Gion Kobu - the foremost of Kyoto's Flower Districts, named after the Yasaka Shrine ("Gion-san"). The most traditional of the five. Dance and music training is in the classical Inoue-school. The major public performance is the Miyako Odori in April.
Gion Higashi - originally formed one flower town with Gion Kobu, but became independent in 1881. Follows a different dance school, the Fujima School. Performance called Gion Odori is held in autumn.
Both Gion districts were popular with pilgrims visiting the Gion shrine/temple complex (now Yasaka Jinja); they were also close to the Tokaido which enters Kyoto over Sanjo Bridge, just north of the area.
[Miyako Odori]
Pontocho - along a very narrow street (with a great atmosphere) on the west bank of the Kamo River between Shijo and Sanjo. It developed in the early Edo-period after a new embankment was built here. Symbol is the plover, a bird associated with the Kamo River. Onoe School. The Kamo Odori is held for a whole month in May. Pontocho was close to the Tokaido Highway.
Kamishichiken - Developed in the Muromachi period and is therefore the oldest Flower Town in Kyoto. Was built with wood left over after a reconstruction of the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, next to which it is located. The name means "Upper Seven Houses." The symbol of the town is a string of dumplings, offered to Hideyoshi when he held his Great Tea Party in the shrine. Hanayagi School. Performance called Kitano Odori in April lasts just a few weeks. Kamishichiken, of course, catered to visitors of the popular Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.
[Gion district with lantern and poster advertising the Miyako Odori]
As you see, all Flower Towns have there public dance performances, held in their own theater. This is of course a modern development. Geiko and maiko only used to perform at small parties, for guests, and not on a public stage. The tradition started in 1872 in Gion, and was a bright idea of Prefectural Governor Hase Nobuatsu and Vice-Governor Makimura Masanao.
At that time, Kyoto was in decline. Three years before the capital had been moved to Tokyo and the new Meiji Emperor and his court had departed Kyoto, leaving an empty shell behind. To promote the city, the Prefectural Government organized an exhibition to showcase the art, culture and industry still thriving in Kyoto. To attract people, the Governor and Vice-Governor requested Mr. Sugiura, the representative of the Gion district and owner of the restaurant "Mantei" (now Ichiriki) to stage a public dance performance by geiko and maiko. Mr. Sugiura asked the help of the master of the Kyomai dance school, Ms. Inoue Yachiyo III, and together they devised a highly stylized group performance based on the "Kamenoko Odori" dance from the Furuichi district in Ise.
[Kamogawa Odori in Pontocho]
A traditional Japanese orchestra and singers were added and in March 1872 the the first Miyako Odori, or "Dances of the Imperial Capital" were performed to great acclaim. This performance become the prototype of all subsequent Miyako Odori of the Gion Kobu (and in a wider sense of the dance performances of the other Flower Towns as well), and the choreography is still the exclusive domain of the Inoue Kyomai dance school - now headed by Inoue Yachiyo V. In 1873 the "Miyako Odori" moved to the more spacious premises of the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo Theater.
[The Jikata singers and shamisen players at the Miyako Odori]
The style of the Miyako Odori is classical and dignified and is the best way to see the country's top geiko and maiko in their beautiful kimono's!