September 1st, 2018: The photo shoot for the Gion Odori (祇園をどり) in Gion Higashi took place today! Since all maiko and geiko take part in the event it gives up a good idea about who’s possibly left and who will be joining! On both ends of the maiko groups we can see new maiko wearing shidare; these are the Kanoya (叶家) shikomi that have been around since at least February of this year and will be debuting in October prior to the opening of the odori. However, these images also confirm with certainty that Fumine (文音) of Okatome (岡とめ) has left the profession. The maiko and geiko in each image are: Left Image Back Row: Kanoya (叶家) Shikomi #1, Tomichie (富千英), Kanotomo (叶朋), and Hinayū (雛祐). Front Row: Tomitsuyu (富津愈 - a bit cut off), Kanowaka (叶和佳), Tomitae (富多愛), Miharu (美晴), and Tsuneyū (つね有). Right Image Back Row: Kanohiro (叶紘), Masano (満彩野), Ryōma (涼真), and Kanoya (叶家) Shikomi #2 Front Row: Tsunekazu (つね和), Mariko (まりこ), Hinagiku (雛菊), Ryōka (涼香), and Masaki (満彩希). The Gion Odori takes place from November 1st to 10th at the Gion Higashi Kaikan. Images are courtesy of Sankei News.

Weekend Update 12/11

With the odori and debut seasons coming to a close the karyukai will be a bit more quiet for the next few months. I’ll still be posting about what goes on, but don’t expect too much ^^ Karyukai News -Koume (小梅) of Kaden (花傳) in Miyagawa Cho had her erikae on Thursday (November 9th). -The Gion Odori (祇園をどり) in Gion Higashi concluded on Friday (November 10th). -Ichiyū (市結) of Katsumi (勝見) in Pontocho has switched to the ofuku style and is now a senior! Blog News -What’s In a Dance? Part 6 looked at Natsu Wa Hotaru (夏は蛍) - Summer Fireflies. -The Random Fact of The Week looked at Hiki Iwai Sashigami. -Mylo’s Pick of The Week went to Fukukana (ふく香奈) of Kawayoshi (河よ志) in Miyagawa Cho. -Some of you may not be receiving my posts if you’re on mobile due to a feature that Tumblr silently added called “Best Stuff First.” You can check out more about it and how to turn it off here. -Thank you to everyone who sent in their questions once again this week! The listing of popular posts seems to have gotten some good feedback, so I’ll continue doing that in this space from now on! Popular posts of the week include: -How much income does a maiko or geiko get to keep? -Are maiko always out in full regalia and can a customer invite them anywhere? -How many times can a kimono be worn by geimaiko before it’s considered “uncool”? -What are some rules that all maiko and geiko need to follow in the karyukai? -What’s in a kitsuke kit for kimono? -Can you tell us about Mamehiro of Ninben? -How would oiran/tayū/yūjo meet their customers for the first time? -What are the origins of geisha? -On average, how long does it take to become jimae? -How do girls apply to become maiko and geiko?

Weekend Update 5/11

Activity continues to be high as the busiest time of year is quickly coming to a close! Karyukai News -Toshinami (とし菜実) and Toshinana (とし七菜) of Komaya (駒屋) in Miyagawa Cho had their misedashi on Wednesday (November 1st). -Koume (小梅) of Kaden (花傳) in Miyagawa Cho will be having her erikae on Thursday (November 9th). -The Gion Odori (祇園をどり) in Gion Higashi continues until Friday (November 10th). Blog News -What’s In a Book? Part 26 looked at Now a Geisha 舞妓から芸妓へ (Maiko Kara Geiko He) by John Paul Foster. -What’s In a Dance? Part 5 looked at Kin No Shachihoko (金の鯱) - The Golden Shachihoko. -What’s That Thing? Part 3 looked at Mikako’s erikae iromontsuki. -The Random Fact of The Week looked at geimaiko who have become geisha in other cities. -Mylo’s Pick of The Week took another look at Fukune (ふく音) of Kawayoshi (河よ志) in Miyagawa Cho. -Your questions have been excellent this week, so thank you for sending them all in! I may use more for weekly features as they tend to be topics that haven’t been discussed before! The most popular posts this week were: -What’s Genji Kō? -Can you tell us a bit about Umechie? -What’s involved in becoming jimae? -Can you tell us about the differences in outfits for maiko/hangyoku outside of Kyoto? -Who’s the most popular geimaiko in each district right now? -Are there famous kimono/obi combinations? -Why do geimaiko stand and sit with their sleeves folded out? -On the defense of Umechie!

