The picture of the geisha might be maiko, whose outfits can be arranged to look even more youthful than usual -- most notably with shoulder hems taken in, like children who're a few inches shorter (and therefore have arms not quite long enough) than their kimonos are designed for -- though how low the obijime argues against that.
I found a few other pictures of Meiji women, labeled geisha, on vintage postcards for sale. The postcards show both styles, but from what I can tell the obi are worn lower for more formal/sedate/mature looks. http://www.yamatoku.jp/classic/description.asp?tno=80655534
The smiling Ainu woman... her necklaces look awfully like Kusuri-uri's. Other than that, the only thing I know about Ainu is that the women wear girdles that men are never allowed to see, embroidered with signs passed down through the family line. I would presume they're also magical in nature, like the embroidery on the outerwear.
The sword head looks like a shishi (Okinawan shisa, Chinese rui shi, fu dogs, etc.), aka koma-inu, which wiki says is common across the Far East and was imported from China. But the horns and color seem to point more at oni... in fact, he doesn't look all that different from the picture of the Buddhist oni you've got, or the Yu Yu Hakusho oni I started out in fandom with.
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Date: 3 Dec 2008 04:59 am (UTC)I found a few other pictures of Meiji women, labeled geisha, on vintage postcards for sale. The postcards show both styles, but from what I can tell the obi are worn lower for more formal/sedate/mature looks. http://www.yamatoku.jp/classic/description.asp?tno=80655534
The smiling Ainu woman... her necklaces look awfully like Kusuri-uri's. Other than that, the only thing I know about Ainu is that the women wear girdles that men are never allowed to see, embroidered with signs passed down through the family line. I would presume they're also magical in nature, like the embroidery on the outerwear.
The sword head looks like a shishi (Okinawan shisa, Chinese rui shi, fu dogs, etc.), aka koma-inu, which wiki says is common across the Far East and was imported from China. But the horns and color seem to point more at oni... in fact, he doesn't look all that different from the picture of the Buddhist oni you've got, or the Yu Yu Hakusho oni I started out in fandom with.