For nearly 200 years, the geisha performing artists of Japan have been known for their distinctive appearance, yet today their music is much less familiar. Popular geisha singers, who rose from anonymity to stardom in early- to mid-20th century Japan, left a trove of sound and film recordings, which remain largely unexamined by scholars. This presentation will provide an overview of their cultural context and musical activities, tracing their historical association with the early modern sex trade and their role as artistic purveyors of songs promoting Japan’s prewar expansionism.

Researchers such as Hosokawa (2020), Lewis (2013) and Nordstrom (2022), document the importance of these female performers in the development of Japan’s mass media culture. Yet their creative power was not entirely positive. As hit songs transformed a few geisha singers into stars of unprecedented popularity, phonographic recording combined with early film to create a unique media synergy and became essential tools in the military mobilization of the imperial state as a collectivity (cf. Yamaki and Fukuda 1972; Yano and Tsujita 2015).

Geisha media artists were part of a media industry that supported efforts to shape Japan’s cultural identity through ‘new folk songs’ (shinminyō) starting in 1931, with composer Nakayama Shinpei being the progenitor of this important genre, as detailed by Patterson (2019). The popularity of songs that included ‘native’ Japanese musical elements, instruments and vocal styles thrived alongside more recognizably ‘modern’ (i.e., Western) Japanese popular music, making nuanced understanding of the work of these ‘traditional’ Japanese women media artists crucial.

Authors:
Gretchen Jude, University of Utah, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Gretchen Jude is currently Assistant Professor of Film and Media Arts at University of Utah, U.S.A., teaching sound design and audio media. She is scholar and practitioner of voice and field recording, with an emphasis on audio practice in Japan.

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