Soyokaze - Gentle Breeze

This is my new ro geiko hikizuri. It features lovely pampas grass motifs which seem to be bending in a gentle breeze. There are also chinese bellflowers and what appears to be cock's comb flowers. I can't seem to figure out what that large pink flower is, though. The way that the leaves turn into the flower reminds me of a poinsetta, but I doubt that's what this is. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know!




This kimono came with a white hiyoku that was detached, I did some quick needle work and re-attached it last night.

Thanks to one of my friends, I've been able to identify this hikizuri's previous owner. It belonged to the Tama Okiya in Gion Kobu. My friend directed me to photos of Mayuha, Mamesuzu and Wakana wearing this hikizuri for hassaku.

Mayuha in 2007:
www.flickr.com/photos/mboogiedown/1353251394/
In this image Mayuha is standing near the centre with Suzuha behind her. In that image you can see the strange pink flower that I can't identify on her skirt. Also, the crests match the ones on my hikizuri
www.flickr.com/photos/31093817@N08/3235381952/
www.flickr.com/photos/31093817@N08/3235382120/
In these two images you can see Mayuha with Suzuha and the bellflower and sweet pea details on the right side of the hikizuri's skirt. Also, you'll notice that Mayuha's kimono is a three crested kurotomesode (the ones on the shoulders are missing) just like my hikizuri.

Mamesuzu 2008:
www.flickr.com/photos/nobuflickr/2777459863/
Here you can see Mamesuzu in this hikizuri. The hikizuri is difficult to identify in this image, but the sweet pea details are there as well as a hint of that pink flower on the left side. The shoulder crests are also missing.

Wakana 2009:
www.flickr.com/photos/23314901@N06/3785023156/
And here's Wakana. There's that pink flower, the bellflower and sweet pea details as well as the matching crests!

Now the thing that weirds me out about this hikizuri is that all of these geisha belong to the Tama Okiya which has a Pulownia crest. Seen here on Suzuha's obi: www.flickr.com/photos/maclir/23958474/ Yet, this hikizuri has a definite Sensu shaped crest. As does the hikizuri that all three geiko are wearing. The question is, why would geiko wear crests other than those of their okiya? And why would an okiya even have a hikizuri with crests that belong to someone else? Or does this hikizuri have a much longer history than I suspect?

So I attended the Road to Asia Festival as a seller this weekend and I thought I'd show you all some of my kitsuke as well as tell some stories.


On my first day I wore my Hinotori Higure taisho furisode with one of my phoenix themed fukuro obi. I came up with this ensemble for the single colour challenge too. I didn't have a helper with me that day, so I only got one photo. It was one of my fellow sellers who offered to take it for me, and guess who he was? He was a 12th generation tea master from Kyoto! He was selling his family's teas. He enjoyed my kanashi and my kimono a great deal and by the end of the day he was chatting with me about the geiko-san and okasan who used to come into his family's teashop. One of the okasan he remembers had 49 geiko working for her at the time. She was the okasan of the Daichan Okiya if I remember correctly. He also told me that every afternoon around 3 or 4pm you would see the maiko and geiko rushing home from classes to get dressed and put on their makeup. Well, after chatting with him that day, I decided I would brink my Maiko hikizuri the next day. I thought if anyone would appreciate it, he would.



So, I had my Maiko hikizuri on display with me for the second day. In the second image, you can see the tea master in the background. That evening as I packed up my hikizuri, he mentioned that he remembers that the maiko and geiko used to burn insense near their kimono to keep moths away and they would even carry a little pouch with them, so every time the maiko walked by you would be able to smell the insense. Before leaving he thanked me for appreciating his culture so much and bringing back to his memories from Kyoto.

On the second day, I wore my Peacock Lady furisode and Green Dragon Maru Obi. I had a helper with me today, so I got a few more pictures of this ensemble.





Originally, I had my obi tied in a sort of short darari knot, but it got smushed as I worked so I eventually retied it in a sort of floppy butterfly knot. I think that style works well with the contemporary kitsuke of the taisho/early showa period.


My helper shot this candid photo as I helped a customer. The little girl (she's an odori student) was admiring the kanzashi at my table and her mother was trying to decide which one would look best with her kimono. I just love how you can see the height difference between the little girl and myself.

And that was my fun time at the Road to Asia Festival!