Kawakami Sadayakko

Sada Yacco or Sadayakko (川上 貞奴, Kawakami Sadayakko^?, July 18, 1871 - December 7, 1946) was a Japanese geisha, actress and dancer.

Sadayakko Kawakami was born July 18, 1871, the youngest of twelve children. "My grandfather on my mother's side was an assistant magistrate and rather famous, I hear. Our house was in Nihonbashi, right where the Bank of Japan is now." "For generations her family had run the Echizen-ya, a large store that incorporated a currency exchange and a bookshop."

According to Leslie Downer's biography of her, "Sada's mother, Otaka [Koguma], was a notable beauty. In her youth she had worked for a time in the mansion of a daimyo, a provincial lord. There she acquired airs and graces and an aristocratic style. Sada's father, Hisajiro Koyama, was such a placid, saintly man that he was nicknamed 'Buddha.' When he married Otaka, he moved into the family house and eventually inherited the business."

The many industrialization projects undertaken by the Meiji government would be financed by heavy taxes and caused soaring inflation, leading the Koyamas and many other families to lose their finances. To help make ends meet the family set up a pawnbroking business. When Sada was four years old, Sada was sent to work as a maid at the Hamada geisha house in the Yoshicho district. Three years later, Hisajiro died, leading the Hamada's proprietess Kamekichi to adopt Sada as her heir.

"In the winter of 1883, at the age of twelve, the child celebrated her debut as an o-shaku, literally 'a sake pourer,' an apprentice geisha. She also received her first geisha name. From now on she was to be Ko-yakko or Little Yakko, named after a geisha named Yakko who had been one of the most adored in Tokyo. Kamekichi felt sure that Little Yakko would grow up to be as brilliant a star in her turn."

To make sure that Koyakko's career would blossom, Kamekichi sent her to a Shinto priest to learn how to read and write. This was revolutionary for several reasons. Women's education in Japan was only just starting- the first women's school (for noblewomen only) did not open until 1870. "Geisha were expected to be modern, trendsetting women, but such a skill put Sada ahead of the crowd", many geisha and other entertainers being illiterate and, despite their popularity, members of the lower classes.

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Wikipedia