Maiko
Videos
A maiko is an apprentice geisha. Their jobs consist of performing songs, dances, and playing the shamisen or other traditional Japanese instruments for visitors during banquets and parties, known as o
An apprentice geiko 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
Maiko wearing shidare kanzashi, composed by long chains of silk flowers
Maiko with willow kanzashi
Kimono
Videos
The kimono is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right
Maiko
…a special pillow known as a takamakura – a raised wooden block with a pillow – in order to maintain it. Most maiko wear a style of kimono known as a hikizuri (引きずり, lit. 'trailing skirt'). Hikizuri are typically anywhere from 200–240 centimetres (79–94 in) long, and often feature a lightly padded hem to…
A Zen temple-goer wearing a formal cherry-blossom-motif kimono
A rakugoka (storyteller) wearing kimono and 5-mon haori
A man and a woman wearing formal kimono, for a 1923 wedding (other views)
Kimono for a young woman, depicting a boat on swirling water, with pine tree, plum blossoms and maples. Japan, 1912–1926. From the Khalili Collection of Kimono