Miyako Odori 都をどり

The 136th Miyako Odori dedicates all scenes to the Japanese classic novel, the Tale of Genji, as this year marks the 1000th anniversery of this great literary work.

How Miyako Odori Started

People of Kyoto were very concerned that Kyoto would go downhill after the relocation of the capital to Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration.

Kyoto Governor Nabuatsu Hase and Vice Governor Masanao Makimura made a lot of efforts to develop and prosper Kyoto further. In 1871, they planned to hold the first Japanese exposition in the Imperial Palace in order to promote Kyoto’s industry.

Jirouemon Sugiura, the representative of Gion Shinbashi and owner of Mantei (current Ichiriki-tei, a famous Ochaya), recieved a request from Kyoto prefectural government to show a dance by Geiko and Maiko to the public. With the collaboration from Yachiyo Inoue III, the head of the dance school of Kyomai. Mr. Sugiura came up with the idea of a group dance based on the performance of ‘Kamenoko Odori’  in Ise Furuichi.

In March of 1872, as a sideshow of the expo, the dance ‘Miyako Odori Junicho’, created by Masanao Makimura, was performed with a chorus and musicians in a room with beautiful sliding doors of a house called Matsunoya, located in Gion Shinbashi. This performance was the start of the current Miyako Odori.

At that time they agreed that the dance style of Gion Kobu’s ‘Miyako Odori’ had to be Inoue’s Kyomai and no other schools should be involved. This promise has been kept since then, and the quality and dignity of the Miyako Odori is passed on heads – the fourth and current head, Yachiyo Inoue V.