Sada Yakko – The Geisha who captivated Europe

For many years, the artistic heritage left by Sada Yakko in Europe was overshadowed, even completely overlooked. However, in recent years several publications have given it back its deserved recognition and splendor.

Born into a wealthy family in 1871 and descended from a samurai family, Sada Yakko owes her dazzling career to a stroke of bad luck . The many industrialization projects undertaken by the Meiji government were being financed by heavy taxes, leading to runaway inflation. When she was seven years old, her debt-worn father left her in the care of the geisha where she learned all the traditional arts such as tea ceremony, flower arranging, singing, and above all, dance and drama.

To ensure her career flourished, she was sent to a Shinto priest to learn to read and write. This was revolutionary for a number of reasons as women’s education in Japan was just beginning: the first women’s school (for noblewomen only) did not open until 1870. “Geisha were expected to be modern women and trendsetters, but such ability put Sada Yakko ahead of the others”

At just 15 years old, she became the favorite of the Prime Minister thanks to her beauty and the magnificence of her shows. Shortly after she met her husband, the actor Kawakami Otojiro , with whom she would open a theater in Tokyo and then try to conquer the United States with her performances.

Once in America, Sada Yakko became an actress. Initially, his company failed, but soon experienced success that gradually grew. She earned the respect of dance superstar Isadora Duncan and was catapulted to fame by another celebrity, American Loïe Fuller , who opened the doors of her theater in Paris to her and even acted as an interpreter in her interviews with foreign magazines. . In 1900, Sada Yakko crossed the Atlantic to Paris to perform The Geisha and the Knight as part of the World’s Fair . His performance was a resounding and immediate success. It was the first time that a Japanese theater group had appeared in France and it was so well received that the young woman organized a party.

Her success continued and she became a muse for French artists. Interestingly one of the few remaining photos of Sada Yakko was taken by Pablo Picasso . Debussy was inspired by her when composing his music and during the ‘Japonisme’ movement, Sada Yakko acted as a model and muse for French artists. She also experienced commercial success: Guerlain , at the height of her fame, created the perfume ‘Yakko’ in tribute to her. During this period, the young woman launched her own range of cosmetics and kimono , sold in a boutique in her name not far from the Opéra Garnier in Paris.

Her mastery with makeup , drawing inspiration from the geisha tradition, imposed another form of beauty , far from the search for a natural look that persisted in Europe: she preferred red lipstick, thick foundation and small black accents around the eyes. . Parisian women adored her and were inspired by her way of life. In an interview for Femina magazine, Yakko stated that Parisian women “have good taste in everything, everything makes them look deliciously pretty, they bring out the best in everything around them… Everything in Paris has exquisite taste. Everything Parisian he is an artist, even if he is not by profession”

When she returned to Japan in 1901, Sada Yakko was no longer just a star but a figure of international fame championed by her contemporaries as a symbol of the free modern woman. Seven years later she opened the first theater school for women.

During World War II, Sada Yakko retired to her villa in Atami. She died in 1946 and was buried at Teishoji Temple. With Japan devastated by war, there was scant coverage of the geisha who captivated the West, but her legacy lives on in the generations of Japanese actresses who followed her.