The Cordova daily times., 1922-01-07

TOXIC, Jan G. From the thin barred windows of the tiny home of
 the geisha, in Japanese cites, the odd | note of the samisen, Japans most typical musical instrument, is becom- ing less noticeable to the passerby. An institution in Japan, the geisha
 CT for years; she has entertained the foreigner of importance and has been the cause of feuds, of political quar-
 rels and of intrigues in Japanese pub.
 lie life. With her heavily-oiled black
 hair arranged to stand high on her
 head, her fanatic hair ornaments re-
 sembling in some ways the trinkets which adorn the American child's Christmas tree, her kimono of red and
 yellow, of blue and gold, she has been the bright picture of the Orient, the inspiration of the poet and the play
 thing of the new rich of her native land,
 High prices are the cause of the de-
 cline in the Japanese geishas pros
 perity, During the period from 1914
 to 1918, when Japan, because of the
 demands of the great war, pushed out
 industrially and paid high prices for
 labor, fortunes grew by leaps and
 bounds. There was the need of the
 "rich mans plaything," the geisha,
 her costly parties and the wines that
 are a part of the true geisha evening.
 For the geisha has a distinction in
 that she is a means of entertainment.
 She poses, and she sings with the odd
 nasal tones that are considered music
 in none of the Western countries of
 the world. She is both the musical comedy of the American and the mu- sic-hall performer of the Britisher, as far as the Japanese is concerned, and
 her costly abis (rare old brocades used as wide kimono belts) are the
 
 but prouder sisters. After the lanc- ing and the wine there is the oppOr- tunity for the foreign visitor to choose his favorite among the Japanese wom- en who have amused him. If he please& her. if his purse is of sufficient big ness he may call again. But that is all. There is none of the sordid de- tail. none fthe crudeneSS which
 marks the woman of the underworld in many nations.
 Reports from one Japanese city, in
 which the geisha business flourished during the great war, indicate tho length to which the geisha's popu larity has declined In one months time the 1900 registered geishas in Kobe dropped to 1033. Tn another
 month this number dropped to S19, will be still further reduced. There is no place in the budget of the one-time extravagant manufacturer for the costly geisha dinner of 1915 and 1916. His foreign guests must be content with a formal dinner at the home of
 his Japanese host; if the old subject of the geisha is mentioned there is
 an attempt at once to turn the subject into different channels, and the geisha party which the traveller so much de- sired is found to be impossible.
 So serious have the problems of the geisha become in Tokio that one or two of the places in this city most fa- nous for it's geisha entertainments are on the point of closing. In Kobe several hundred geishas met recently and formed what has been known as
 the Central Geisha Guild of Kobe,
 Yukidama, Kafuga, kokichi, Oim matsu and Hsashi, all veteran geishas of the, city, were present at this meeting
 and all were deeply interested ill the statements of others that the geisha business, because of labor troubles and the increasing cost of living, was | really on the decline. Advice was given the geishas present as to how l best they might improve their chosen line of business, and the meeting ad-
 journed after each geisha was pre- --------.-----.----- -