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Mameroku

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Description

I recently took a family vacation to Japan, in which we visited Tokyo and Kyoto. On one of the days I spent in Kyoto, I visited the downtown area of Kyoto which is where most of the kagai/hanamachi/geisha districts are.

All of Kyoto's kagai participate in the misedashi and erikae ceremonies. These are the debut ceremonies for a maiko or geiko respectively, in which they dress up in their most formal attire and visit all of the teahouses, okiya, and some local stores to thank everyone for their support. In the Gion Kobu kagai though, there is a special tradition in which the day after they will visit all of the same establishments to thank them, but they will wear a modified ensemble. Geiko will wear their wig but not the white make-up, and maiko will wear a han-dara obi, the half-dangling obi they wore during their minarai period. I had never experienced either of these events when I was living near Kyoto, so I was extremely lucky that on the day I visited Kyoto, Mameroku was having her day-after-misedashi ceremony.

Maiko are generally a little nervous during misedashi. There are usually around ten to twenty photographers there, and the maiko are young, so it's understandable. But Mameroku struck me as very reserved, and she was probably the most nervous maiko I had ever seen during a misedashi (or day-after misedashi) ceremony. But she has a sort of dignity about her, so I hope she can get the hang of things soon. I expect she'll blossom into quite the beauty!
Image size
1680x2668px 482.59 KB
Make
SONY
Model
DSLR-A100
Shutter Speed
1/80 second
Aperture
F/5.6
Focal Length
45 mm
ISO Speed
100
Date Taken
May 16, 2011, 10:48:21 AM
© 2011 - 2024 Fuyou-hime
Comments13
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ericstavros's avatar
very beautiful shot lucky you!!!!