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in paying the on, his or her reputation will be threatened. Japanese people are very concerned about keeping up a good image in front of other people. They would
like to avoid doing anything that would bring shame to themselves and their families 86.
In doing gimu, one is limited to certain people to whom they have contacts and close relationships. The implementation of gimu itself is unconditional and
limitless in amount and in duration of repayments. Those who are not able to do his or her gimu will lose his or her face and others’ supports in the society.
2. Review of Geisha
In order to clarify the understanding about geisha, the writer wants to discuss the existence of geisha in Japanese society. The writer divides the
discussion into three parts, they are the history of geisha, the description of geisha and the last part is the world of geisha.
a. History of Geisha
According to Lehmann, geisha is firstly known around the middle of Edo
period about 1600’s up to 1858. The term ‘geisha’ is originally applied to the Kyoto court male musicians and other professional male entertainers. In Kyoto,
the geisha may be called as geiko. Geisha became very popular in the 18
th
and 19
th
centuries, and still exist until today, although their number is getting smaller. Today, geisha are exclusively female. The term ‘geisha’ used for calling a female
professional entertainer was very first used in Kyoto in 1751 and in Edo, now Tokyo, in 1762 92-93.
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The rise of the geisha’s existence and prostitution could not be simply mentioned as a reflection of men’s desire, but merely because of there were many
economic problems in the society. At that time, many poor people sold their daughter for such economic reasons. In her book entitled The Japanese Women,
Iwao stated that in pre war periods, very poor farming families were often forced to sell their daughters into government-licensed pleasure districts. The prettier
ones might be taken by the okiya, but the less lucky ended up in any ordinary brothels. They would become the properties of the okiya or the brothel. Those
girls only could be released if they were bought by another okiya or brothel or by someone who wished to ‘marry’ them or ‘use’ them exclusively. In the okiya,
those girls were required to work hard as maids and if the owner of the okiya or ‘the mother’ regarded them as good investments, they would be trained as geisha.
It means that they should obey the okiya’s rules and never tried to run away from the okiya. If they run away and got caught, there would be no chance for them to
be geisha and they would be maids for the rest of their life 154. Perkins stated that geisha as an occupational category originated in the
18
th
century in the ‘floating world’ of government-licensed pleasure quarters of large Japanese cities, such as the Yoshiwara in Edo former name for Tokyo,
where geisha were hired to entertain at parties for courtesans and their clients. By the 19
th
century, geisha were considered as trendsetters, influenced fashions with their elegant style and described as iki or chic. They also inspired the literary,
musical and graphic arts, and were painted by many artists of woodblock prints 111.
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As time goes by, the amount of geisha or geiko was getting smaller. In her book, The World of the Geisha; Aihara stated that according to the statistic
recorded on 31
st
July 1999, there are only 190 okiya remaining in Kyoto, employing 195 geiko and 55 maiko 10.
b. Description of Geisha
