Yachiyo tayu (八千代太夫)
Yachiyo tayu was Shimabara tayu (the highest-ranking geisha in Shimabara, a geisha district in Kyoto), whose birth date was June 15, 1635, and death date is unknown. She came from Himeji, Harima Province, and her given name was Takako (Sonshi). Her childhood given name was Ishi (Seki). Her family name was Hatano.
In 1645, when at the age of 11, she was entrusted to the Fukuda family in Fushimiyanagi-cho (Chushojima), and then in 1648, when at the age of 14, she became "kakoi" (a female living in a male's second house), and her given name was changed to "Senko (Chiko)."
Later, she transferred to the Okumura family in Shimabara, and on April 18, 1649, she became the tayu at the age of 15. At first her professional name was "Kodayu," and later it was changed to "Yachiyo."
She is said to have been an outstandingly talented woman. Especially in calligraphy, she was so good that people praised her as a founder of her own school. In addition, she was excellent at all arts, including shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese banjo), koto (a long Japanese zither with thirteen strings), kokyu (a Chinese fiddle), shakuhachi (a vertical bamboo flute), kouta (a short song accompanied with shamisen), sado (tea ceremony), waka (Japanese poetry), haikai (seventeen-syllable verse) and renga (linked verse).
In 1654, she invited a lecturer from the center area of Kyoto and began to study Japanese literature, such as "Ise Monogatari" (The Tale of Ise), "Tsurezure gusa" (Essay in Idleness), "Kokin Wakashu" (A Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry) and "Genji Monogatari" (The Tale of Genji), but in 1658, the lecture was ended owing to the lecturer's illness.
It is said that Chinese people, who adored Yachiyo, wove the Yachiyo's crest of wreath & paulownia into gold brocade and that they brought it to Nagasaki in Japan. And it is said that the people of Yi Dynasty Korea drew the crest on china and that they exported it to Japan. In short, her name was also known abroad.
On January 21, 1659, when at the age of 24, she left the geisha district.
At present, a woman of Sumiya (a geisha house) in Shimabara, Kyoto, who calls herself "Yachiyo tayu," dresses up as tayu and shows her performances, such as the tea ceremony & the Japanese dancing.
Anecdote about the romance with Imperial Prince & Monk Ryojun