Japanese Geisha and Maiko filmed in 1899 | AI Enhanced

AI enhanced edits of some of the earliest footage of Japanese Geisha and Maiko entertainers. From the Meiji era, circa 1900

Japanese Geisha and Maiko Video in 1900

Geisha and Maiko entertainers filmed in 1900 – AI enhanced

Many Japanese women wore the traditional Kimono, Obi or Furisode. This film clearly shows entertainers dancing to the accompaniment of two Shamisen players.
The dangling Kanzashi on the sides of their hairstyles is a clue to their “Maiko” status. Geisha hairstyles were more formal.

Watch the latest Improved AI Restored Film of Japan’s Geisha in 1899

The film was possibly taken in Kyoto during the Hanami season, as we can now see the Sakura blossoms in the background.

Japanese Geisha and Maiko in 1900
Geisha and Mako girls in 1900

The Original Footage from Japan 1900

Filmed by Thomas Armat for Vitascope, who co-invented the Edison Vitascope projector ( originally called the Phantoscope) with Charles Francis Jenkins. The footage is preserved by The US National Archive.

Maiko dances to accompaniment of the Shamisen.
Maiko dances to accompaniment of two Shamisen players

Charles Francis Jenkins – the inventor of Television

Jenkins sold his invention to Armat, who subsequently sold his ‘modified’ patent to Thomas Edison, under the name “Vitascope“. The Phantoscope was vastly superior to Edison’s Kinetoscope and the Lumiere cinematographe.

Edison saw its potential immediately. Armat went on to work for Edison, travelling the world to capture some of the earliest footage.

Charles Francis Jenkins continued to adapt his original Phantoscope into what would become a ‘television’ camera, for broadcasting to home receivers by radio waves. In June 1925 Jenkins demonstrated his ‘motion pictures by wireless’.

Scottish inventor John Logie Baird later demonstrated his invention in October 1925.

Japanese entertainers in 1900
Three Japanese girls in 1900

Title: Japanese Scenes – 1894 – 1900 is preserved by the US National Archive as part of the Thomas Armat Collection.

That’s all ! © Glamour Daze


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