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March 13th, 2019: Congratulations to Suzuno (鈴乃) of Fukushima (福嶋) in Gion Kobu on the occasion of her misedashi! She is the imōto of Fumino (章乃), also of Fukushima, and continues the tradition of having her imōto debut in March! Suzuno is absolutely adorable and has such a sweet smile! She’s a welcome addition to the Fukushima girls and will be one to look out for! おめでとうさんどす鈴乃ちゃん ^o^! Image courtesy of Ktellusastory.
I feel like Shino (紫乃) of Fukushima (福嶋) in Gion Kobu doesn’t get as much attention as other maiko from the same district, but now that her erikae is approaching I am very happy to see her everywhere! So, since someone asked about Shino last week, let’s take a slightly more in depth look into Shino and her okiya!
The Fukushima (福嶋) okiya opened in 2007 and is currently the newest okiya in Gion Kobu. With no active geiko acting as onesan, the okiya chose its own naming convention for its future charges, the suffix No (乃), meaning “Your.” Their first maiko, Ayano (彩乃) and Kotono (琴乃), debuted together on March 6th, 2008. Sadly, Kotono would not last long and retired in July of the same year.
Image of Kotono and Ayano courtesy of Sanada Kyoto. For over a year Ayano would be the only active maiko, but she wasn’t alone. Fukushima had a shikomi waiting in the wings, and on June 8th, 2010, she would debut as Fumino (章乃). Ayano was promoted to senior status upon Fumino’s debut, so Fukushima finally had a maiko who could wear their new senior kimono.
Image of Ayano and Fumino courtesy of Onihide-san. 2012 would be a proud year in Fukushima’s history, starting with Fumino becoming a senior in March. Two months later on May 28th, 2012, Ayano turned her collar and became a geiko, the first from her okiya to do so.
Image of Ayano courtesy of Lulunkie. A year later the fourth Fukushima girl, Kiyono (清乃), would debut on March 27th, 2013. However, even though Fukushima had an active geiko, Kiyono would debut without an onesan. This is because Ayano would retire two months later in May 2013 to run Aji Fukushima (味福嶋), a restaurant owned by the okiya.
Image of Kiyono courtesy of Julie Podstolski. A year later the okiya would see happy times again, starting off with their fifth maiko.
Image of Shino courtesy of Gottuan. Shino (紫乃) debuted on February 25th, 2014 with no official onesan as her okiya did not have an active geiko to take up the role. Another maiko, Mametaro (豆たろう) of Ninben (亻), would debut on the same day and the two girls did their misedashi walks together. With her round baby face and bubbly smile she became an instant hit at ochaya. Her short stature made her seem a bit small compared to her sisters, especially since Fumino was one of the tallest maiko in her district and Kiyono was no slouch either, but her sisters always looked out for her and made sure that she wasn’t lost in a crowd! On November 13th, 2014, Fumino would turn her collar and become Fukushima’s second geiko. The three girls remained close and looked to the future with bright prospects.
Image of Fumino courtesy of Byzanceblue. 2015 saw continued growth with Kiyono becoming a senior in September and Fumino becoming jimae, also a first for her okiya. But, success cannot continuously rise, and Fukushima would experience a bit of a hiccup in 2016. Their sixth maiko, Yumeno (夢乃), debuted on March 7th, 2016 with Fumino taking on her first imōto, and all seemed well. However, Yumeno would retire suddenly after being active for only a month, slightly tarnishing Fukushima’s reputation for debuting hard working girls as her sudden retirement meant that the tea ceremony schedule for the Miyako Odori had to be changed around to fill the void.
Image of Yumeno courtesy of Hiroyuki Furukawa. Working harder than ever, the Fukushima girls persisted, and happy news would come towards the end of the year. Shino would become a senior in September!
Image of Shino courtesy of the Gion Kobu Kabukai. Fukushima now had a jimae geiko and two senior maiko, but some began to wonder if they would debut another maiko within a year of Yumeno’s defection. The answer to that was “no” and they kept their newest shikomi around for longer than usual to make sure of her dedication. In 2017 people began to wonder if Kiyono would become Fukushima’s third geiko, but sadly her choice was to retire than to take on the life of a geiko. Kiyono would retire in November 2017, leaving the okiya with only one geiko and one maiko. With 2018 looming Fukushima made sure that the mistakes of the past would not be repeated, and their hard work would pay off. On March 4th, 2018 Mizuno (瑞乃), Fukushima’s seventh maiko, would debut as Fumino’s second imōto. She immediately stood out for her striking good looks and impeccable manners.
Image of Mizuno courtesy of Ktellusastory. As the year went on more and more people began to be drawn to the Fukushima girls, with Shino growing more mature and Mizuno learning closely from her onesan, they were a popular sight in Gion Kobu. Once the fall odori season was over, Fukushima would pull out one last surprise for the year: Shino would turn her collar and become their third geiko!
Image of Shino courtesy of Tos.o622. Wearing the same kanzashi that their first geiko, Ayano, wore during her sakkō period, Shino looks poised to become a geiko that will continue to make her okiya proud! Even though we’ve now caught up to the present, the history of Fukushima is still being written and we already have more to look forward to in 2019! Next year we look forward to the debut of their eighth maiko, and we may see Shino take on the role of onesan for the first time. Their current shikomi made her community debut by following her okiya sisters during Hassaku, and we’ll most likely see her again in a few weeks for Kotohajime. But, for now, the three Fukushima girls are keeping their eyes on the future and celebrating a successful year ^^
Image courtesy of Tos.o622. Pictured above: geiko Fumino (章乃), maiko Shino (紫乃), and maiko Mizuno (瑞乃).
Once again, it’s kind of a jumble of related facts and I wasn’t sure how else to write to besides “this is going to take more than one line” ^^; The newest okiya in Kyoto is Gion Kobu’s Fukushima (福島), which opened in 2007 and debuted its first girls in 2008. So far they’ve produced: -2 Geiko (Ayano 彩乃, Fumino 章乃) -4 Maiko (Kotono 琴乃, Kiyono 清乃, Shino 柴乃, Yumeno 夢乃) Of those 6, 3 are no longer active (Ayano, Kotono, Yumeno) although Ayano now helps to run Fukushima’s restaurant, Aji Fukushima, which is located a block away from the okiya.
