December 5th and 7th, 2024: Double congratulations are in order for two new geiko! Kohatsu (小はつ) of Shigemori (しげ森) in Miyagawa Cho and Haruchizu (櫻千鶴) of Tama (多麻) in Gion Kobu are celebrating their erikae! Kohatsu is the second imōto of Kofuku (小ふく), also of Shigemori, to have her erikae while Haruchizu, who is the imōto of Mamechizu (豆千鶴) of Nomura (野村), is the third of Mamechizu's imōto to have her erikae. Both women have been preparing for this day for a while and suit the geiko look so well! Kohatsu's ensemble features poems among rice sheaths with a golden karabana obi while Haruchizu's ensemble features genjikō, pine, and plum blossoms with a golden bamboo obi ^^ おめでとうさんどす小はつさんと櫻千鶴さん ^o^! Images are courtesy of Ono No Komachi [1] [2].

March 4th, 2020: Congratulations to Kyoto’s newest maiko, Haruchizu (櫻千鶴) of Tama (多麻) in Gion Kobu on the occasion of her misedashi! She is the newest imōto of natori geiko Mamechizu (豆千鶴) and first of two debuts from the Tama okiya in the next week. Her geimei is incredibly unique as it features the previously unused “櫻” kanji, which is the archaic way of writing “桜” (sakura/cherry blossoms!). Even though it was raining heavily today a new blossom has managed to bloom through adversity ^^ おめでとうさんどす櫻千鶴ちゃん ^o^! Exclusive images are courtesy of My Kyoto Photo.