W HAT GOT ME STARTED LOOKING AT GEISHA PHOTOS, I do not know, but I suppose that all this talk of sisters these last months since founding TSP has me seeing sisterhoods everywhere. And when I first discovered the breathtaking vintage-photo collection of Rob Oechsle, or Okinawa_Soba as he is called on Flickr, including many images of geisha, I knew that without question the women depicted were a sisterhood: “the solidarity of women based on shared conditions, experiences, or concerns,” as defined by Merriam-Webster. Yes, the geisha definitely qualify on all fronts.
The photos in the slideshow below are from the Flickr photostream of Rob, an American citizen who, until recently, worked as a professional photographer in Okinawa. He has an archive of nearly 60,000 photos of “Old Japan,” amassed before the days of the internet for use in Japanese film, print and broadcast media. Many of the images are from enigmatic Japanese photographer T. Enami, whose geisha photos are simply amazing, and beautifully haunting at times. I hope you’ll discover them further on Okinawa_Soba’s Flickr stream, as I find myself doing again and again.
We asked Rob to share anything he knew about the sisterhood aspect of geisha and their apprentice counterparts, maiko.
We were surprised at the answer:
“Do you know,” he wrote to The Sister Project, “I’ve never actually read anything that discusses the ‘sisterhood’ or camaraderie of the geisha and maiko. However, being in such a specialized situation that kept them and their ‘guilds’ separate from others seems to automatically assume that ‘sisterhoods’ of the most deep and lasting kind would have developed amongst them.
“As you can see by looking through the Geisha and Maiko images,” he continued, “there are plenty of them that show a closeness in their groups of two or three. Although we know many of them are posed, these posings seem to reflect the types of feelings of ‘sisterhood’ that most likely existed.
“It would be more difficult to take some of those photos if some feeling of friendship or fun did not exist in reality outside the studio.”
Rob ought to know: Besides his expertise in photography and “Old Japan,” Rob knows a thing or two (or three) about sisterhoods:
“Of course, I am a bit biased here,” he says, referring to the inferences he just drew for us, “having had the pleasure of raising my own little “sisterhood.” Meet Rob’s three daughters.
A GALLERY FROM OKINAWA SOBA’S COLLECTION
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First time here? Here's the idea: TSP is a network of blogs about the many facets of the word sister, and the concept of sisterhood. A sisterhood of sister blogs, you could say. Whatever sister means to you, from identical twin to sister-in-law (or in-friendship or in-feminism), we’ll make room to listen in about it or express it on TSP. Like the slogan up top says, “Don’t you have something to say to your sister?” We've got galleries of art and literature by and about sisters, and a Sisterpedia of sisterly trivia...but now we're getting ahead of ourselves. The quick study: 
As the suffix of its name suggests, 
No surprise, really, that sisterhood, often life’s longest relationship and always one of its most important, has been the Muse for so much creative self-expression by women, and also by men. 
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I found this collection of geisha photos particularly fascinating and timely as I prepare to direct a production of Madame Butterfly for Lake George Opera. To me, the most compelling feature is how very young the geisha, and especially, the Maiko, are. Thanks for sharing these.
HB
Welcome, Helena. Be sure to go see Okinawa Soba’s whole world…an unbelievable collection. I am glad this proved timely for you, and touched you as they do me. See you soon.
Marion,
I just read the informationon foot binding. This is definately an historical sisterhood story. No longer in practice, it was the maiming of billions of girls over 1,000 years. Thank you for finding this wonderful website and amazing photographs.
The beautiful textures and colors of what they are wearing is so different that what we wear. A pure feast for the eyes.
Thank you for the very kind story. Your take on the “sisterhood” aspect of this often misunderstood part of Japan’s culture was quite original. As I read over the words, I found a new appreciation for the young women pictured in the old photographs. Thanks for the link to my three daughters. However, it’s much worse than that — I have three sisters, too ! No matter where I go, I am constantly outvoted ! ;-) Please keep up the great work in all that you do at TSP.
Okinawa Soba’s photo collection is one of the highlights of Flickr. And his knowledge of Japanese customs and photo history is unsurpassed. I am so glad you discovered his geisha pictures and are sharing them with more of the world.
@Anne, you are welcome. My grandmother, Marion, for who my sister is named, got me started on the love of things from Asia, being a big collector of things as she was, and when I saw Okinawa Soba’s photos it fanned that old fire, I think.
Welcome, Rob, and we do thank you so many times over for the collection that you share on Flickr and elsewhere. I am laughing now to think of the women-in-threes who surround you at every turn…I would love to know what fate or magic or planetary aspect brought you triple sisterhoods times two! You have been so generous, and we sisters are your biggest new fans.
Roz: So nice to see you. I wonder if it was through your own amazing Flickr world, when you shared the mystery twins with us months back, that I first found Rob? Possible…you know how it is, you start somewhere and then click people’s groups and contacts and suddenly there you are…in Old Japan. :)