The female male Geisha

The world of Shichitaro Sakuragawa seems upside down. She is the only woman in a domain of men, something most working women can relate to. But the Taikomochi is widely known as a branch of the Geisha profession which itself is now an almost exclusively female occupation albeit it having a male origin before women became the default.

Once fulfilling many roles as jesters, consultants, artists and performers for the Daimyo, the main duties of the Taikomochi became those of storytellers and entertainers at court. At the dawn of the Edo Geisha, many Taikomochi worked closely with Oiran, taking over their tasks as artists as the courtesans artistry started to fade. Oiran prefered to work with Taikomochi as there was certainly no competition. When the Oiran went out of style, the male entertainers teamed up with the Geisha to liven up parties in the pleasure quarters and their approach was very different from their female counterparts: Taikomochi were a vital part of an outing for rich patrons as they could not only tell jokes and play drinking games but also take orders, provide their insight into the flower and willow world and negotiate an even more interesting evening for their clients. They could be lewd, more ridiculous and quirky than the elegant, Iki Geisha.

But the male Geisha never had a chance against the unique charm of the stylish and beautiful Geisha, so naturally their numbers were never as high with 600 nationwide during their peak compared to the tens of thousands of Geisha during their prime.

Asakusa is the home of the last Taikomochi these days. Gifu’s male entertainers like to be called Houkan and there is one in Kyoto: Arai-sama, now in his 70ies. But this vignette is about one Taikomochi in particular: Shichitaro.

The 33 year old found her way into the karyukai rather late as she was already in her early twenties when she debuted in 2010 as a Shikomi and then as a Minarai. Her Apprenticeship has taken her a total of 6 years, just as much time as many Geisha have to invest. During this time, she grew into her role, cutting her hair short, as short as she dared to go before risking looking like a buddhist nun. Since the Taikomochi originated from buddhist monks, it would have been a valid take on things. Sakuragawa is the family name of the famous Taikomochi of Asakusa so it was only a matter of time until she would be accepted into this circle and receive her own stage name. The Shichi- part of her name was gifted from her oniisan Yoneshichi, it’s the more popular kanji for Taikomochi nowadays.

Her work borrows many aspects of other specialized artists. On the one hand she dances and plays the shamisen, she sings and pours sake like her Geisha sisters. But she is also versed in the art of Rakugo, a highly stylized form of lone storytelling using only a fan and a tenugui as props to convey emotional and comical accounts, an artform with its own experts who are not associated with Geisha, more akin to stage actors. Shichitaro was well received into the prestigious hanamachi of Asakusa as the traditions of the Taikomochi are overlooked to say the least. Though when she first applied to train under her oniisan, the kenban was clearly against the idea of a female Taikomochi. But how were they to refuse a young person determined to study so hard?

So why did she decide to become the fool instead of the Geisha?

Well, being the only female Taikomochi has its perks: She is an absolutely unique addition to the entertainment style of Asakusa and she operates in her own little league. She has the freedom to be the outrageous joker without the burden of elegance and perfection, indicative of high class Geisha like her oneesan. She can be creative and incorporate a lot of her own character into her performance, a luxury many Geisha, especially younger ones in her age simply do not possess yet. She can even create her own skits while remaining true to Taikomochi style. And though her presence at osashiki might be the peak of extravagance even for Geisha patrons, she can cultivate a very exclusive clientele that enjoys her rare form of art. Not a bad thing at all.

But in the end the future of the Taikomochi is unclear. Just 40 years ago there were 13 Taikomochi working in Tokyo so the numbers are definitely dwindling. Some accomplished Taikomochi retire to become actors and musicians. Many young people prefer the high risk, high reward approach when venturing into the world of music and dance. Just as many young girls prefer to become starlets instead of Geisha. On the other hand Shichitaro has the right idea when she explains her wish to revive the Taikomochi traditions and keep their arts alive. Maybe the entertainment of the Taikomochi has to adapt to modern tastes just as the Geisha do. This notion has gone so far as to opening up the Asakusa kenban every tuesday evening to people interested in participating in Taikomochi training! All you have to do is bring a yukata, some tabi, a towel and 2500 yen for the entrance fee and you’re set. This technique seems to work as they do have a few young men interested in the apprenticeship every year, but none of them seem to keep up with the intense training and the uncertain way of life of an artist. But with a healthy dose of people like Shichitaro, the endeavor to revive the Taikomochi tradition seems achievable.

Sources: Miya.yoshi7741 on Instagram / keisen.ac.jp / higashi-tokyo.com