What is koaki-San public schedule for July and august?

What's That Thing? Part 29

On The Fourth Day of Fun I present... an ask! Like many of the good asks I tend to hold onto them for times like this as they make for wonderful features ^^ Anonymous asked: "What were your favorite misedashi/sakkō/erikae ensembles this year?" This is such a hard one to answer too as there were so many good ones! My favorite misedashi ensemble goes to Hinaho (雛帆) of Sakaemasa (栄政) in Gion Higashi. Since they don't have misedashi often we don't get to see their outfits much, so I liked seeing their very elegant lucky treasures/karabana and trellis combo!

Image courtesy of the Gion Higashi Kabukai. My favorite sakkō outfit goes to Koaki (小晶) of Kaden (花傳) in Miyagawa Cho. This one was a no doubter and is just unmatched in how elegant and bold it is. Kaden's unique tradition of having their maiko wear iromontsuki for a few days is nice in and of itself, but it's the iromontsuki that steals the show! It's a beautiful wine red color with a family of cranes holding pine needles. It truly sets the tone for the upcoming erikae and is an unforgettable kimono!

Image courtesy of Kaden. Lastly, my favorite erikae of the year goes to Hidemai (秀眞衣) of Masamiya (雅美家) in Pontocho. It's so great to see girls from new okiya succeeding, and for Hidemai being Masamiya's first erikae in a brand new outfit with pine and waves is an auspicious start indeed!

Taken by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous.

กุมภาพันธ์ 2562: ไมโกะ Koaki (โอกิยะ Kaden) จากเขต Miyagawacho ในจังหวัด Kyoto

Source: tigertakashi on Instagram

February 2019: Geiko Fukune (Kawayoshi Okiya) and Geiko Koume (Kaden Okiya) of Miyagawacho performing together using Mai tenugui, dancing veils.

Source: Chuanlai on Instagram

April 2019: Photos of maiko from Miyagawacho performing Himesanja at this year's Heian Jingu Reitaisai Hōno Buyō Matsuri.

Every year Miyagawacho sends 4-5 maiko to perform at this event. This year's line up was:

Chikasaya (千賀明) [Komaya Okiya]

Toshinami (とし菜実) [Komaya Okiya]

Kikusana (菊咲奈) [Hanafusa Okiya]

Fukukana (ふく香奈) [Kawayoshi Okiya]

Koaki (小晶) [Kaden Okiya]

Photos by Kunihiko Takenaka on Facebook.

Hi there!

How are you? I hope you doing fine

You you have any information about the Yokohama Hanamachi?

I follow one of their geikod And I'm very impressed about their looks and way to dance, but sadly there is not much information about them online.

Thank you in advance

Bed regards and stay safe

Hello Airina! Yes, thank you, I'm fine. How about you? Indeed, there's not much info about the Yokohama Geigi. There were once over 300 Geigi in Yokohama, but they had "died out" in the late 1990's. A NHK documentary on (among others) Yokohama Geigi suggests that around 2017, a man named Kato Toshihiko decided to do something against the dwindling of local Yokohama culture: "people talk about local delicacies. Well, I want Geisha to be local celebrities! An elegant and familiar presence". [1] [Although it seems in this docu he is behind the Yokohama Geigi revival, he never appeared anywhere outside the NHK documentary] However, Tamaki states that the Ochaya Tanaka-ya 田中家 specifically asked for Fukumaru to help out. [2] Tamaki たまき herself is an apprentice Geigi since 2019. [3] So - it seems the first "new generation" Yokohama Geigi was Kôtarô 香太郎 (2017-23). Closely after her, Fukumaru 富久丸 debuted on 22. April 2017 (she was a Geisha in Tokyo before. Now, she is Okasan of the Okiya) [3]. Afterwards, the following Geigi appeared: Tamachiyo 玉千代 (2017) Fukukoma 富久駒 (2017-18) Ichika 市花 (2018-23) Seika せい華 (2019-20) [4] Waka 和か (2019-23) [4] Kaede 楓 (2019-23) [7] Mitsuru 美つる (2019-22) [8] Yasaka 弥榮 (2020-22) [5] Kaden かでん (2021-23) [6] Sources: [1] in "Japanlogy Plus: Geisha - a sunset trade?" it's said that the Yokohama Geigi program started in 2016. On their website, there is the info that the program started in April 2017 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7w36g2 https://geigi.yokohama/geisya/ [2] https://ameblo.jp/tamaki-yokohama35/entry-12711391432.html [3] https://www.instagram.com/p/B6ISNbEgdAL/ [4] On this picture, Seika and Waka are missing, and there are 2 ladies I don't recognise. https://ameblo.jp/tamaki-yokohama35/entry-12721645216.html [5] https://www.instagram.com/p/CDAWSJPg9WI/ [6] https://www.instagram.com/p/CO-mPhrAYhJ/ [7] https://www.instagram.com/p/CZDwfIZt_2O/ [8] instagram story of hachirou88, mentioning “Kotaro onesan” and “Mitsuru onesan” - so both are senior to Kaden

