Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House is a lesser-known anime that came out at the tail end of the 2021 winter season. As it was produced by NHK World-Japan, the show walks a fine line between being just a means of entertainment and a means of education. There’s only one way to find out whether it’s more for entertainment or education, and that’s by looking at the contents of the show.
However, before diving into the information given throughout the show, it’s good to have an understanding of the context of Kiyo In Kyoto. The series follows Kiyo and her friend Sumire, who are both from Aomori Prefecture and want to become maiko (traditional Japanese entertainers found in Kyoto). While Sumire goes on to train and becomes a maiko, the titular character becomes the cook for that maiko house instead. The show then goes on to cover information about both maiko and Japanese food culture. As the show is produced by NHK World-Japan, the international version of the well-known Japanese broadcasting news and entertainment site, it would make sense that Kiyo in Kyoto is all about culture.
It’s time to dive into the cultural aspects of the show, starting with the way it depicts the life of maiko. The series mainly takes place in the titular maiko house in the area of Kyoto called Kagai, where all the maiko and their housemothers live together. The show takes viewers along Sumire’s journey in becoming a maiko, showing the training process with many tidbits of cultural information. It talks about the processes such as the classes maiko take to learn song and dance, as well as differences between maiko in training and maiko who have already made their “debut”. One of these differences is the type of sash or obi the girls wear.
As seen in Episode 4, it shows how a senior apprentice who has not yet debuted wears a “half dangling sash,” while a full maiko wears a longer “dangling sash.” In that same episode, Sumire gets to debut as full-fledged maiko and gets her maiko name — Momohana — which they explain can be chosen in many ways. They can choose the Japanese characters for the maiko’s name is by taking inspiration from their real names, from the maiko house they live in or even having it divined for them at a shrine. Along with all the information within the show, there is also a separate short video produced by NHK World-Japan called “Maiko [Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san – Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House] – 3-minute Maiko,” available on YouTube, where real-life maiko are showcased.
Another topic that’s discussed a lot in Kiyo in Kyoto is food, which means there’s also a lot of information and facts about food not only from Kyoto or Aomori but from all around Japan. The episodes are formatted around the food featured in their respective segment, as each episode is generally formatted into three parts, each a chapter of the manga featuring one main food. Then, after each segment, there are little “talking heads” segments, where Kiyo and Sumire, as well as sometimes their senior Tsurukoma, talk about the food they ate in that segment as well as their regional counterparts.
This segment is called “Sumire and Kiyo’s Dish of the Day.” A good example of the regional differences discussed during these scenes can be seen in the last segment of Episode 5, where the series talks about different soups from across Japan. It starts with the soup that was featured in the episode — hittsumi soup from Aomori — and goes on to talk about soups from other places, such as teppo soup from Hokkaido, natto soup from Yamagata and itoko soup from Kyoto. This kind of cultural analysis in these segments is common and very educational.
Of course, to be an anime, the show must be entertaining as well, and entertaining it is. Kiyo in Kyoto has no lack of cute characters and scenes. Not everything in the show is meant to teach the viewer; it also contains a plot and characters that grow throughout, as well as numerous cute and fluffy scenes. The show can have both entertainment and educational elements within it, as many shows do. So, to answer whether Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House is an entertainment or an education series, it’s happily both.