Buy an 芸者 calligraphy wall scroll here!
Personalize your custom “芸者” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “芸者” title below...
芸者 is the real basis for the way we spell geisha.
However, there are many more ways to refer to a woman that fills the role that westerners think of when they hear the word geisha.
In Japanese, these characters literally mean “artful person.” But in English, it might be better translated as “a person (woman) highly trained/accomplished in the arts.”
However, my Japanese dictionary says “a singing and dancing girl.”
Many will argue as to whether “geisha” = “prostitute” or not. My Japanese friends seem to have the opinion that a geisha is so highly trained in the art of playing musical instruments and dancing that the fact she might also be a prostitute is secondary to her performance on stage.
芸者 is a “Japanese only” term, they use a slightly different first character to express “geisha” in Chinese. Since this is a Japanese term, I have not included the Chinese version.
武芸者 is the Japanese Kanji title for “Martial Arts Master.” It suggests that you have reached at least the level of black belt and are probably to the level where you are ready to become an instructor.
Please consider carefully where you stand before ordering this phrase on a wall scroll. If you are not a master, this will make you look a bit foolish.
If you want to get this as a gift for your master at the dojo. Try to discreetly make sure this term is used in your school. Different schools and styles of Japanese martial arts use different terms. You may notice in the Romaji that the last two characters romanize as “geisha” which means “person skilled in arts” (what a geisha girl really is). The title here has the character for “martial,” “warrior,” and/or “military” in front of it. Therefore the literal translation is “martial art person.”
These Kanji are valid Chinese characters and Korean Hanja, but this title does not really make sense in Chinese and is not often used in Korean, though a Chinese or Korean would be able to guess the meaning by looking at the first and last characters.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 芸者 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
芸者 see styles |
geisha / gesha げいしゃ |
More info & calligraphy: Geisha |
武芸者 see styles |
bugeisha / bugesha ぶげいしゃ |
More info & calligraphy: Martial Arts Master |
内芸者 see styles |
uchigeisha / uchigesha うちげいしゃ |
geisha living in the establishment |
女芸者 see styles |
onnageisha / onnagesha おんなげいしゃ |
(See 男芸者) female entertainer; geisha |
枕芸者 see styles |
makurageisha / makuragesha まくらげいしゃ |
(1) (untalented) geisha who sells sex; (2) geisha who steals money from sleeping travellers |
男芸者 see styles |
otokogeisha / otokogesha おとこげいしゃ |
(See 太鼓持ち・1) male entertainer |
芸者屋 see styles |
geishaya / geshaya げいしゃや |
(See 置屋) geisha house |
女武芸者 see styles |
onnabugeisha / onnabugesha おんなぶげいしゃ |
(hist) female warrior |
検番芸者 see styles |
kenbangeisha / kenbangesha けんばんげいしゃ |
(See 検番) geisha belonging to a call-office (usually a skilled geisha) |
温泉芸者 see styles |
onsengeisha / onsengesha おんせんげいしゃ |
hot spring geisha; onsen geisha; geisha working in a hot spring resort |
羽織芸者 see styles |
haorigeisha / haorigesha はおりげいしゃ |
(colloquialism) (See 辰巳芸者) geisha from the Fukagawa red light district in Edo (Edo period) |
芸者遊び see styles |
geishaasobi / geshasobi げいしゃあそび |
being entertained by a geisha |
辰巳芸者 see styles |
tatsumigeisha / tatsumigesha たつみげいしゃ |
(archaism) geisha from the Fukagawa red-light district in Edo |
不見転芸者 see styles |
mizutengeisha / mizutengesha みずてんげいしゃ |
loose geisha |
オーライ芸者 see styles |
ooraigeisha / ooraigesha オーライげいしゃ |
(rare) geisha of loose morals; geisha who is easy to bed |
芸者を上げる see styles |
geishaoageru / geshaoageru げいしゃをあげる |
(exp,v1) to call in a geisha |
Variations: |
makurageisha / makuragesha まくらげいしゃ |
(1) (untalented) geisha who sells sex; (2) (See 枕探し) geisha who steals money from sleeping travellers |
Variations: |
machigeisha / machigesha まちげいしゃ |
town geisha; geisha not working in a red-light district |
Variations: |
edogeisha / edogesha えどげいしゃ |
(archaism) Edo geisha; geisha living and working inside Edo (not one of the red-light districts on its outskirts) |
Variations: |
korobigeisha / korobigesha ころびげいしゃ |
fallen geisha; geisha who prostitutes herself |
Variations: |
uchigeisha / uchigesha うちげいしゃ |
geisha living and working in a restaurant, inn, etc. (as opposed to in a geisha house); in-house geisha |
Variations: |
onnageisha / onnagesha おんなげいしゃ |
(See 男芸者) female entertainer; geisha |
Variations: |
tokogeisha / tokogesha とこげいしゃ |
fallen geisha; geisha who prostitutes herself |
Variations: |
bugeisha / bugesha ぶげいしゃ |
(1) master of martial arts; (2) practitioner of martial arts |
Variations: |
otokogeisha / otokogesha おとこげいしゃ |
(See 太鼓持ち・1) male entertainer |
Variations: |
geishaya / geshaya げいしゃや |
(See 置屋) geisha house |
Variations: |
geisha / gesha げいしゃ |
geisha; professional female entertainer, usu. at traditional banquets |
Variations: |
geishaoageru / geshaoageru げいしゃをあげる |
(exp,v1) to call in a geisha |
Variations: |
geishakai / geshakai げいしゃかい |
hiring a geisha |
Variations: |
geishaagari / geshagari げいしゃあがり |
ex-geisha; former geisha |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Geisha | 芸者 | geisha | yún zhě / yun2 zhe3 / yun zhe / yunzhe | yün che / yünche |
Martial Arts Master | 武芸者 | bugeisha | wǔ yún zhě wu3 yun2 zhe3 wu yun zhe wuyunzhe | wu yün che wuyünche |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.