Documentary movie on the last living geisha of the Yoshiwara district.
Friday, October 30, 2015
3:30pm – 6pm
Asian Centre Auditorium, 1871 West Mall, Vancouver
Brief presentations on geisha and Edo culture by director Makoto Yasuhara and Edo specialist Kenji Watanabe, followed by a screening of Minako.
Minako: Last Geisha of the Yoshiwara
Director Makoto Yasuhara spent six years getting to know and document the life of a practicing geisha of the Yoshiwara district of Tokyo. Until Minako’s death in 2010 at age 90, she was the last living geisha (literally “a practitioner of the arts”) of the Yoshiwara, the only licensed area for prostitution in the old city of Edo (present Tokyo). Yoshiwara was once occupied by courtesans and those versed in traditional arts. Following World War II, the district was officially closed, but the cultural traditions lived on through the work of geisha like Minako.
This screening is free of charge and all are welcome.
Co-sponsored by the the Department of Asian Studies, Centre for Japanese Research, and TomoeArts.