Maiko

Maiko, from Wada Sanzo's Shōwa Shokugyō Emaki, depicts an apprentice geisha of Kyoto. The figure is likely shown in the costume markers specific to maiko rather than full geiko: trailing hikizuri kimono with an elaborately embroidered hem, the long darari obi knotted to hang almost to the ankles, lacquered okobo platform clogs, hanakanzashi hair ornaments seasonal to the month, and the underlip painted while the upper is left bare in the first-year style. Where Edo [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) by Utamaro or Eishi modeled a courtesan's face with delicate keyblock lines and subtle gauffrage, Wada renders the maiko in flat planes of color — white-painted oshiroi face, black hair mass, patterned kimono read as graphic ornament — with the keyblock supplying decisive contour rather than tonal nuance. The treatment reflects his yōga grounding under Kuroda Seiki and aligns with the sōsaku-hanga preference for the artist's own design language, while preserving the maiko as a recognized social type within the series' inventory of Shōwa occupations.