On August 1, 2024, the summer event "Hassaku" where geisha and maiko express their gratitude to their masters and teahouses was held in the geisha district of Kyoto City. In the scorching heat where temperatures exceeded 30 degrees from the morning, geisha and maiko dressed in black crests and other formal attire walked up and down the streets and exchanged greetings with the places they visited.
At a teahouse in Sueyoshi-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City, geisha and maiko came one after another and bowed their heads, saying, "Congratulations. Thank you very much, mother," and "As always, thank you very much." The proprietress who welcomed them said words of appreciation to each of them, saying, "Thank you for your hard work in the heat."
Hassaku, which refers to the first day of August in the lunar calendar, is also called the "field fruit festival" because farmers prayed for a good harvest. "Tanomi" means "a request," and there was also a custom of visiting people who had helped one another to pay their respects. The geisha district of Kyoto inherited this tradition and continues to do so on August 1 of the new calendar.
