Sakuran

I came across the movie Sakuran, downloaded and watched the film while loafing one Sunday afternoon. Based on a manga by Moyocco Anno, the movie tells the rise of a young kamuro (brothel maid), who was sold into the red light district of Yoshiwara, into an oiran, (a high class prostitute…or courtesan…depending on how one looks at it), and eventually into a tayū (the head oiran).

But the movie is not really about that unusul success story. Rather, it is about a not so typical love story which in itself is a revelation of how the Japanese view love, life, struggle, and the more thorny issues of prostitution and poverty.

The protagonist, played by J-pop idol Anna Tsuchiya, is portrayed to be rebellious and unconventional. She swore that she will walk out of the brothel one day when the only Sakura tree in Yoshiwara comes to bloom.  The allusion, interestingly, is an irony for the dry tree is known to shed neither leaves nor flowers and in those days it would be unlikely for women in the water districts to escape their cages unless they were bought out of the shackles by a rich patron.

Like Zhang Ziyi’s character in Memoirs of a Geisha,Tsuchiya’s Oiran fell in love only to realize that such is foolishness in these quarters. Unfortunately, if I go on, I would spoil the fun so I suggest readers to see for themselves.

In my opinion, one of the most memorable scenes in the movie is that part where an old “regular” comes to visit the oiran after years of absence. The old fart, who happened to be the Oiran’s first customer as a hikkomi (prostitute in training), is now obviously senile. But it is apparent that a deeper bond exists between them, a relationship which was portrayed so intensely I have never seen quite anything like it in Filipino movies.

“I remember you saying you will walk out of here when the Sakura in Inari shrine blooms,” says the old man. “Yes, but obviously that will never happen. That sakura is doomed and will never bear flowers,” the oiran retorts. “Who told you?” the old man replies smiling. “There isn’t a sakura that doesn’t bear flowers.” Then he dies in her arms. Afterwards, the story progresses to its interesting climax.

By the way, despite some similarities in costumes, an oiran (花魁) is different from a geisha. The word, which consists of the characters  花 meaning “flower”, and 魁 meaning “leader” or “first,” refers to a first class courtesan. The profession started when the feudal government restricted prostitution to certain walled quarters some distance away from the city.Supposedly, a courtesan’s birth rank held no distinction (most of them were sold into the profession  practically because of their parents’ poverty in the first place) but there arose a strict hierarchy according to beauty, character, educational attainments and artistic skills.  Among the oiran, the tayū (太夫)was considered the highest ranking courtesan, considered suitable for the daimyo. A tayu is said to have attained a certain level of distinctin that only clients of considerable wealth and social status can hope to patronize her.

The geisha, on the other hand, practiced the common entertainments enjoyed by the people of that time, and were much more accessible to the casual visitor. Their popularity grew rapidly and eclipsed that of the oiran. The geisha brought to the public the traditional ways of the oiran, sans the sexual aspect. The oirans are definitely gone. But if you walk around Kyoto these days, you may still chance upon a few remaining women still currently practicing their traditional arts (of course without the sex) more as a means to preserve the cultural heritage than anything else.