Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House

Image source: Wikipedia Image

皆さん、お久しぶりです。すみません、私は忙しかったです。

For a change I’ve got an anime that I can actually recommend and that if you are interested in you can watch as well.  It’s available on NHK World Japan’s international service.

Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san – Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House

This particular anime is based on a manga (comic) I’ve been reading for a while.  It’s a so called “slice of life” genre which in this case is basically split 50/50 between Japanese comfort food and home cooking and how day to day life is for a maiko-san.  Most here probably have a passing knowledge of what a geisha is.  In Kyoto and western Japan a geisha is know as a geiko.  An apprentice geiko is known as a maiko or in more respectful language a maiko-san.

I’m not a big fan of the animation, but it matches the rather simple art in the manga.  Also, in something incredibly rare for most anime this particular anime actually uses appropriate dialects for the characters.  The voice actors are almost all native speakers for the dialect.

The story is set in Kyoto’s hanamachi geisha quarter. Here, after geisha finish their work late at night, they rest at the lodge to prepare for the next day. The story centers on Kiyo, a teenager Aomori native who works as a cook in the geisha lodge. She also has a friend named Sumire, who is a maiko (apprentice geisha).

Source: Wikipedia

In this case the the Japanese and English titles are quite different.

舞妓さんちのまかないさん

舞妓さん – maiko-san – as discussed above.

ち – chi – this is a casual conversation term for house and it comes from 家  (うち) in romaji “uchi”.

の – no – possession – grammar particle similar to apostrophe S in English.

まかないさん – makanaisan – cook.  More specifically a cook at a boarding house.  A makanai would be a board meal.

So literally “The maikos’ house’s cook”.

Omake:  Here is Sensei in Kyoto with a maiko.  The arm in the the picture is mine.  I’m not especially tall, but in Japan I get to be above average height.