The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House
Japanese television series
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The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (舞妓さんちのまかないさん) is a Japanese television series based on the manga Kiyo in Kyoto[1] about contemporary life in a geisha house. The series stars Nana Mori, Natsuki Deguchi, and Aju Makita, and was released by Netflix on January 12, 2023.[2] Hirokazu Kore-eda served as director, writer, and showrunner, The Makanai being his first time directing a Netflix production.[3]
by Aiko Koyama
| The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House | |
|---|---|
Promotional release poster | |
| Based on | Kiyo in Kyoto by Aiko Koyama |
| Written by | Hirokazu Kore-eda |
| Screenplay by | Mami Sunada |
| Directed by | Hirokazu Kore-eda |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Yoko Kanno |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original language | Japanese |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Genki Kawamura Kenji Yamada |
| Cinematography | Ryuto Kondo |
| Production companies | Bunkuku Story Inc. |
| Original release | |
| Network | Netflix |
| Release | January 12, 2023 |
Background
The series is based on the manga Kiyo in Kyoto, which ran from 2016 to 2025 and received a 12-episode TV anime in 2021.
Plot
Best friends Kiyo (Mori) and Sumire (Deguchi) move from their hometown in northern Aomori to Kyoto's Gion district to live in an all-female house of geiko and maiko with dreams of becoming geiko themselves. Though Sumire is hailed as an exemplary talent, Kiyo is deemed unfit to become a maiko but soon finds her unexpected calling as their live-in cook.[4]
Episodes
| No. | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | "Change" Transliteration: "Kaeru" (Japanese: 変える) |
| 2 | "Guardian Spirit" Transliteration: "Otafuku" (Japanese: お多福) |
| 3 | "Taboo" Transliteration: "Kinki" (Japanese: 禁忌) |
| 4 | "Wish" Transliteration: "Negai" (Japanese: 願い) |
| 5 | "Choice" Transliteration: "Sentaku" (Japanese: 選択) |
| 6 | "One-sided" Transliteration: "Kataomoi" (Japanese: 片思い) |
| 7 | "Illness" Transliteration: "Yamai hi" (Japanese: 病日) |
| 8 | "Carnival" Transliteration: "Obake" (Japanese: お化け) |
| 9 | "Passage" Transliteration: "Kadode" (Japanese: 門出) |
Cast
- Nana Mori as Kiyo,[5] a would-be maiko applicant from Aomori who is rejected for the role but ends up cooking for the Saku House
- Natsuki Deguchi as Sumire/Momohana,[5] Kiyo's long-time companion and best friend who succeeds in becoming a maiko
- Aju Makita as Ryoko,[5] Mother Azusa's daughter who also lives in the Saku House
- Takako Tokiwa as Mother Azusa,[5] the co-proprietor of the Saku House
- Keiko Matsuzaka as Mother Chiyo,[5] the co-proprietor of the Saku House
- Ai Hashimoto as Momoko,[5] a veteran geiko who takes in Sumire as her apprentice
- Mayu Matsuoka as Yoshino,[5] a former geiko who returns to the Saku House to resume her career after divorcing her husband
- Momoko Fukuchi as Tsurukoma, a maiko at the Saku House who quits the profession at the end of the series
- Lily Franky as Mr. Ren, the bartender
- Kotona Minami as Kotono, fellow maiko
Production
Kore-eda directed the first two episodes, with the remaining seven directed by Megumi Tsuno, Hiroshi Okuyama, and Takuma Sato.[3]
Depictions of geisha
Previous portrayals of geisha and their milieu, such as Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha and its film adaptation, have been criticised for conflating geisha culture with a form of "highly-stylized prostitution".[6] The popularity of the film led to a surge in tourists in the geisha districts of Kyoto, instances of harassment of geisha in public, and a 2019 ban of photographing geisha implemented by the Gion geisha district. Kore-eda commented that the series might dispel some inaccurate beliefs perpetuated by Memoirs, such as maiko being sold by their parents. However, Kiyo's work as a makanai, the in-house cook and helper, is also unrealistic; there are no teenage makanai.[7]