Weekend Update 29/10

We’re going full steam ahead towards the end of the year, so the karyukai is currently in the middle of a great deal of activity! Karyukai News -Mikako (実佳子) of Nishimura (西村) in Gion Kobu had her erikae on Tuesday (October 24th). -Katsuki (勝貴) of Daimonji (大文字) in Kamishichiken had her misedashi on Thursday (October 26th). She is the imōto of Katsune (勝音), also of Daimonji. -Toshinana (とし七菜) and Toshinami (とし菜実) of Komaya (駒屋) in Miyagawa Cho will be having their misedashi on Wednesday (November 1st). -The Gion Odori (祇園をどり) in Gion Higashi begins on Wednesday (November 1st) and will run until November 10th. Blog News -What’s In a Dance? Part 4 looked at Kurokami (黒髪) - Black Hair. -Getting To Know Me - Part 1 examined my drinking habits. -The Random Fact of The Week put a spotlight on the otokoshi of Gion Kobu. -Thank you to everyone once again for sending in so many questions! I’m as happy answering them as you likely are sending them in ^^! -Most popular questions of the week were: -What’s up with samurai eri? -Why do geimaiko bend their knees when they dance? -Can you tell me a bit about Satsuki of Tsurui? -How did Gion become more popular than Kamishichiken? -How long do misedashi and erikae last?

October 10th, 2017: The images for each scene of the 2017 Gion Odori (祇園をどり) have been released! There isn’t any real way to know what each scene is about right now, so we’ll just have to guess ^^; Scene 1: Ryōka (涼香), Tsunemomo (つね桃), Miharu (美晴), and Hinagiku (雛菊).

Scene 2: Masaki (満彩希), Tomitae (富多愛), and Tsuneyū (つね有). Scene 3: Hinayū (雛祐), Kanohiro (叶紘), Tomitsuyu (富津愈), and Tsunekazu (つね和). Scene 4: Masami (満彩美) and Mariko (まりこ). Scene 5: Ryōka (涼香), Tsunemomo (つね桃),  Hinagiku (雛菊), and Miharu (美晴). Scene 6: Kanotomo (叶朋), Hinayū (雛祐), Masano (満彩野), Tomitsuyu (富津愈), and Kanohiro (叶紘). I do find it odd that Ryōma, Fumine, and Tomichie aren’t in any of the images, although they may have been included just for a group shot. It’s also odd that Ryoka, Tsunemomo, Minarhu, and Hinagiku get two scenes, but it’s likely because one of them is very short. If I made any mistakes then I apologize in advance as the image is quite small. The Gion Odori runs from November 1st to 10th at the Gion Kaikan. Image courtesy of The Official Gion Higashi Instagram.

October 9th, 2017: The first image of the Gion Higashi maiko who will be participating in the Gion Odori (祇園をどり) has been released! It was very hard to spot them all in the video that was published last month, but now we can see that Gion Higashi will have eight maiko for the odori, a number they haven’t seen in over a decade! In the picture from L to R: Back Row: Tomichie (富千英) of Tomikiku (富菊), Fumine (文音) of Okatome (岡とめ), Ryōka (涼香) of Sakaemasa (栄政), Tsunemomo (つね桃) of Shigenoya (繁の家), Miharu (美晴) of Okatome (岡とめ), Hinagiku (雛菊) of Okatome (岡とめ), and Ryōma (涼真) of Sakaemasa (栄政). From Row: Kanotomo 叶朋) of Kanoya (叶家), Hinayū (雛祐) of Okatome (岡とめ), Tomitsuyu (富津愈) of Tomikiku (富菊), Kanohiro (叶紘) of Kanoya (叶家), and Masano (満彩野) of Man (まん). As to why Hinayū, Tomitsuyu, and Kanohiro are wearing August kanzashi, Tomichie is wearing October kanzashi, and Fumine, Ryōma, Kanotomo, and Masano are wearing November kanzashi, I really can’t say ^^; The Gion Odori runs from November 1st to 10th at the Gion Kaikan. Image courtesy of The Official Gion Higashi Instagram.

