#minoyae

January 30th, 2025: Congratulations to Kyoto's newest geiko! Maya (真矢) of Minoyae (美の八重) in Gion Kobu is celebrating her erikae! She is the first geimaiko to celebrate a major milestone this year and the first (and only) imōto of former geiko Mao (真生), also of Minoyae, to turn her collar. This celebration was made special by the fact that Maya is wearing one of Mao's kuromontsuki that she gifted to Minoyae for Maya to wear for this event! Mao was even present at the okiya for the erikae, further showing that the bonds of sisterhood are never really broken even after one leaves the profession. Her outfit features all season flowers and partitions with a golden pine obi ^^ おめでとうさんどす真矢さん ^o^! Image is courtesy of Geiko Mihoko.

May 14th, 2025: A wonderful surprise has made her debut today in Kyoto! Koemi (小恵美) of Minoyae (美の八重) in Gion Kobu is celebrating her misedashi as a jikata geiko! She is the imōto of Emiji (恵美二) of Nakano (中野) and the first jikata geiko to debut in a few years! Jikata geiko are in high demand, especially in a district as large as Gion Kobu, so we hope that she has a great career ahead of her! Her lovely outfit features fans among a bamboo grove and a golden karabana obi ^^! おめでとうさんどす小恵美さん ^o^! Image is courtesy of Tadashi.

June 11th, 2025: Double the delight as two new maiko debut today! Maho (真帆) of Minoyae (美の八重) in Gion Kobu and Hidenagi (秀凪) of Masamiya (雅美家) in Pontocho are celebrating their misedashi! Both Maho and Hidenagi performed in the Miyako Odori and the Kamogawa Odori respectively this year under their real names as they had not been given a geimei yet, so they already had professional experience under their obi before their first official days! Maho's outfit features colorful flowers and birds among waves with a golden shōchikubai obi while Hidenagi's outfit features lucky treasures and waves with a golden musical instrument motif obi ^^ おめでとうさんどす真帆ちゃんと秀凪ちゃん ^o^! Images are courtesy of Gion Dteel and 1020Kiddo.

January 13th, 2025: A maiko stands on the precipice of change, and it's definitely for the better! Maya (真矢) of Minoyae (美の八重) in Gion Kobu is currently wearing the sakkō hairstyle ahead of her upcoming erikae! In Gion Kobu, maiko wear kuromontsuki with a golden obi during their sakkō period, and Maya's is no exception. Her kuromontsuki features multicolored irises on a red stream (which happens to be one of my favorite maiko kuromontsuki) and a pine and karabana obi. Her erikae will take place on January 30th ^^ Image is courtesy of Kazuweb.

February 26th, 2024: A new geiko is born! Kimimana (君真奈) of Minoyae (美の八重) is celebrating her misedashi! She is the imōto of Kimizuru (君鶴) of Kineya (きねや) and is a jikata geiko! Although new, she will be performing during the upcoming Miyako Odori in just over a month! Her outfit features folding fans among bamboo and her obi has a lovely design of woven karabana ^^ おめでとうさんどす君真奈さん ^o^! Image is courtesy of 1020Kiddo.

November 25th, 2020: A new geiko has appeared in Gion Kobu! Emika (恵美華) has made her debut today from Minoyae (美の八重) as a jikata geiko! She is the imōto of the famous Emiji (恵美二) and the second jikata geiko to debut from Gion Kobu this month. Her kimono consists of opened sensu fans on a bamboo grove with a matching golden obi of pine. おめでとうさんどす恵美華さん ^o^! Image is courtesy of Imai Sangenten.

March 16th, 2020: Congratulations to Kyoto’s newest maiko Maya (真矢) of Minoyae (美の八重) in Gion Kobu on the occasion of her misedashi! She is the first imōto of natori geiko Mao (真生) and the first debut from her okiya in 9 years! I feel as though Mao and Maya could pass for real sisters as their resemblance is uncanny ^^ おめでとうさんどす真矢ちゃん ^o^! Image is courtesy of Ginza Shintaro. 

maiko Masaki in October