#ichisayo

[missmyloko]

January 8th, 2018: Congratulations to Ichisumi (市すみ) of Yamaguchi (やまぐち) in Pontocho on the occasion of her misedashi! Hers is the earliest recorded misedashi in over two decades and follows a sweeping Shin Aisatsu/Shigyōshiki week. She is the first imōto for Ichino (市乃), also of Yamaguchi, and the first grand imōto for Ichisayo (市さよ)(you can see both onesan in the fourth image). おめでとうございます市すみちゃん ^o^! Images courtesy of The Official Pontocho Instagram account.

[geimei]

Regarding Pontocho geiko, I know what you mean! They're all so accomplished and it's such a fascinating district, but they're all so low profile. Do you have any favourites from Pontocho?

Low profile is a good word to describe the entire district, I think!

When I want to post a picture of one of Pontocho’s lesser-seen Geiko or senior or natori Geiko, I often only have old pictures or pictures from odori programmes to compare them to, so it’s a bit tricky and mistakes happen. But I still want to post them, because I want to curate some information about them!

My favourite Maiko from Pontocho is Mitsuhana. I think that she has a very unique kind of beauty and she grew a lot over the last year, in my opinion. I also saw some videos of her dancing in November and December last year and was really surprised to see how elegant she was already!

Momifuku would probably be my favourite Geiko, her’s was the first Erikae in Pontocho I fully witnessed and also posted about, so I’ve got something of an emotional attachment to her, I guess ^^’. Also, she is really cute and she was one of the Geiko who really transformed with the Geiko-look. Some Maiko just look really cute and lovely even as a very senior Maiko, but once they put on the katsura and wear shorter sleeves, they suddenly look so much more refined and elegant and you realize that they are actually 21 or 22 ^^.

And I saw an old picture of Ichisayo from the early 2000’s while doing “research” and she is just such a beauty, I was stunned. She is not really cute or anything like that, but just so dignified and gorgeous. To me, she is the perfect embodiment of the “Geiko-look”. I wouldn’t call her my favourite though, because I don’t really know enough about her for that.

[missmyloko]

A New Ichi Girl!

The name and misedashi date of the new Yamaguchi (やまぐち) minarai in Pontocho is now available! Her geimei is Ichisumi (市すみ) and she will be the imōto of Ichino (市乃). Her misedashi will take place on January 8th, 2018, the day after Shigyoshiki ^^! For those of you who will be in the Kyoto area during this time: There’s a public photo shoot that you can attend on the 10th with Ichisumi, who will still be wearing kuromontsuki. It does cost money to get into, but if you’re interested you can check out the event here.

[missmyloko]

May 13th, 2017: The lovely ladies of Pontocho continue to work hard during the Kamogawa Odori. While each woman is a competent dancer in her own right they are performing as jikata geiko today. Pontocho doesn’t have strict distinctions between tachikata and jikata geiko and their members are encouraged to fully develop any and all gei that they enjoy. The geiko from left to right are Ichisayo (市さよ), Hisachō (久蝶), Ichiwaka (市若), Ichifuku (市福), and Momino (もみ乃). Ichisayo, Ichiwaka, and Momino are also natori tachikata geiko! This image is courtesy of The Pontocho Kamogawa Odori Facebook page.

[geimei]

December 2016: Gorgeous Geiko Ichisayo (Daiichi Okiya) of Pontocho dancing.

Source: issa04 - Blog

[geisha-kai]

Ookini Party 2016: (from right to left) geiko Terutoyo, Ichisayo, Ichifuku, maiko Ichiteru, Taka, Ichiyuu, Shouko and Katsusen by ikumi.t.kyoto on Instagram

Ookini Party is organized every June by Ookini Fundation which raises funds to support maiko and geiko of Kyoto. The party is held to thank patrons.

[okiya]

(via ichisayo | Flickr)

[geisha-kai]

Jidai Matsuri 2015: geiko Ichisayo as Tomoe Gozen by b_to_g on Flickr