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Which of the five Flower Towns (kagai) or geisha districts in Kyoto is your favorite one?

Gion Kobu - the foremost of Kyoto’s Flower Districts, named after the Yasaka Shrine (”Gion-san”). The most traditional of the five. Dance and music training is in the classical Inoue-school. The major public performance is the Miyako Odori in April.

Gion Higashi - Originally formed one flower town with Gion Kobu, but became independant in 1881. Follows the Fujima School. Performance called Gion Odori is held in autumn.

[Miyako Odori]

Miyagawacho - on the east bank of the Kamo River, between Gojo and Shijo. The riverbank here was from the early 17th century on an area of teahouses and theaters. The famous Okuni performed the first Kabuki here. Wakayagi School. Kyo-Odori dances are staged for a few weeks in April.

Pontocho - along a very narrow street (with a great atmosphere) on the west bank of the Kamo River between Shijo and Sanjo. It developed in the early Edo-period after a new embankment was built here. Symbol is the plover, a bird associated with the Kamo River. Onoe School. The Kamo Odori is held for a whole month in May.

Kamishichiken - Developed in the Muromachi period and is therefore the oldest Flower Town in Kyoto. Was built with wood left over after a reconstruction of the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, next to which it is located. The name means “Upper Seven Houses.” The symbol of the town is a string of dumplings, offered to Hideyoshi when he held his Great Tea Party in the shrine. Hanayagi School. Performance called Kitano Odori in April lasts just a few weeks.

[Gion district with lantern advertizing the Miyako Odori]

As you see, all Flower Towns have there public dance performances, held in their own theater. This is of course a modern development. Geiko and maiko only used to perform at small parties, for guests, and not on a public stage. The tradition started in 1872 in Gion, and was a bright idea of Prefectural Governor Hase Nobuatsu and Vice-Governor Makimura Masanao.

At that time, Kyoto was in decline. Three years before the capital had been moved to Tokyo and the new Meiji Emperor and his court had departed Kyoto, leaving an empty shell behind. To promote the city, the Prefectural Government oragnized an exhibition to showcase the art, culture and industry still thriving in Kyoto. To attract people, the Governor and Vice-Governor requested Mr. Sugiura, the representative of the Gion district and owner of the restaurant “Mantei” (now Ichiriki) to stage a public dance performance by geiko and maiko. Mr. Sugiura asked the help of the master of the Kyomai dance school, Ms. Inoue Yachiyo III, and together they devised a highly stylized group performance based on the “Kamenoko Odori” dance from the Furuichi district in Ise.

[Gion district with poster for the Miyako Odori]

A traditional Japanese orchestra and singers were added and in March 1872 the the first Miyako Odori, or “Dances of the Imperial Capital” was performed to great acclaim. This performance become the prototype of all subsequent Miyako Odori of the Gion Kobu (and in a wider sense of the dance performances of the other Flower Towns as well), and the choreography is still the exclusive domain of the Inoue Kyomai dance school - now headed by Inoue Yachiyo V. In 1873 the “Miyako Odori” moved to the more spacious confines of Gion Kobu Kaburenjo Theater.

The style of the Miyako Odori is classical and dignified and is the best way to see the country’s top geiko and maiko in their beautful kimono’s!

[Tea ceremony performed by a geiko at the Miyako Odori]

I attended last week Friday, after a time gap of more than 15 years. The performance itself had not changed, and was very enjoyable (the stories were taken from the exactly 1,000 year old Genji Monogatari), with the exception that now it was strictly forbidden to take pictures - so the dance pictures in this post are from the older performance! What had changed was that the whole set-up had been commercialized. There were countless shops selling souvenirs and the tea ceremony, performed by a geiko in a seperate room before the main show started, which I liked very much in the past, had become a hurried and superficial affair. This is probably inevitable with modern massification…

[The maiko troupe in the final dance of the Miyako Odori]

By the way, if you still want to see geisha dances, the Miyako Odori is finished, but the Kamo Odori of Pontocho are still held during most of May and are also quite impressive. And on the second Saturday and second Sunday in June the Five Flower Districts will give their annual joint performance in Kyoto Kaikan!

[The Jikata singers and shamisen players at the Miyako Odori]