都をどり

About this photo

This photo is from Kyoto Meishocho (Album of Famous Places in Kyoto), a photo album published in 1909 (Meiji 42). Geiko and maiko, the geisha of Kyoto and their apprentices, sit on a stage in matching kimono, lined up in two long rows, front and back. Flower decorations and paper lanterns are strung above their heads.

The Miyako Odori is a spring dance performance by the geiko and maiko of Gion Kobu, one of the hanamachi (geisha districts) of Gion. It began when they danced as an entertainment at an exhibition held to bring life back to Kyoto after the capital moved to Tokyo. That was in 1872 (Meiji 5). The style of many dancers moving together was devised by Inoue Yachiyo III of the Inoue school of Kyomai (Kyoto dance) and others. The curtain still rises to the call of "Yoiyasa!"

It is held every April at the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo theater. While the building was being renovated, the performance moved to other theaters, but in 2023 (Reiwa 5) it returned to this venue for the first time in seven years.

Glossary