Part 8: CHAPTER 4: A New Life - [Part II]

Musashi meets up with the Mysterious Monk at the gates of Gion and sees what life is like for the rich and fabulous.

News

Sorry for the long delay, but I've got a few more videos of backlog now and some free time coming up, so more updates are on the way.

Funny story: I had this sitting on my hard drive for so long, complete, sans commentary, that I apparently accidentally deleted the source files some time ago. That means that I couldn't go back and add voice or do any sound editing without re-recording and re-subbing the entire thing. Since this update is about 80% cutscenes, I figured putting it up without commentary would be good enough. If I'm wrong, feel free to berate me. The next one will be better.


Some historical notes:

The monk talks about the tenjin and the tayuu being the second-highest and the highest rank of yuujo, respectively. He notes that the former has two attendants while the latter has four. These were indeed real life ranks, and the lifestyle and apperance of these high-class courtesans is based on those of the oiran from the Edo Period into the Meiji Era.



Oiran is a much more well-known word in modern Japan compared to yuujo, and present-day versions exist, although they do not perform sexual acts. Mainly they do the work of geisha, but with much more strict formality, and appear in public festivals more or less as tourist attractions. An oiran or yuujo can be distinguished from geisha by the ornate hairpins they wear and, presumably, the young kamuro attending them. Geisha wear less rigid and simpler hair ornaments, and much more understated clothing. But the surest way to recognize one is that her obi is tied in the front, facilitating.... access.... by customers.