Maiko

Two young women in elaborate kimono — one deep blue with a gray dragon or wave motif, the other crimson with a white and gray patterned underlayer — stand in profile before a vermillion shrine gate hung with black lanterns, weeping cherry blossoms cascading overhead. Both wear their hair in high ornamented buns with pink floral pins and walk on raised wooden geta with red thongs; behind them across an open courtyard stands a red-and-white two-story pavilion with gray tiled roofs, set against a blue-green sky. Hiroshi Yoshida, "Maiko," 1929, woodblock print, ink and color on paper.