August 4th, 2016: The maiko and geiko of Gion Higashi did their photo shoot for the Gion Odori program. Even though their district is small, their costumes each year are very elaborate! From left to right they are: Tsunekazu (つね和) as a senior oiran, Masami (満彩美) as some bandit, Mariko (まりこ) as a nobleman, Tsuneyū (つね有) in an unknown roll, Ryōka (涼香) and Miharu (美晴) as lions, Tomitae (富多愛) as a mid ranking yūjo, Tsunemomo (つね桃) as what appears to be an Edo Period child, Masaki (満彩希) as another mid ranking yūjo, and Hinagiku (雛菊) as a noble. The Gion Odori runs November 1st through 10th annually. Image courtesy of The Gion Higashi Instagram page.

July 24th, 2017: Jikata geiko (and also tachikata natori geiko) Fukuka (ふく佳) of Fujishima (藤島) in Miyagawa Cho walks in front of the Miyagawa Cho maiko who just performed Konchiki Ondo (コンチキ音頭) on stage at Yasaka Shrine after the Hanagasa Junko (花笠巡行). The maiko who performed this year were Kanako (叶子) of Kawahisa (川久), Fukune (ふく音) of Kawayoshi (河よ志), Kimitoyo (君とよ) and Kanayuki (叶幸) of Toshikimi (利きみ), Fumiyoshi (富美芳) of Yoshifumi (よし冨美), and Fukuhana (ふく英) and Fukutama (ふく珠) of Shigemori (しげ森). Image taken by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous.

Weekend Update 6/11

More and more news just keeps flooding in, so it’s time to do a recap before the big days are here! Karyukai News -Ichitomi (市十美) of Nakagishi (中支志) in Gion Kobu will be having her erikae on November 21st. -Chiyoko (知余子) of Nishimura (西村) in Gion Kobu will be having her erikae on November 25th. -Gion Higashi’s newest minarai is named Masano (満彩野) and she is from Man (まん) okiya. There’s no date on her misedashi yet. -There are now three known active minarai in Kyoto: Mametama (豆珠) of Ninben (イ) in Gion Kobu, Ichiaya (市彩) of Ichi (市) in Kamishichiken, and Masano (満彩野) of Man (まん) in Gion Higashi.  -Hisamomo (久桃) of Tanmika (丹美賀) in Pontocho is now tying her obiage! This is a sign that she is likely within a year of having her erikae. -Fumiyoshi (富美芳) of Yoshifumi (よし冨美) in Miyagawa Cho is now wearing ofuku! She hasn’t even been a maiko for two years yet but has managed to skip ahead of many of her peers into the senior stage. She must be doing very well in her lessons to advance so quickly!  -The Gion Odori (祇園をどり) of Gion Higashi continues this week and ends on November 10th.  Blog News -I found my darari obi being worn! I can now definitely say that it was used in Gion Kobu, but I doubt that I’ll ever be able to track down the specific okiya since so many use/used the bell flower kamon. -Mylo’s Pick of The Week goes to Mamekoma (豆こま) of Shibata (柴田) in Gion Kobu -I’ve been busying adding new things to new tabs and doing a bunch of transcribing work of old odori programs on the forums, so not too much has been done around here (sorry!).

Hello Masano!

With today’s newest round of images from the Gion Odori it’s finally safe to announce the newest minarai in Gion Higashi! Her name is Masano (満彩野) and she is likely from Man (まん)! Her name was found on the list of performer’s lanterns in the lobby of the Gion Odori (It’s the farthest one on the top left hand side) and it appears that she performed in the tea ceremony today as the hikae (assistant). There’s no word yet on when her misedashi will be, but it’s great to finally see new members of the Gion Higashi community ^^!