The flamboyance of Kyoto has long been enhanced by the culture of five kagai (geisha quarters). Since my heart was touched by the performances of geiko and maiko in the Gion Odori of 2016, the focus of my interest has been in particular on Gion Higashi – a district, roughly speaking, bordered by Shinbashi-dori in the north, Higashiyama-dori in the east, Shijo-dori in the south and Hanami-koji in the west.
This two-section article focuses on the history of Gion Higashi (the district has also been called Zeze-ura, Gion Otsubu or Gion Higashi Shinchi in the past).
- The Birth of Gion Higashi
The start of what is now the Gion Higashi district marked a farewell to Japan’s feudal times. The area had hosted a gigantic residence for a samurai clan from the Zeze domain (current Shiga Prefecture), which was removed in 1870. It was replaced with ochaya (tea houses), which became part of the Gion district. In 1881, however, the expanded Gion area was split into the current two parts – Gion Kobu and Gion Higashi (known then as Gion Otsubu).
Kunimichi Kitagaki, the third governor of Kyoto Prefecture, ordered the separation. It happened not only due to administrative purposes, but also due to a fiscal problem. According to Nakunatta Kyo no Kuruwa (Defunct Pleasure Quarters in Kyoto), published in 1958, the issue had much to do with an educational institution for girls, known as nyokoba:
[The association of the Gion district] received a 50-percent refund of three yen (about ¥90,000) that it had paid to Kyoto Prefecture and was supposed to allocate the money for education expenses of girls attending the institution. The money from the prefecture amounted to 2,000 yen (about ¥6 million), but only 200 yen (about ¥600,000) was spent for tuition fees and the rest was kept, so the association amassed a substantial amount of cash. Therefore, people at Zeze-ura (Gion Higashi) insisted since spring, 1881, that 40,000 yen (about ¥12 million) be reimbursed to taxpayers.
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[The amounts in parenthesis are calculated based on a formula taken from a page in the Collaborative Reference Database.]
The establishment of the nyokoba was prompted by the Maria Luz incident in 1871, in which Chinese indentured laborers were rescued from poor working conditions in a Peruvian ship that docked in Yokohama for repairs. The occurrence helped raise awareness of human rights in Japan, and thus the country enforced the Geishogi Kaiho Rei (Emancipation Edict for Female Performers and Prostitutes) in the same year, which led to the launch of the educational institution.
The founding of Mima Nyokoba, a new educational institution, worsened the feud within the pre-separation Gion district, and it was in 1886 that Gion Higashi completely parted from Gion Kobu by establishing its own association.
In 1872 Gion Kobu and Pontocho started dance shows (Miyako Odori and Kamogawa Odori), and the new district of Gion Higashi began holding its own, Mima Odori, in 1894. It was a predecessor of Gion Odori, the now-existing annual performance that began in 1952. It is uncertain how long the performances were held regularly, but it could be speculated that such events, if they took place in the 1930s and the early 1940s, might have adored Japan’s militarism just like the Miyako Odori and the Kamogawa Odori – the former’s program title in 1942, for example, was Mikuni no Hokori, which translates as Pride of the Imperial Nation, while the latter’s in 1940 was Nanshin Nippon, which roughly means, “Go southward, Japan.”
- Post-WWII years and the present day
In the final year of World War II, the city of Kyoto was air-raided five times. However, its kagai quarters remained unscathed, according to a report in Kagai Shimbun (Nov. 1, 1948). Nevertheless, the journal also refers to the fact that some employees were forced to evacuate.
In April 1948, the entertainment magazine Shin Furyu described what the atmosphere was like then and what Gion Higashi was planning to do:
Despite gloomy social conditions brought by the defeat of Japan, the country greeted the flowery spring season this year. While kagai quarters in Kyoto are developing events to show their performers’ skill, Gion Otsubu will hold Onshukai dance performances on May 5, 6, 7 and 8,… In the meantime, the association has already purchased land to found an art school that can cope quickly with the changing times.
As explained in the magazine Kenchiku to Shakai, the offices of the Geiko Association of Gion Otsubu served as a dance hall for the Allied Occupation forces. By the time the issue was published in August 1949, the building had been returned to its original owner and rebuilt, resulting in the addition of a hall for dance performance upstairs and a Western tea room downstairs.
In the following year, Kagai Shimbun (Sept. 15, 1950) reported on events that would happen in the near future as below:
When Kyoto enjoys autumn with beautifully colored leaves, there will take place the annual Onshukai for six days, from October 13 to 18, at Gion Kaikan; the performances of Gion Higashi Shinchi will be the leadoff and the choreography is arranged by Ryosuke Fujima.
The gala continued the following year when Gion Higashi Shinchi held the ninth installment of the Onshukai event, presenting pieces including the ambitious work titled Shikibu to Borei (Izumi Shikibu and the Ghost) from Oct. 25 to 29. The work, set in the Heian Period, was put together by film and stage director Akira Nobuchi and the historical research was made by traditional Japanese painter Hisako Kajiwara, with choreography overseen by Ryosuke Fujima.
The following year, 1952, is a watershed in the history of Gion Higashi as it launched the famed annual dance performance: Gion Odori. The inaugural edition of the festival featured experts including Akira Nobuchi, Hisako Kajiwara (she was also in charge of stage costumes and scenography) and Ryosuke Fujima and around 50 geiko and maiko. The performances are believed to have taken place at 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. each day between Oct. 21 and 30 at Gion Kaikan, but the Kyoto edition of Asahi Shimbun (Nov. 1, 1952) reported as follows:
The first installment of Gion Odori, which Gion Higashi Shinchi started instead of Onshukai, ended on [Oct.] 30. It did not draw a crowd during the first few days, but it came to enjoy more and more popularity. On the last day there was an additional show, which became a sell-out. There was actually another on the morning of [Oct.] 31. This is how the curtain finally fell, without a hitch.
Gion Odori has since served as an annual showcase for the public (there were no performances from 1955 to 1957 and in 1989 – the year the Emperor Showa passed away). To the chagrin of fans of traditional dance, Kyoto will have a second autumn without Gion Odori, as its cancellation was announced in August. Let us hope that geiko and maiko can show their proficiency to celebrate the event’s 70th anniversary, so that next year we can celebrate one of the greatest shows in Kyoto!
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Picture (Link to the photo of Gion Odori published in the 26th volume of Kyoto):
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gion_Odori_in_1952.jpg
(On a side note, the year 1900 saw Shogi Torishimari Kisoku, a new law to impose stricter rules on prostitutes. It helped the president of Gion Higashi in those days weaken the dominance of prostitutes in the district and improve the status of geiko and maiko instead. The status of traditional performers has been stable since the Prostitution Prevention Law came into effect in 1958.)
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For an introduction to Yuki Yamauchi, please click here. For his piece on Portraits of Uji, click here. For his portrait of prewar academic critic, Tatsuo Kuriyagawa, click here. And for his piece on theatre and film director, Akira Nobuchi, click here.