Takarabune design has been on my to do list for so many years, it feels amazing to finally have taken the plunge and complete it. 💖 Treasure ship is one of the auspicious designs for the New Year in Japan. The boat is said to carry the Seven Lucky Gods coming for the New Year celebrations. What I recently found out is a Japanese custom of putting a woodblock print of takarabune under your pillow on the night of 2nd January (or after Setsubun in the days of the old calendar) to encourage dreams bringing good luck. This custom has started among nobility in the Muromachi period and it has spread to the common people in the Edo period. I am curious though if this is still commonly practised? As to the kanzashi I have done some research on it as well. This design specifically is more common of the Tokyo shokunin. There is a lovely example of this design by Takeji Ishida sensei made in 1935 on the tsumami-kanzashi website. He was the first generation craftsman from that family. His two grandsons still make tsumami kanzashi in Tokyo and maintain a small museum there with the works from their atelier. They still make this design too! There also seems to exist different variations of their creation. One of the examples is the kanzashi worn by maiko from the Kaden Okiya in Miyagawacho for the sakkou stage of their career. The colours are bright and colourful and the sails are made from a yellow shibori fabric rather than maru tsumami petals. The workshop prides itself in a line of works made with plant dyed habutae for a more adult audience and so there also exists a more subdued version of this design with tsumami petals for the sails. I combined the two to make my own version. Bright and cheerful colours with the sails full of petals. 💖 I guess this is the end of my little essay, I hope that you enjoyed a bit of a background story on it. Would you like to hear more of this kind of info I came across over the years of research in my future posts? And finally, did you have any lucky New Year dreams? #канзаши #つまみ細工 #日本つまみ細工コンテスト #宝船 #初夢 #kanzashi https://www.instagram.com/p/CJk8phrgFaU/?igshid=5zzr7pan01m9

I wish to book koaki-San next April. Please advise procedure to do this

Hello ! I read your answer regarding foreigners being assigned in Miyagawa Cho okiyas in some cases , I thought it was practically impossible to happen . How come Miyagawa Cho took the decision to do this and did the people assigned to them debut in the end of their training ? Thank you in advance !

I'm not quite sure why Miyagawa Cho is currently the only kagai that allows foreigners to join. It may be one of the ways that they're choosing to modernize. You still have to be of Japanese descent and speak fluent Japanese just to apply, so it's not like they're letting in every foreigner they come across. Komomo of Kaden (China/Mexico) and Kanahina (USA) were the most recent geimaiko to debut in Miyagawa Cho who were foreigners ^^

Someone asked about supporting Kaden okiya. Is there a specific reason why they asked? Is Kaden struggling financially?

I have no idea why they asked, but it was probably to support their favorite geimaiko rather than financial issues as Kaden is doing quite well financially ^^

How would I go about helping the Kaden Okiyo financially

You wouldn't. Only a customer who could request their geiko at ozashiki could financially support the okiya ^^;

Why did Koaki start wearing iromonsuki during Sakko?

Maiko at Kaden wear an iromontsuki for a week. It's just a part of the tradition at that okiya only. I guess Koito must really like that particular kimono and tries to find time for it to be taken out of storage ^^

Happy Holidays to you and your followers. This is kind of an odd question, but do you know which okiya besides Nishimura (Chiro) and Shigemori (Yuki and Coco) have mascots?

I'm not sure I'd call their pets "mascots," but Kaden and Yoshifumi both have cats ^^

How many members are presently residing in the Kaden okiya

😎

3: Kosen, Yachiho, and Koaki ^^

You said most geiko don't have sufficient funds to start up an okiya. If it takes a huge amount of money, I'm guessing around $1 million, how was Koito able to open Kaden?

Koito wasn't just a geiko when she opened Kaden, but also a shamisen teacher and a property owner. There's no doubt that she took out a loan from someone to open the okiya, but she was financially ahead when it came to her situation ^^

You answered someone that maiko aren't allowed to switch okiya once they've retired unless their okiya closes down. What about Umesana/Fujichiyo? Umeno still exists though Umeha is the only one left there. Does each kagai have its own rules? How was Fujichiyo (and Umechika) able to switch okiya? Didn't a Kaden geiko also change okiya a few years ago?

I have no idea how or why Umesana quit and then later came back as Fujichiyo (same with Umechika/Fuji). In the case of Yasuha/Yoshika and Miyagawa Cho, the geiko in question has to quit, effectively resetting their seniority, and sever all ties with their previous okiya, which is not lightly done, in order to switch okiya. This was also done before by Fukumame/Koito.