Shirabyōshi#Gi.C5.8D and Hotoke

The name {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}} may be interpreted as "white beat" or "simple rhythm"; it may refer to the white {{Transliteration|ja|suikan}} robe they wore, or alternatively the {{nihongo||拍子|hyōshi}} rhythm of the {{nihongo3|{{lit|trendy}}|今様|imayō}} songs that they sang and danced to, which were also performed by {{Transliteration|ja|asobi}}.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTMrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |title=The Gei of Geisha: Music, Identity and Meaning |first= Kelly M.|last= Foreman |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=9781351544092 |page=42 |date=2008}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6iMDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT96 |title=A History of Japanese Theatre|editor= Jonah Salz |isbn= 9781316395325| publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2016}} {{nihongo||白|Shira}} means "white", although scholars believe that it should be interpreted as {{nihongo|"plain"|素||extra=also pronounced {{Transliteration|ja|shira}}}}; in this interpretation {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}} therefore refers to the lack of musical accompaniment apart from the rhythmic {{Transliteration|ja|hyōshi}} percussion.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=soJ1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |title=Dancer, Nun, Ghost, Goddess: The Legend of Giō and Hotoke in Japanese Literature, Theater, Visual Arts, and Cultural Heritage|page=29 |first= Roberta |last=Strippoli |date=20 November 2017|isbn=9789004356320 |publisher=Brill}}

{{Transliteration|ja|Shirabyōshi}} appeared during the mid-Heian period (794–1185). During a time of transition of power and societal change, a change in fortune for some aristocratic families resulted in the daughters of these families needing to perform as {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}} in order to survive. As educated and cultured ladies, they become a superior group of courtesans noted for their singing, dancing and poetry as well as beauty.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4T-kJB8vKvcC&pg=PA6 |title=Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan |first= Cecilia |last=Segawa Seigle |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |date= 1993|isbn= 978-0824814885 |page=6}} {{Transliteration|ja|Shirabyōshi}} became popular as entertainers in the 12th century, and many women then chose to be {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}} because of their popularity. A {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}} was always a woman who dressed in men's attire.{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/ominobu/dance.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230002219/http://www.geocities.com/ominobu/dance.htm |archivedate=30 December 2008 |title=Shirabyoshi: Heian dancers }} They were popular in the late Heian and early Kamakura period in the 12th century, but during the 13th century, their status declined.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XgkqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA305 |title=Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History |date=14 July 2017 |editor1-link=Karl Friday |editor= Karl F. Friday |page=305 |isbn=9781315170473|publisher=Routledge}} They disappeared around the end of the Kamakura or the beginning of the Muromachi period in the 14th century.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=soJ1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 |title=Dancer, Nun, Ghost, Goddess: The Legend of Giō and Hotoke in Japanese Literature, Theater, Visual Arts, and Cultural Heritage|pages=26–30 |first= Roberta |last=Strippoli |date=20 November 2017|isbn=9789004356320 |publisher=Brill}}

It has been said{{by whom|date=January 2022}} that the {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}} culture greatly influenced Noh drama by bringing forth {{Transliteration|ja|kusemai}}, an unorthodox form of dancing, and introducing it to Noh.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

{{Transliteration|ja|Shirabyōshi}} were recognizable for their clothing, which was Shinto-inspired. It was a man's outfit and featured the following:{{cite web |url=http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/wayou/26.htm |title=Examining a shirabyoshi outfit }}

• A {{Transliteration|ja|tate-eboshi}} hat; tall black hat worn at court
• A {{Transliteration|ja|tachi}} a samurai's sword
• Red {{Transliteration|ja|hakama}}, worn primarily by men
• White {{Transliteration|ja|suikan}} and red {{Transliteration|ja|suikan}}, a male Shinto outfit
• A {{Transliteration|ja|kawahori}} hand fan, which men carried

{{Transliteration|ja|Shirabyōshi}} also wore {{Transliteration|ja|oshiroi}}, white face makeup. This would cover their face and neck, and their eyebrows would be painted higher on the forehead ({{Transliteration|ja|hikimayu}}). Their hair was worn simply, and was left long and pulled back into a loose ponytail secured with a ribbon called a {{Transliteration|ja|takenaga}}.

