May 9th, 2019: Congratulations to the first maiko to debut during the new Reiwa Period! In Gion Kobu we have Mameaya (まめ彩) of Ninben (亻) and in Miyagawa Cho we have Fukusono (ふく苑) of Shigemori (しげ森)! They say it takes a village the raise a child, and this couldn’t be more true for these two girls! In the top image we can see Mameaya surrounded by the maiko and geiko who are affiliated with the Ninben and Shibata families, including (from L to R): Back: Mamewaka (豆わか), Mameka (豆花), Mamehiro (豆弘), the okasan of her okiya, Mameya (まめ弥), her official onesan, Mameryō (豆涼), and Emino (恵美乃). Front: Mamesumi (豆純), Mameyui (豆結), Mamesaya (豆沙弥), Mametama (豆珠), and Mamemaru (豆まる). Mamesumi just switched to the sakkō style today ahead of her May 30th erikae, so it’s an extra festive time for Ninben! I’ll hopefully be uploading a few more pictures of Mameaya’s misedashi later, so please look forward to them ^^ In Fukusono’s case we have a lovely family portrait that shows a second momentous occasion for the Shigemori okiya: geiko Fukuchō (ふく兆) taking on her first imōto! This makes Fukusono the first grand imōto of Fukuhiro (ふく紘) on the right, which shows just how well Shigemori has prospered since the debut of their first maiko (Fukuhiro) back in 2006! おめでとうさんどすまめ彩ちゃんとふく苑ちゃん ^o^! Images are courtesy of KyotoQ9 and Tomoko Kikue Hotel.
