Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Smiling Geisha


The photographer is unknown, but possibly K. Ogawa or K. Tamamura.

T
his shot is one of at least 50, and possibly 100 or more images of the same Geisha in all kinds of poses from the ridiculous to the sublime. Her range of expressions and poses is great.

There are few postcards that give her Geisha name as "MISS TOKIMATSU". So, until more is known, that will have to do. But among Western collectors, she is generally called 'The Smiling Geisha" -- and in Japan she is now generally called "EMIKO". This name was coined by well-known Photo Collector and Historian ISHIGURO. Back in the 1990s he published a small paperback book containing several photographs of her modeling in poses such as seen above.

"EMIKO" is simply a combination of two Japanese written characters for "SMILING [or LAUGHING] CHILD [or GIRL]". Thanks to Mr. Ishiguro's book, the name "Emiko" was soon adopted by collectors throughout Japan."

Via: Okinawa Soba's photostream

No comments:

Post a Comment