You might want to have a look at Moyocco Anno's critically acclaimed manga "Sakuran" (English translation available from Vertical Press), the rather "All About Eve"-ish saga of the career of a woman who is sold to a brothel as a maid as a child and rises to be one of their star courtesans. Unfortunately, this is also set much later than the period you're writing about.* But it might be of interest for its attempt to portray the courtesans' own attitudes and points of view--not to mention the frequently combative rivalries between the women (e.g., an older co-worker who is helping the protagonist prepare for an important debut-type appearance subtly sabotages her newbie competitor by giving her a laughably outmoded hairstyle
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That's a great recommendation! Thanks! I actually think I may have read it at some point a few years ago, but I'll go back and reread it (and analyze the heck out of it).
Ooh, I'll see if I can figure out what the collection might be that she refers to (I'm sure I can at least get a title if I hunt long enough)! I wasn't aware of the interview - thanks a lot for cluing me in.
There's actually a slightly more detailed description of the book and Anno's research process in Part 2 of my article about Moyocco Anno at New York Comic-Con in the November 12, 2012 issue of the feminist comics and pop culture webzine *Sequential Tart.* The title of the article is "New York Comic-Con 2012: Moyocco Anno on Clueless Boys, Career Women, and Courtesans," by Margaret O'Connell. (I'd include the url, but that usually seems to result in LiveJournal's categorizing the post as spam.)
Handbooks and all are well, but I think you should read japanese novels which takes place in that kind of places. Like some works of Nagai Kafu, or Jirô Taniguchi. Lots of authors of the early 20th century, in Japan, loved to pass time in those places and ejoyed themselves very much there.. and wrote a lot about it !
It's not 1300, but it's almost the same I guess : tea houses as brothels in red quarters, etc. Thoses places are from veru ancient traditions ^^ May be you'll find some intels in other japanese historical novels (jidai shôsetsu) which takes place in 1300. :)
I will if I can find any, certainly. The main problem I have with those kinds of books (which I do love reading, for any country/culture) is finding translated copies. ^^; Ooh, I haven't heard of those authors, but thanks for the suggestions! I'll see what I can find
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This is not directly about your topic, but Japanese Garden Design by Marc Keane gives an overview of how Japanese gardens and aesthetics have changed over the past 2000 years. The aesthetics and designs from the various time periods are all different from each other. It might be a good source for when you want to describe the surroundings.
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Ooh, I'll see if I can figure out what the collection might be that she refers to (I'm sure I can at least get a title if I hunt long enough)! I wasn't aware of the interview - thanks a lot for cluing me in.
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It's not 1300, but it's almost the same I guess : tea houses as brothels in red quarters, etc. Thoses places are from veru ancient traditions ^^
May be you'll find some intels in other japanese historical novels (jidai shôsetsu) which takes place in 1300. :)
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