10/04/2026

FRIDAY | APR 10, 2026

23

LYFE

Maikos take part in a press interview ahead of a rehearsal for the annual Miyako Odori at the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo in Kyoto.

Geisha spectacle in Japan

The show combines all the traditional performing arts that one can see in Japan.

o Dancers in Kyoto celebrate arrival of spring in centuries-old performance A GAINST a backdrop of blooming cherry blossoms, a group of geishas elegantly shuffle onto a stage in Japan’s Kyoto city to begin

started in 1872. “Just as cherry blossoms bloom when spring approaches, the Miyako Odori is a spring tradition in Kyoto,” Kyoko Sugiura, head of the Yasaka Nyokoba Gakuen, a school for geishas in Kyoto’s Gion district, told AFP. In Japanese, the word geisha means “person of the arts”, and can refer to a woman or man trained in traditional Japanese performing arts. In the popular imagination, geishas are often confused with courtesans but their work as trained masters of refined old artforms does not involve selling sex. Their performances are usually small and private, and take m

A geisha is a trained master of refined old artforms. A g

A close-up of a maiko. A l se up of a maiko.

they have to act, they have to sing, they have to play the instruments, everything all in one. “That’s why it’s so special.” But the number of geishas, who once made a living through performing for Japan’s wealthy elite, is in decline. Superata said that fewer young Japanese want a life that demands huge discipline and comes with a strict practice schedule. “Nowadays, young Japanese people... are not very interested that much in traditional art and in kimono.”

relocation of the capital to Tokyo in 1869. The format of the performance has not changed much, Sugiura explained, although the music and dance moves are sometimes switched up. Maria Superata, a geisha expert who has worked with them as an interpreter, explained that the show “combines all of the traditional performing arts that you can see in Japan”. “For example, elements from kabuki (classical Japanese theatre), elements from traditional dance. So

place at high-class establishments which operate a no first-time customer policy. “That’s why it is often thought of as a very exclusive world. “But the Miyako Odori is a one-hour show, in which geisha and maiko have the opportunity to showcase the arts they practise daily. “Anyone and everyone with a ticket can enjoy the show,” Sugiura said. The Miyako Odori began soon after Kyoto hosted Japan’s first national expo – an effort to revitalise the western city following the

a

centuries-old

performance

celebrating the arrival of spring. Dressed in sky blue kimonos emblazoned with flowers, the dancers twist and twirl in unison in front of hundreds of spectators eager to see the annual “Miyako Odori” in the nation’s spectacular ancient capital. Geishas, known as geikos in Kyoto, and apprentices called maikos have been donning elaborate costumes and fluttering fans since the Miyako Odori – or “capital city dance” – first

Dressed in sky blue kimonos emblazoned with flowers, the dancers twist and twirl in unison in front of hundreds of spectators.

Geishas and maikos take part in a rehearsal for the annual Miyako Odori. – ALL PICS FROM AFP