysterious country, where the newest technology lives together with very ancient traditions, in surreal balance. 
It’s the country of sushi, of huge and crowded crossroads where people move like ants (the one in Shibuya area is very famous), of “anime”, of “manga”, of videogames, but Japanese cities host also many old traces of the past, like temples and tea rooms, gardens and precious fabric’s shops. And in this traditional atmosphere we can focus the figure of the geisha, covered in multicolored clothes. In the Western point of view, geisha could often be associated to the figure of the prostitute, but that’s a big mistake. 

The word “geisha” comes from two kanji, 芸 (gei) that means “art” and者 (sha)  that means “person”. So, she’s an artist, who knows very well traditional dances, the art of disguise, music and entertainment. Her look is very known, with her black hair, her ashy face, her multicolored kimono and her kind gestures. 

But not a lot of people know that everything in her gestures and look is chosen for its deep meaning. The choice of every detail in her kimono  has a specific reason that comes from many elements, like the age or the civil state. For this reason is easy to recognize a “maiko”, the apprentice, and a proper geisha.

Two "maiko", easy to recognize becouse of their long "obi"
 (the long  belt with a pillow behind them)

The most important element that make the geisha figure so peculiar, is the makeup. When she uses her makeup she’s not anymore a woman, but she’s a geisha. It’s a long and articulate process that changed many times and many ways in the past because of the cosmetic progress, but it still needs many steps.

•  The first step is putting a cream on the clean skin; it’s like a base for all the products that are going to be put on it. This cream has to be put all over the face, the shoulders, and in the area just on the bosom. Today they use a cream called “binsuke”, but until tha World War II it was very common to use a cream made of warbler’s droppings.
• The second step is the white foundation, named “oshiroi”. Thanks to the cosmetic progress, today is very easy to find proper products that last for a long time. But for centuries geisha used to apply on their skin a foundation called “Chinese argil”, a very toxic substance made of a big quantity of plumb. Until the last century it was very east to meet old women whose skin was yellow and covered of bubbles because of this poisoned cream. It takes a long time to apply the foundation. First it has to be put on face and neck carefully, and it also need to be fixed with a little sponge. Geisha use to leave the edges of the face natural, without foundation, becouse it gives drama to the makeup and it seems that they are wearing a mask. They also don’t put foundation on a little area behind the neck, drawing the shape of a W. This allows Japanese men to see a little bit of the woman’s skin, which is very sensual. 
•   The next step is the application of a red shade on cheeks and eyelids. The red color is very strong in young geisha and maiko, and it’s going to be lighter in their getting older.

• With a dark pencil  they use to draw the line of their eyebrows and the edges of the eyes. Today there are many kind of pencil, but for centuries geisha used to burn the point of a paulonia’s twig, to turn it into a charcoal.

• The last touch is the application of the lipstick. Centuries ago it was very used the “benibana”, a flower, to color the lips, that needed to be polished with crystal sugar. When they are apprentice they have to color just the downer lip. When they become mature women they can color both the lips.

So, the makeup of the geisha is a mask that covers her face, to let her dance and act for her public. She’s not a woman anymore, but she’s an artist. She sings, she plays, but she never shows up. That’s the main reason that make us so curious about Japan and its culture… everything is so mysterious that we don’t know where is the truth.