The Geisha Mystique

[rspete]

Reading the book "Memories of a Geisha" and learning many interesting bits of information about Japanese culture has made me wonder whether the Legendary Geisha in Shogun in her role as an assassin is accurate. Can anybody fill me in on this one? To me it seems somewhat plausible, though unlikely, that a warlord can have these women train in the arts of stealth, espionage, and assassination when they already have so much the must master before they can become a geisha of any standing.

[Pretz]

I was under the impression the line between Geisha and prostitute was very much blurred..

[Vlad The Impaler]

well basically geisha was implemented in STW for ending the game and preventing to play much longer after 1610 lets say which is more inaccurate than the role of geisha; and think that a women ( especially a beautiful one ) can get easier close by an powerful general or daimyo than a regular assasin ( ninja or whatever) http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Vrashk]

I reckon the geishas in the game were "replacements" for the ... uhm.. *Digs through his mind*.. Aha..
Kunoichi I think, who were female ninjas often using their charms to get close to their victims.

[Lechev]

To clear thing a bit pertaining the Geisha. In Japanese the translation for Geisha is " The song Artise " and No, the Geishas are not hooker as depicted in some Porno website or VCDs.

The Geishas are well train in music and traditional japanese dance and their job is to provide some entetainment in a party or drinking session organise by the samurai feudal host or some rich dude. I would rather compare them to modern hostess in a japanese KTV lounge although modern hostess do offer " special service ".

The Geisha in STW is actually a imaginary stereotype which is often shown in some Japanses ninja series whereby they not only charmed but also kills the bad guys.

Geisha, i believed only become popular during the Edo period even though they already exist during the Sengoku Jidai. Btw, I m not a Japanese but I had a keen interest in their history especially the period of Sengoku Jidai.
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Sjakihata]

I think the duty of the Geshias were to please their master. In whatever way they could master.

[Taohn]

Vrashk is right. It would have been easy for a kunoichi to impersonate a geisha, being well trained in many geisha arts and customs.

[Tachikaze]

It was not necessary that a geisha be well-trained for assassination or espionage. The fact that she was a geisha meant that she had special priviledges and was close enough to the target to eliminate him or watch him, without a lot of skills outside of what she had learned in her training as a geisha.

Don't be too quick to associate geisha with prostitution. Geisha were some of the most independent, rich, and powerful women of pre-Showa Jidai. They generally had lovers of their own, very carefully chosen.

I believe geisha were later than the Sengoku Jidai. I think they are from the Edo (Tokugawa) period. I will check on that.