The {{Transliteration|ja|tate-eboshi}} hat and the sword were only worn by {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}} in the early period, and in later eras, they danced only in white {{Transliteration|ja|suikan}}, which gave rise to the belief that {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}} were named after the robe they wore.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSNpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA147 |title=The Life of Ancient Japan: Selected Contemporary Texts Illustrating Social Life and Ideals before the Era of Seclusion |page=147 |first= Kurt |last=Singer|publisher=Routledge|date= 2002|isbn= 978-1903350010 }}

{{Transliteration|ja|Shirabyōshi}} songs were mostly based on Buddhist prayers. The songs were usually slow and rhythmic, with great meaning in the words. They also would sing {{Transliteration|ja|imayō}} songs, which were poems using images of nature to convey meanings of circumstances in their lives. These songs typically had lines of seven and five syllables. Trademarks of their music included their voices, the drum and the flute.

Shizuka, commonly referred to as Shizuka Gozen, was the concubine and lover of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the tragic hero of many folk legends. She was possibly born in 1168, and is popular in folk legends herself. She and Yoshitsune met and fell in love, but by the time she had become pregnant, Yoshitsune was on the run for his life. Shizuka was captured and taken to the {{Transliteration|ja|shōgun}}, Minamoto no Yoritomo in Kamakura, Yoshitsune's older brother. There she gave birth to a son, who was, according to some versions of the tales, promptly killed by his uncle Yoritomo,{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Ginza/8930/Asuka/mis3.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318163630/http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Ginza/8930/Asuka/mis3.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-03-18 |title=Shizuka Gozen }} but survived in others.

In some tales, Shizuka was then forced to perform a dance for Yoritomo and his wife Hōjō Masako at a temple celebration, where she sang a song of praise for her lover Yoshitsune. This greatly angered Yoritomo, and he intended on having her put to death but Masako begged for her life. Shizuka was freed and sought to follow Yoshitsune, but she learned of his death. She became a nun and died in 1189. Her song is famous and is still sung today by geisha.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

The story of Giō and Hotoke, featured in the {{Transliteration|ja|Heike Monogatari}}, tells of the most famous {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}}, Giō, who had won the heart of Taira no Kiyomori, being ousted by a younger and more talented {{Transliteration|ja|shirabyōshi}} named Hotoke. Kiyomori cruelly sent Giō away, which grieved her greatly, and Hotoke was constantly ridden with guilt. A year later, Giō was asked to perform a dance for Hotoke at Kiyomori's command, who actually intended on humiliating her. In her grief and humiliation, Giō, her sister and their mother became nuns seeking for a happier life. A few years later, the guilt was too great for Hotoke and she too became a nun. She asked for forgiveness from Giō, who willingly forgave her and the four women lived out the rest of their days in prayer.{{cite web |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/gio/gio02.htm |title=The Story of Gio|work=Internet Sacred Text Archive }}

• {{Transliteration|ja|Asobi}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Shirabyōshi}}

• [http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/wayou/26new.htm A brief explanation of shirabyoshi]
• [http://www.japaneseprints.net/viewitem.cfm?ID=1478 Japan print gallery: shirabyoshi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929045927/http://www.japaneseprints.net/viewitem.cfm?ID=1478 |date=2007-09-29 }}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140419014246/http://www.immortalgeisha.com/history_01.php Shirabyoshi on Immortal Geisha]}}

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Category:Theatre of Japan

Category:Dances of Japan

Category:Cross-dressing

Category:Sexuality in Shinto

Category:Buddhism and sexuality

Category:Types of geisha