The costume fitting for the 138th "Miyako Odori," or Miyako Dance, which starts on April 1, was held on the morning of February 24 at Gion Kobu Kaburenjo Theater, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto. "Geiko" and "Maiko," or geisha and apprentice geisha, attended a photo session for the program brochure in their costumes.

This year's program entitled "Hananikiku Miyako no Rekishi," or ask flowers about the history of ancient Kyoto, expresses the seasonal atmosphere of Kyoto through dance and is composed of eight scenes. Coinciding with the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) historical drama series entitled "Ryoma-den," or the story of Ryoma Sakamoto, a famous samurai warrior, it includes stories from the end of the Edo Period. The third scene is "Kazuno-miya Gion Shasan," where Kazuno-miya, Emperor Ninko's eighth daughter who married into the Tokugawa Shogunate family, says goodbye to her life in Kyoto at Yasaka Shrine, and the fourth scene is "Kamo Gawa Toro-nagashi," where samurai warriors who tried to subvert the Tokugawa Shogunate, grieve for their comrades.

Out of the 112 performers, 25 Geiko and Maiko entered the dressing room. Appearing on stage in new costumes, they posed for the photo session. Mame-teru, a Maiko, said, "I want to practice dancing hard in order to have a better performance than last year's." Performances will be held four times a day at 12:30 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4:50 p.m. until April 30. Admission fees are from 2,000 to 4,500 yen. For more information, contact Gion Kobu Kabukai at 075-541-3391. (Japanese or English language inquiries preferred; Spanish-speaking, Korean-speaking and Chinese-speaking staff sometimes available to assist with inquiries)