May 9th, 2019: Another special occasion has taken place in Gion Kobu today, but it’s not something that’s caught on camera often as it’s not announced beforehand. Mamesumi (豆純) of Ninben (亻) began wearing the sakkō hairstyle today, signifying the end of her maiko apprenticeship and her upcoming erikae.
On the first day of sakkō a maiko will dress in kuromontsuki and announce her intentions Yachiyo Inoue before then repeating the process to the proprietor of the Ichiriki. Seeing as Yachiyo Inoue is the head of the Inoue School of dance and the Ichiriki is the most famous and prosperous ochaya in Gion Kobu it only makes sense for these two places to be where a maiko makes her first visits to at the beginning of the end of her time as a maiko.
For the next 20 days she’ll wear this ensemble and dance Kurokami at a host of ozashiki before turning her collar on May 30th. Even though it’s exactly 3 weeks until May 30th she will not be wearing sakkō for the entire time; on May 29th she will be given a day off to rest and relax before the big day, and then the following day will be her erikae.
I’ve also included a close up shot of her kanzashi, which features a crane with pine needs in its mouth and a silver tail on top of plum blossoms, bamboo leaves, and a golden mallet, that rests upon gold and green pine! It’s absolutely bursting with lucky motifs yet manages to look very elegant and not over crowded ^^!
Images are courtesy of a friend who wishes to remain anonymous.