A maiko is an apprentice geisha in Kyoto. Their jobs consist of performing songs, dances, and playing the shamisen or other traditional Japanese instruments for visitors during banquets and parties, known as ozashiki.
An apprentice geisha on the day of her misedashi, the occasion when a shikomi becomes an apprentice proper. Notice two dangling kanzashi on the sides of her hairstyle.
Two Kyoto maiko walking
Minarai wearing shidare kanzashi, composed by long chains of silk flowers
Maiko with willow kanzashi
The shamisen , also known as sangen or samisen
(all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian. It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.
Tokyo geisha with shamisen, c. 1870s
A Japanese man playing a shamisen while another sings
The heike shamisen compared with a medium-sized, or chuzao shamisen
Bachi for min'yo, tsugaru and heike shamisen