KYOTO -- About 80 geisha and apprentice geisha from the Gion Kobu district here braved the rain on July 4 to pray for improvements in their performances at Yasaka Shrine in this city's Higashiyama Ward.

The annual event is held for pupils of the Kyomai Inoue School for classical Japanese dancing. Geisha and apprentice geisha wearing rain coats over their yukata were purified at the shrine after offering prayers as they walked the perimeter of the main hall.

Yachiyo Inoue, the head of the school, said, "Today is rainy due to a typhoon, and an earthquake damaged buildings in the Gion district the other day. I prayed that there are no more natural disasters."

(Japanese original by Mai Suganuma, Kyoto Bureau)