Dignified and sunken first flower / Tranquil struggle of the first oiran-kai (late 18th century)

Dignified and sunken first flower / Tranquil struggle of the first oiran-kai (late 18th century)

Yoshiwara in the late Edo period was a "theater of social interaction" where ritual and aesthetics intersected, transcending the place of lust. At the "first oiran-kai," when a courtesan welcomed a guest for the first time, the manner in which the oiran showed their dignity in silence, without exchanging a glance or a word, was highly valued. In that silent time, there lurked a sense of pride and tactfulness, and the beauty of "ma" (pause), which the Edo people valued, was alive and well. When the silence became too tense, taiko drummers and geisha would loosen the atmosphere with puns and songs, creating a place where tension and comedy coexisted. Yoshiwara, as the forefront of merchant culture, was a space where the subtleties of emotion were sublimated into art. The oiran were performers with education and artistic skills, and the silence of the first meeting was a place of expression that transcended words. Although later generations would say that "Hatsukai mute" was an
exaggeration, it was the ideal of the Edo people, a spirit that found beauty in silence and blank spaces.