Mizuage

was a ceremony undergone by apprentice () and some (apprentice geisha) as part of their coming of age ceremony and graduation.

For , who had often already lost their virginity, a patron would pay for the exclusive privilege of being a new 's first customer; for who underwent , it formed part of a number of ceremonies and occasions used to mark graduation into geishahood, including symbolic changes in hairstyle and official visits to benefactors. Before the outlawing of prostitution in Japan, who underwent would see patrons and benefactors bid large sums of money for the privilege of taking their virginity, a sum of money the (the geisha house an apprentice was affiliated to) would take entirely.

In the present day, a 's graduation is known as , and is entirely non-sexual, though some older sources – such as the autobiography of Mineko Iwasaki, the geisha that author Arthur Golden used as inspiration for his character of Sayuri in the novel ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' – refer to the non-sexual graduation of to geishahood as . , and as an extension, exist in the modern day only through re-enactment parades, and do not include sex work as part of their re-enactment.

History

has been long connected with the loss of virginity of a , owing to the fact that some did undergo ceremonies to lose their virginity. for a would also include monetary sponsorship by the patron, intended to support and promote the 's debut to geisha status. Through this sponsorship of the apprentice, a patron would essentially purchase the right to take the 's virginity. The patron would often have no further relations with the young woman in question.

In the modern day, is a contentious issue, both within the geisha communities of Japan and elsewhere. The practice was outlawed following the introduction of the Anti-Prostitution Law in 1956, categorised under the "traffic in human flesh". Many geisha who came of age before the passing of the law went through the experience of , and though most geisha had no choice in the patron who took their virginity, with some instances of geisha being sold more than once, the practice of formed an important initiation into womanhood and the role of an independent geisha; according to the research of anthropologist Liza Dalby, though this process was generally not pleasant, for many, it was perceived as a natural stage in growing up, with trainees in the same age cohort who had not graduated viewed by their peers as having been somewhat left behind.

Post-1956 to present day

Mineko Iwasaki, former high-ranking Gion geisha, detailed her experience of in her autobiography, ''Geisha, a Life''. Describing her experience of graduation to geishahood with the term , Iwasaki described her experience as a round of formal visits to announce her graduation, including the presentation of gifts to related geisha houses and important patrons, and a cycle through five different hairstyles before graduating. This set of graduation experiences is generally referred to as in the modern day.

Dalby relays the change between pre- and post-1956 attitudes to within the geisha community through her first-hand accounts with the geisha mothers of Ponto-chō:

Today, all and geisha have full say over their personal choices regarding sex, and most begin training, attending banquets, and interacting with customers aged 18 – though they may start living at the as a (maids) for a few years before graduation to and then status.

Though customers attending geisha parties and banquets generally expect some level of convivial and low-key flirtation, a is likely to be considered off-limits as a younger and more vulnerable participant to such gatherings. are instead treated with generosity by guests cognisant of their relative inexperience at geisha parties.

In literature

Arthur Golden's novel ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' portrays as a financial arrangement in which a girl's virginity is sold to a " patron", generally someone who particularly enjoys sex with virgin girls, or merely enjoys the charms of an individual .

Former geisha Sayo Masuda describes in her 1956 autobiography ''Autobiography of a Geisha'' as sexual exploitation. Masuda describes being sold multiple times by her to men, ostensibly for the purposes of taking her virginity, under the pretence that she had not yet lost it. The transaction was explicitly a sexual arrangement, far removed from the ceremony of graduating into geishahood, netting the a large profit. Despite her personal experiences, Masuda argued against the outlawing of sex work in Japan, explaining that it provided a way for women to make an independent living when chosen as a profession, and through criminalisation, would merely be driven underground.

See also

* Virginity auction

References

External links

{{Portal, Japan

Remaking a memoir – A new autobiography, former geisha Mineko Iwasaki

Geisha
Japanese culture
Rites of passage
Sexual abstinence
Japanese words and phrases