#Aoitayu

[kohanageikoandmaikofan]

Aoi Tayuu [the video's and photo's are not mine !!]

[koikishu]

September 2021: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, posted as series of photos as a time lapse. On the left: a photo of Aoi-tayuu in 1999, age 12, debuting as the Furisode-tayuu of the Wachigaiya okiya most likely during their April tayuu-dochu. In the middle: a photo of Aoi-tayuu during her Tayuu Debut in 2014, age 27, at the Shimogamo Shrine. On the right: a photo of Aoi-tayuu during an ozashiki in June, which likely makes her about 33-34.

[missmyloko]

Hi Justine, your blog is better every day i hope you continue for many more. Thank you!!! I have a question about modern tayu. I've seen that she like in the olden days is aleays acompanions by little kamuro like it was in the olden days l, Are these girls now days real apprentices? I also saw in photo from the instagram of aoitayu two older girls like from about 15 dress similar are these the real apprentices of the tayu? How can girls become tayus today if shimabara is getting more closer

Thank you for the kind words! For the most part kamuro are a role played by young girls for the tayū and don’t have any real inclinations to become tayū themselves. The same is with the shinzo, the young teenage girls who accompany them, although they might actually go on to become tayū potentially in the future. The process for becoming a tayū is much like becoming a maiko where someone needs an introduction to the okiya in question in order to apprentice there. However, since there are so few places for tayū to exist anymore it’s pretty hard to get one of those introductions. Plus, most girls don’t want to go through the years of apprenticeship needed in order to become tayū, so their numbers remain quite low ^^

[koikishu]

June 2021: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, demonstrating a magnetic accessory from Waraku, a store which allows patrons to buy and create miscellaneous Japanese goods and accessories.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1401355295582875649?s=20&t=XWbRuCLy5v2gs4uJD2KyRg

[koikishu]

February 2022: Aoi-tayuu and Tsukasa-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, posing in costumes for Obake with a bikuni (i.e. Buddhist nun) at the Senbon Enmado at Injo-ji Temple in Kamigyo, Kyoto, Japan. 

Obake is a part of Setsubun celebrations where the wearing of outrageous costumes is meant to confuse ghosts who would bring bad luck. On the right, Aoi-tayuu is wearing a costume resembling the character Tsuri Onna from the kabuki play “ Ebisu Môde Koi no Tsuribari,” who is considered to be an ugly woman. On the left, Tsukasa-tayuu is wearing a tiger inspired costume because 2022 is the year of the Tiger.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1489158894362382337?s=20&t=zpFzDBd33hAYR6lJ4QAFYA

[koikishu]

February 2021: Aoi-tayuu and her kamuro, Miwa-chan & Rio-chan, of Suehiro okiya modeling their lace face veils in order aesthetically maintain Covid safety protocols.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1366243516481871873?s=20

[koikishu]

September 2021: Aoi-tayuu and her kamuro, of Suehiro okiya, and Mai-geigi, of the Aizu-Higashiyama Geigi Association, posing for photos at the Iori-no-Yado Ashina Inn where the 8th Regular Broadcast - Kyoto Shimabara Tayuu's Dream Writing will be livestreamed.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1442826830088531971?s=20&t=oOBbqrTfJ9aekZqz4BWhHw

[koikishu]

June 2021: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, modeling her new wisteria kanzashi from Floresta.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1401453730755534848?s=20&t=XWbRuCLy5v2gs4uJD2KyRg

[koikishu]

February 2021: In preparation of Obake, Aoi-tayuu is wearing the Sakkou (先笄) hairstyle as part of a young wife costume. The rest of her costume features a skull kimono, skull haneri, and cobweb obi.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1356446632691175425?s=20

[koikishu]

August 1, 2021: Aoi-tayuu (葵太夫), and her kamuro, of Suehiro okiya, taking part in Hassaku Dochu (八朔道中) as they pose in front of the Shimabara Oomon.

During the Edo period, daimyos and hatamotos would visit the shogun dressed in ceremonial white katabira and hakama to praise the founding of the Tokugawa shogunate on the 1st day of the 8th month. As a way of thanking the Tokugawa for permitting the creation of the yukaku (licensed pleasure quarters), tayuu and oiran would mimic the samurai class by wearing light hemp shiromuku and parading with full retinue around the quarter.

As they use to do during New Years, each courtesan would present a set of sake cups to each of the tea-houses. Each sake cup was inscribed with the crest of the courtesan, and each set was packed in a tiny box of kiri (paulownia) wood on which was written the courtesan's name and the name of the house to which she belonged. The tradition of Hassaku would also become popular with geisha as a way to give thanks to the various teahouses for their patronage.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1421827894800748545?s=20&t=LQilhVdraCAFiyZ7o1GU_Q

[koikishu]

November 2021: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, reflecting on the importance of choosing one’s seat in a theater, such as the Pontocho Kaburenjo Theatre, wisely when wearing tayuu nihongami. Unlike nihongami worn by Kyoto maiko, tayuu nihongami tends to be taller and wider, which makes it that much more of an obstacle to other patrons.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1460861937332330500?s=20&t=SyzCV53Zh-GFCW_sgAmWyQ

[koikishu]

September 2021: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, and her kamuro pose in front of Tsuruga Castle, a.k.a. Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle, during a business trip to Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1442826830088531971?s=20&t=oOBbqrTfJ9aekZqz4BWhHw

[koikishu]

November 2017: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, serving as a model for photographers at a workshop hosted by Daniel Korzhonov overlooking the Katsura River in Arashiyama, Kyoto, Japan.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1488747495446695937?s=20&t=hCgwgLDogK5okGODy9i80g

[koikishu]

Nihongami: Hairstyles of the Karyukai - Tayuu, Shinzo & Kamuro

Historical Time Period: Mid-Edo Period - 2nd Half (1753-1789)

Hairstyle Name: Otoko Genroku (男元禄) lit. “Genroku Man”

     This hairstyle is different from its sibling style, the Onna Genroku, in that the topmost gathering of hair is styled in a tall, shaku-like pattern, compared to that of the female style. These hairstyles are a reference to the loud, flamboyant gender-fluid style of fashion during the Genroku period of Japanese history, a time when men and women dressed so alike you couldn’t always tell them apart on sight.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1422139436091858945?s=20&t=RTw8vji0nnrT49GNC_P94Q

[koikishu]

September 2021: 8th Regular Broadcast - Kyoto Shimabara Tayuu's Dream Writing

With commentary by okami and Tsukasa-tayuu of Suehiroya. This broadcast was filmed on a business trip in Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan with Mai-san, a geisha from the Higashiyama Onsen Geisha Association.

Kashi no Shiki (かしの式)

Dance - Inishie (いにしえ) by Aoi-tayuu (葵太夫)

Dance - Momiji no Hashi (もみじの橋) by Kotono-kamuro (琴乃)

Dance - Hagikikyou (萩桔梗) by Aoi-tayuu (葵太夫)

Biwa - Mongaku Hotsushin (文覚發心) by Aoi-tayuu (葵太夫)

Dance - Aizu Kankou Kouta (会津観光小唄) by Mai-geigi (真衣)

Dance - Itoshikihibi (愛しき日々) by Mai-geigi (真衣)

Source: https://kyoto-suehiroya.stores.jp/items/612394c684ca6351929c2534

[koikishu]

November 2017: Aoi-tayuu, of Suehiro okiya, serving as a model for photographers at a workshop hosted by Daniel Korzhonov in the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto, Japan.

Source: https://twitter.com/ayaka8700119/status/1488747495446695937?s=20&t=hCgwgLDogK5okGODy9i80g