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Maiko - apprentice Geisha

In order to become a Geisha, a young woman must work as an apprentice ("Maiko" - 舞妓) for several years. These two Maiko were demonstrating traditional costumes and dances at the Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts.

 

I thought the dances were amazingly fluid and graceful, but also clearly incredibly precise.

 

Based on Kyouka's comments and some subsequent Googling, it appears that these are Maiko Umeyae (梅やえ) and Maiko Umehisa (梅比沙) from the Kamishichiken region of Kyoto. According to WIkipedia, Kamishichiken "is the oldest hanamachi (geisha district) in northwest Kyoto, just east of the Kitano Tenman-gū Shrine."

 

Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts [?]

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Uploaded on July 22, 2010
Taken on June 27, 2010