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June 4th, 2021: Congratulations to Kyoto’s newest maiko! Ichika (市佳) of Masunoya (桝之矢) in Pontocho has debuted as the imōto of Ichifuku (市福), also of Masunoya in the midst of the warm Kyoto heat! She is only the third misedashi so far this year but the second for Pontocho! It’s a bit hard to see, but her kanzashi features lovely silver wire cranes on gold pine that are simply stunning ^^! おめでとうさんどす市佳ちゃん ^o^! Image is courtesy of Kyoya Jakuemon Uchi.
ANOTHER Surprise From Pontocho!
It appears as though this kagai just isn’t done yet! There appears to be yet another misedashi looming on the horizon! Her name is Ichika (市佳) and she is from Masunoya (桝之矢)! Her onesan is Ichifuku (市福) but her misedashi date officially is currently unknown (although it’s very possible that it happened today!). I’ll try to update more once I get more information, but this is such exciting news ^^!
What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 12
On The Sixth Day of Fun I present... another outfit feature! This is an incredibly unique design with special materials and hides more than meets the eye!
Image courtesy of Yūshinbi Kimono. Materials: Silver, Gold Plate, Jade, Coral, Clear Quartz, Agate, Sunstone, and Diamond Motifs: Butterflies Owned By: Masunoya (桝之矢) in Pontocho In a modernist twist, this pocchiri features butterflies that seem as though they’re flying out of the center diamond and into real life. This perspective is achieved by making the butterflies closest to the diamond small and progressively getting larger as they reach the outer rings. It’s not surprising then that the most expensive materials can be found in the center as well! Besides that massive diamond, the smallest butterfly is made from a dark red coral, also known as Ox Blood Coral, that’s extremely expensive. From there we see a dark pink coral, which is also sought after when it has such a uniform color sch as shown here. From there we see a beautiful grass green jade that must have also cost a fortune. However, the next three materials are quite cheap in comparison, which may be why they were chosen as those stones are quite large. Beside the jade and pink coral rests a very sparkly stone known as a Sunstone. This stone doesn’t actually exist in nature but is instead a man-made stone! Red is the most common color, but it can be found in all colors of the rainbow, especially for crafting beads. Next we have banded agate, which is the red stone with the white stripes. Agate often has bands of colors running through it, but most aren’t as straight as the ones in this piece. Finally there’s clear quartz that appears slightly cloudy due to the silver setting. What’s interesting is that the bottom set of wings for each of the butterflies was once gold plated! You can still see some gold present on the smallest butterflies. The jade, agate, and quartz butterflies, whose bottom wings face outwards, seems to have had the gold rubbed off over time.
Image courtesy of Yūshinbi Kimono.
February 2nd, 2019: The first day of the annual Setsubun (節分) dedication dances took place today at Yasaka Shrine. I’ll list out the participants later, but for now I just really wanted to focus on this absolutely stunning image of Ichisato (市沙登) of Masunoya (桝之矢) in Pontocho. The colors of her outfit just seem to mesh together so well as the light blue and gold of the kimono contrast with the striking black of the obi and collar. Her hair is done in the Yuiwata (結綿) style that is worn by senior maiko during these celebrations. Ichisato may not be the most senior maiko in her district, but she’s actually the oldest in terms of age! She was 19 when she debuted in March 2017 and is now 21 years old. Pontocho allows for older girls to debut as maiko as long as they will be able to catch up to their peers by the time that they’re 21, which is when a maiko must either turn her collar and become a geiko or retire. Just by looking at this image we can see how much she’s grown in only two years and can hope that her erikae will be coming soon ^^ Image courtesy of KWC Photo.
May 13th, 2018: Ichiaya (市彩) of Masunoya (桝之矢) in Pontocho has officially switched to the sakkō (先笄) hairstyle ahead of her June 9th erikae! It’s not uncommon for maiko to wear sakkō for longer periods of time in Pontocho, especially during odori season when there will be many people taking pictures! She is currently wearing Masunoya’s beautiful purple iromontsuki with pine and accompanying pine darari obi ^^ Image courtesy of Hikocd on Instagram.
May 4th, 2018: Excellent news at the start of their odori! Ichiaya (市彩) of Masunoya (桝之矢) will be having her erikae on June 9th and has already begun her switch to pre-sakkō hairstyles! She is currently wearing Mitsumage (三つ髷) and we can expect to see more as the odori progresses! Image courtesy of Sakutan.
March 1st, 2018: Congratulations to Ichiai (市愛) of Masunoya (桝之矢) in Pontocho on the occasion of her misedashi! She is the fourth imōto of Ichiho (市穂) and the first new maiko from Masunoya in exactly one year! Her beautiful kuromontsuki kimono features colorful Hinoki (cypress) fans that were popular during the Heian Period (794-1185) and are symbols of intelligence and elegance. おめでとうございます市愛ちゃん ^o^! All images are courtesy of @thraaaaaaaanduuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiil, who happily agreed to share! You can check out more of their images from this event here ^^
February 1st, 2018: More news out of Pontocho! The new Ichi girl from Masunoya (桝之矢) that I’ve spoken about previously has begun her minarai period today! Her geimei is Ichiai (市愛), which is very unique! Her onesan is Ichiho (市穂) and her misedashi will be March 1st. Image courtesy of Masami Yahan on Twitter.
