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[maigeiko]

The look of... VI: Morioka

Welcome to the 17th installment of this series (my 6th). This time, we’re having a look at the Geigi that work in Morioka.

Historical context It's not known when Geigi in Morioka started to exist, but they trained with Tokiwazu Rinchu 常磐津林中 who lived in Morioka from 1892-93. At this time, Morioka had two Hanamachi: Hatamachi 幡街 and Honmachi 本街. Hatamachi was frequented by customers of the merchant class, whereas Honmachi was the government office district, so the Ryotei there were mostly frequented by government workers and politicians. From 1898 onwards, they were training dance with Wakayagi Rikiyo I 初代若柳力代, originally a Kabuki actor who turned to teaching in his later carreer. In 1911, 54 Geigi worked in Hatamachi and 41 in Honmachi. 30 Ryotei operated in the entire city. In 1913, the Morioka theatre was opened and the Joruri piece "Hanabutai chiyo kaomise" 花舞台千代顔見 was composed by Matsumoto Koshiro VII 七代目松本幸四郎, who invited the Morioka Geigi along him. The lyrics were passed down orally along with the choreography. This joruri piece is performed by the Geigi up to this day. Coming to the present day, the segregation of "Hatamachi" and "Honmachi" no longer exists. They are all "Morioka Geigi", no matter where in the city they live. The Kenban no longer exists and there are no Okiya, all Geigi are independent. After a span of 19 years with no fresh blood, two young Geigi debuted in Morioka in 2012, followed by two Hyoko (Maiko) in 2016.

The look of Morioka Maiko Local Term: Hyoko ひよ妓 - used to be called Hangyoku 半玉 ※ Hairstyle: Momoware Katsura ※ Kanzashi: Manjugiku 萬寿菊 all year (2 sets: white/pink/green, white/red/green). Katsuyama and Daikan. First year with Shidare. Rice husk in the new year period. 1 Birabira, 1 Hirauchi, red Kanoko ※ Makeup: Oshiroi, both lips painted ※ Haneri: red with white embroidery, seldomly white ※ Kimono: Furisode without tucks ※ Obiage: flat, tied in the back. red/silver, red/white shibori, July-September: single colour pink and light yellow, white ※ Obi: Koken musubi ※ Obijime: round, flat, single knot ※ Footwear: Zori

The look of Morioka Geiko Local Term: Geigi 芸妓 ※ Hairstyle: Geiko shimada ※ Kanzashi: Kushi, Maezashi, rice husk in the new year period ※ Makeup: Oshiroi, both lips painted ※ Kimono: Homongi, Kurotomesode ※ Haneri: white ※ Obi: Taiko musubi ※ Obiage: red, pink, white with red Shibori (with Kurotomesode always white/red), white ※ Footwear: Zori

Casual look Young and old Geigi alike often opt for a simpler look, both when dancing and when playing Shamisen… ※ Hairstyle: Yohatsu ※ Kanzashi: none ※ Makeup: no Oshiroi ※ Kimono: Homongi, Kurotomesode ※ Eri: white ※ Obi: Taiko musubi ※ Obiage: white ※ Footwear: Zori

Dances In comparison to other small Hanamachi, more than just two or three dances of their repertoire have been documented:  ※ Aki no yo 秋の夜 ※ Enkaina 縁かいな ※ Furyufunazoroi 風流船揃 ※ Hanabutai Chiyo Kaomise 花舞台千代顔見 ※ Haru kasumi 春霞 ※ Harukoma 春駒 ※ Kimigayo Shochikubai 君が代松竹梅 ※ Kishi no Yanagi 岸の柳 ※ Kanayama odori karame bushi 金山踊からめ節 ※ Mori no nagame 杜の眺め ※ Nanbu ondo 南部音頭 ※ Natsu to kabocha 茄子とかぼちゃ ※ Sekizoro せきぞろ ※ Yama wa iro nasu 山は色なす ※ Yûgure 夕暮れ Check out the video linked below, the channel has more videos of this kind.

Notes ※ The joruri piece "Hanabutai Chiyo kaomise" received updated lyrics in 2013, reflecting the passage of 100 years after its creation. It's now called "Hanabutai Chiyo kaomise - Heisei version" 平成版　花舞台千代顔見. ※ The local term for the registry office was chosen to be "函番". Mostly pronounced Kenban like the Geigi registry offices all over Japan, but also "Kanban". The "函" character was also used for the Shamisen case - Geigi's Shamisen were stored in the Kenban and from there, brought to the Ryotei if needed. ※ Geigi Yôko よろ子 is  Wakayagi Rikiyo IV. ※ Apprentice Geigi start dance training first, beginner dances being Kanayama Odori and Nanbu Ondo. Second the start training Shamisen and third Nagauta. ※ The b/w photo of the hangyoku is literally the only photo of Morioka Gei-/Maiko from before 2012 I was able to find. You can see the girls are wearing their own hair, Hikizuri and Darari Obi. The style has changed drastically! ※ This particular feature on Morioka was requested by @geimaiko. Thanks for the impulse! ※ If anyone reads this far... I’m happy to explore more Hanamachi. If you have a request, feel free to drop it in my inbox. An overview of what has received in-depth research before, you can find here. Sources ※ text: past Hanamachi, 1911 numbers, beginner training, school of dance Wakayagi-ryu, kenban/okiya system defunct, 1993 debut (only mentioned, no picture of it, sadly!), everything else ※ dances: hanabutai, harukoma, nanbu+karame+haru kasumi (video), aki+natsu, kishi, yama+enkaina+sekirozo, furyu, mori+yugure, kimigayo (followers-only account) ※ pictures: collage 1: beige flower furisode, Kikumaru/Marika debut, dark blue furisode, collage 2: all from Kikumaru’s instagram, Tomochiyo/Tomiyu debut, Kikumaru erikae, jikata in sepia tones, new year’s photo (Facebook), veteran geigi dancing (Facebook), 3 geigi dancing. Hangyoku. [Facebook has been restricting browsing for people who are not logged in recently, so I can’t look up the exact sources. Kikumaru’s instagram is private] ※ Original layout: @geimaiko ♥

#MG #Morioka #Kurotomesode #marika #kikumaru #tomiyu