Chikyu Greetings - Japanese Card - Maiko

Chikyu Greetings - Japanese Card - Maiko

A Japanese folded greeting card, published by Chikyu Greetings, with an illustration by the textile pattern designer Yoshida Ryūshi (吉田龍史). A spring scene in Kyoto, handled with the meticulousness of someone used to drawing patterns for kimono.

The image shows two maiko seen from behind crossing Tatsumi Bridge, in the Gion Shirakawa district. It is one of the most recognisable corners of Kyoto: a small stone bridge over the Shirakawa canal, with vermilion railings, the wooden façades of the old teahouses lined up along both banks, and cherry trees in blossom spilling over the water. The whole quarter is protected as a preservation district for traditional buildings, and beside the bridge stands the little shrine of Tatsumi Daimyōjin, where maiko and geiko go to pray for progress in their arts.

Maiko are the apprentice geiko of Kyoto, and their dress is exactly what appears here: the long-sleeved, vividly coloured furisode, the broad obi falling down the back, and the hair swept up and set with kanzashi, the floral ornaments that change with the month of the year. The two kimono in the illustration — one blue, one black, both with elaborate floral patterns — are the real centre of the drawing.

The card is folded, opening like a book, and comes with an inner sheet printed with a message and a standard white envelope cut to size. The format is designed precisely for sending greetings abroad: the manufacturer itself recommends it for writing to people outside Japan.

Ideal as a greeting card, to accompany a gift, or to frame and keep as a small decorative print once it has been read.

About Chikyu Greetings. Chikyu Greetings, based in Asakusabashi (Tokyo), is a Japanese stationery publisher whose "Chikyu" brand goes back to the Meiji era, around 130 years ago. It specialises in greeting cards and paper goods — envelopes, letter paper, pochibukuro, stickers and Japanese-style bookmarks — with a style the company itself describes as basic, warm designs with a touch of whimsy.