The first business day of the year begins for geisha and maiko

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:01 JST, January 8, 2023

Geisha and maiko dressed in formal black crested kimono and wearing ears of rice hairpins cheerfully greet each other before a ceremony to mark their first business day of the year on Saturday in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto. About 90 geisha and maiko from the Gion Kobu district — one of Kyoto’s five hanamachi geisha districts — gathered at the ceremony at which living national treasure Yachiyo Inoue V, the Iemoto grand master of the Inoue school of kyomai dance performed a dance. A ceremony was also held in the Miyagawacho, Pontocho and Gion Higashi districts.