October 9th, 2017: The first image of the Gion Higashi maiko who will be participating in the Gion Odori (祇園をどり) has been released! It was very hard to spot them all in the video that was published last month, but now we can see that Gion Higashi will have eight maiko for the odori, a number they haven’t seen in over a decade! In the picture from L to R:
Back Row: Tomichie (富千英) of Tomikiku (富菊), Fumine (文音) of Okatome (岡とめ), Ryōka (涼香) of Sakaemasa (栄政), Tsunemomo (つね桃) of Shigenoya (繁の家), Miharu (美晴) of Okatome (岡とめ), Hinagiku (雛菊) of Okatome (岡とめ), and Ryōma (涼真) of Sakaemasa (栄政).
From Row: Kanotomo 叶朋) of Kanoya (叶家), Hinayū (雛祐) of Okatome (岡とめ), Tomitsuyu (富津愈) of Tomikiku (富菊), Kanohiro (叶紘) of Kanoya (叶家), and Masano (満彩野) of Man (まん).
As to why Hinayū, Tomitsuyu, and Kanohiro are wearing August kanzashi, Tomichie is wearing October kanzashi, and Fumine, Ryōma, Kanotomo, and Masano are wearing November kanzashi, I really can’t say ^^;
The Gion Odori runs from November 1st to 10th at the Gion Kaikan.
Image courtesy of The Official Gion Higashi Instagram.