Maiko — 舞妓

A maiko — apprentice geisha, the young women who train in the traditional performing arts of Kyoto's geisha districts in the years before becoming fully qualified geiko — is depicted in this undated Senpan print, the figure's distinctive appearance rendered with the directness that distinguishes his approach to bijin-ga subjects. Senpan's maiko is not the romanticized, ethereal figure of many bijin-ga prints but something more grounded and specific — a young woman in training, her costume and makeup the marks of her particular professional world rather than general feminine beauty.