ABSTRACT
Today, the Miyako-odori with its brilliant productions featuring geiko and maiko evokes spring in Kyoto and images of ‘old Japan’ and the song and dance of Kyoto. The Miyako-odori began as entertainment for the first Kyoto Exhibition of 1872. This same year, however, marked the beginning of a boom of dance performances in the pleasure quarters throughout the Keihan region with the appearance of the Kamogawa-odori, also in Kyoto, and in Osaka, the Naniwa-odori, the Ashibe-odori and the Konohana odori. Regrettably, this tradition has vanished in Osaka, and the only dance performance still associated with the pleasure quarters is the Kyoto Miyako-odori. Reviewing contemporary newspaper and magazine coverage of the pleasure quarters provides an idea of how popular these performances were with the populace. The Takarazuka Shōjo Kageki (Takarazuka Girls’ Opera), which Kobayashi Ichizō purportedly created to rival the Mitsukoshi Shōnen Ongakutai (Mitsukoshi Children’s Band), drew upon the Yamatoya Shōjoren (Yamatoya Girls’ Troupe). 2 It thus appears that these dances of the pleasure quarters influenced a wide variety of performing arts.
