ABSTRACT
Modern Japanese life is inundated with music of many sorts, and public space is saturated in constant sound. The modern Japanese musical soundscape centers on the highly promoted Japanese popular music known as "J-pop". The contexts today for hearing live performances of traditional music in Japan consist of recitals, concerts, the theater, and folk music performed during local festivals and national holidays. All performers of traditional music and dance, however, share a common identity as members of a ryu group, and this membership is perhaps the most crucial determinant of the geisha artistic identity. A great advantage of the fluidity of role and position within the traditional arts world is that geisha can study which arts they like, in the quantities they like, so long as they remain within the boundaries of traditional Japanese arts. Geisha's status and position within the traditional artistic communities are varied and contextually determined, simultaneously integrated and distinct.
