Hi! Do you know if there's a difference between the maiko of the somaro teahouse (sakata, yamagata) and the maiko of the main training association in yamagata? They seem to be different people, and also in the dressing (more flashy furisode for the former)

Hello! Yes, they are different people and independent of each other. Both cities had Hanamachi in the time when this sort of business boomed (Yamagata: 150 Geisha in the 1920s/30s, also 150 Geisha in Sakata, time period unspecified) and suffered of a steady decline in numbers like all Hanamachi.

The Sakata Ochaya Somaya closed in 1995.

In 1996, the Yamagata Geigi Union and Chamber of Commerce and Industry teamed up in the task of bringing new life into the local Hanamachi, thus resulting in the Yamagata Maiko we know today.

In 2000, a company named “Hiraboku” renovated and reopened Somaya, changing the name to “Somaro” and started employing “Artisans and Specialists” from all over Japan, resulting in the Somaro Maiko!