Geisha Girls - Nippon Bunka Film co LTD

Found this box of film slides "Geisha Girls" - Nippon Bunka Film co LTD  from 1963.  The text is from the booklet insert. The slides are dated 1963 and the colour has faded despite a "Auto colour" adjustment in photoshop.  There are a few more boxes in this set so let me know if you have an interest in this type of archive materials.

Introduction text reads : 

Geisha are women who attend on guests at banquets or drinking parties, serving wine, keeping merry conversations with the guests and entertaining them with music and dance. Geisha meaning women in of arts or entertainers who add to amusement with their music and dance appeared first during the middle part of the 18th century. Discriminated from the yujo or courtesans who solve favour in the red light quarters they were known as machi geishas (entertainers of the town), and were strictly disciplined in their arts and good manners. They were called for to restaurants as well as to banquets held at private dwellings and added to the atmosphere of merriment with their gay appearance and behaviour. Their bright appearance still remains as it was in the feudal age, but recently they are gradually decreasing in number.

One.  To the guest house by rickshaw. 

Rickshaws which were popular in the late 19th to early 20th centuries have been replaced by motorcars but they are still now favoured by geisha girls. The unique attire of the rickshaw man also remains as it was in the good old days.

Two. About to enter the guesthouse. 

Called for by guests through the restaurant office gave geisha go the appointed place carrying requisites for entertainment.

Three. New Year. 

In the New Year déjà dressed even more brightly than ever. They universally dress their hair in traditional Japanese style and we are specially luxurious dresses which add to their charm.

Four. At the banquet. 

Geisha waiting on guests at a banquet, comfort them with their rich smart conversations and tender services.

Five. entertaining the guests with dance. 

When the guests begin to feel merry geisha girls entertain them with dance or simisen music and song.

Six. Salute to the guest.

Upon entering the room of their guests to geisha greets them politely and thank them for their favour.

Seven. Samisen geisha music instrument. 

The samisen is a musical instrument indispensable for the geisha. Her pose tuning the three strings and playing it on her knees is full of classical grace.

Eight. The Beautiful nape. 

Everything is beautiful with the geisha girl, but the most charming must be her nape seen below her black hair.

Nine. Prayers at a shrine  

Geisha are generally pious believers in a divine power. They frequently visit Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines and offer prayers to god whom they believe to be their tutelary deities.

Ten Dance exercise. 

Geisha girls study music and dance throughout the year and display their arts at e a theater at least once ever year.

And finally the box inserts showing the other pictures in this tourist series.

Had a (un)lucky break repaired by insurance claim

I bought a shiny new 27 inch Acer monitor for the home office a month or so ago. However during a minor reorganisation in the office managed to whack it squarely on the side with the metal base of a wastepaper basket.  Doh! that really gave the sinking feeling of £200 going down the drain.

The damage was obvious and immediate, a black bruise about a 1/3 of the way down on the left hand side and picture interference from that point down.  In action this looked just as bad.

The monitor was new, being less than a month old, but concious prevented me from going back to the vendor and saying it had been damaged in delivery.  However just before going out to buy a replacement I called up the credit card issuing company to see if they had any cover for newly bought articles.  Some cards have a new item insurance cover built in as a benefit of the account. This benefit was not mentioned on any statement but was in the small print of the card agreement. Turns out I was in luck as the item was covered for 30 days from purchase for fire, theft and accident. A couple of emails later with photos, a note from a local IT supplier saying item cannot be economically repaired and the claim was granted.  Given the £25 excess and £10 for the repair estimate I got back £165 of the £200 cost for a new replacement.

However this claim could have gone badly as buried in the small print of the claims process were some sweeping exclusions.....

I could understand if "Services" purchased from the internet were not covered but any items purchased online seems to be a very broad unnecessary exclusion. In this case the monitor was bought over the phone from a shop that has bricks and mortar stores and delivered a few days later. The purchase could have been made directly at the store, over the phone for collection later, or just as website mail order deal. Really not understanding how some of those purchase mechanisms are covered and other not when the goods are the same. Indeed many big box stores settle purchases using order delivery from a warehouse for in-store purchases.

Anyway the claim was paid so thanks very much Co-op Platinum new purchase insurance cover.