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Cultural info-dump: The words Miku writes calligraphically are "World Domination". In “Gion-cho” the Band-Maiko members are dressed as junior maiko, and in this "Secret Maiko Lips” video they’re senior maiko. Maiko are apprentice geiko; the word “geisha” is not used in Kyoto, although some B-M fans keep saying "geisha" in their comments. (I'm, er, speaking as one who's been in Gion teahouses where geiko work numerous times.) One difference between senior and junior maiko is the crimson collar under the kimono they’re not wearing in this video, indicating junior status (crimson---紅 "kurenai"---appears often in classical Chinese and Japanese literature as a trope for a young woman). Another difference is hairdo and hair decorations, but maiko are supposed to keep their heads level and still, and obviously Band-Maiko can’t do that, so their hair is not done up in full maiko style, senior or junior.‬ The kimono that geiko/maiko wear will have patterns that reflect the season, even the month of the year. You can see stylized cherry blossoms on the kimono; also plum flowers, indicating Spring, which is when-April Fools Day-this video came out. Speaking of plum, the “ume” of Umemisa, bassist Misa’s Band-Maiko name, means “plum”. Each maiko name used by Band-Maiko has some sort of connection to the Band-Maid member's name. To briefly explain each one, starting with Akane, her actual name is written 茜, which kanji character originally referred to a red-colored dye. Her maiko name, 紅月 “Akatsuki”, which literally means "crimson moon", includes a character 紅 that also originally referred to a red-colored dye, although a different shade of red. 紅月 has been used as an entertainer's name and, while not common now, as a geiko/maiko name in the past. In the case of Miku it’s straightforward: “Kobato” 小鳩 becomes “Hatoko” 鳩子, and has the same meaning, “Little Pigeon”. This is not a common maiko name, and between the two, “Kobato” actually sounds more maiko-ish. Miku’s real name (or the name she used in pre-Band-Maid days), Mika Noguchi, is not related in meaning to Kobato or Hatoko. "Kobato" itself is (uncommonly) a surname and girl's name, often appears in the names of kindergartens, and is sometimes found in Japanese literature as a person’s name and in entertainment as a stage name. Saiki’s maiko name is 富士姫 “Fujiki”. The 富士 “fuji” refers to Mount Fuji. “Fuji” can appear in the names of maiko who are from areas with good views of Mount Fuji. Saiki is from Yamanashi Prefecture, which is known for its nice views of Mt. Fuji. The 姫 “princess” is not normally used in maiko names, but is taken from Saiki’s actual name 彩姫, and also refers to legends and folktales of maidens or princesses associated with Mt. Fuji. Kanami’s maiko name is an obvious choice. It’s 叶笑 “Kanoemi” (the “no” is not written), and this is a common, traditional maiko name. Individually the kanji are interestingly applicable to Kanami: 叶 can mean being fulfilled or having something go the way you hoped; 笑 can mean a smile, and has a literary connotation of a “smile of humility”. This certainly fits Kanami. Kanami’s actual name is not related in meaning to her maiko name Kanoemi. Misa’s actual name is not publicized, and “Misa” is always written alphabetically. Her maiko name is 梅美沙 “Umemisa”, and was probably chosen for its similarity to 梅比沙 “Umehisa”, a common, traditional maiko name. The “hi” becomes “mi”; the “mi” is written 美, which means “beautiful” and is very common in Japanese female names. It’s not known (publicly) if Misa’s real name is written 美沙. Assuming that her real given name actually sounds like “Misa”, it could be written with any number of kanji combinations. Gion is the name of the entertainment district in the city of Kyoto that contains two of the five geiko districts of the city. Gion--cho (the title of the other Band-Maiko vdo) literally means "Gion Town", and the kanji character for "cho" is actually pronounced "machi" locally. The biggest and best known of the geiko districts is Gion Kobu. Two of the other geiko districts not located in Gion use "cho" in their names-Ponto-cho and Miyagawa-cho-and in their cases the "cho" is pronounced as "cho". The language that geiko/maiko use, which is more or less reflected in the Band-Maiko album lyrics, consists of three elements: - modern Kyoto dialect - phrases and expressions from an older dialect, still commonly used in the service industry in Kyoto, and particularly by businesses dealing in traditional culture - words originally used by the ladies of the imperial court when it was located in Kyoto and which the geiko of the time adopted and were passed on to modern geiko. An example of this kind of word is in the "Gion-cho" lyrics---おいど "oido"---meaning "rear end" and rendered as "butt" for the vdo when the translation is available. (The English translation is very bad---basically there's no way the distinctive speech of geiko/maiko can be translated and retain the original flavor.) The Band-Maiko mini-album that came out April 3, 2019 had seven songs, each except the last being a version of a Band-Maid song: 1. Secret Maiko Lips --- Secret My Lips 2. 虎 and 虎 (tora and tora, literally means "tiger and tiger") --- One and Only 3. Yolosiosu --- Yolo 4. Ansan --- Anemone 5. Akasimahen --- Awkward 6. すくりーみんぐ ("screaming" written in Japanese) --- Screaming 7. 祇園町 (Gion-cho) “Secret Maiko Lips” and “Gion-cho” have vdos. To give a simple explanation of the titles, "tora" is a reference to one of the traditional games that maiko play with customers. "Yolosiosu" is Kyoto dialect for "that's good", "it's good". "Ansan" is Kyoto dialect for "you". "Akasimahen" is Kyoto dialect for "not good" or "don't" do something. "Screaming" would ordinarily be written in the katakana syllabary, which is used for foreign words, but is written in this case in the hiragana syllabary, as foreign words were in the old days-hiragana characters are considered more feminine than katakana characters, being rounder and less angular than katakana.

Pronounced "Mike-Oh" ..... In the opening Miku wrote out "World Domination". This was an April Fools joke. They made their fans think they were going in a different direction and changing their name. Band-Maid loves April 1st, usually always doing something on that date. The last thing they did was release Miku's solo project "Cluppo" with the song "Peace and Love" in 2022, This last year 2023 they were too busy with their 10th Anniversary Tour.....maybe something this year. But they definitely do something every May 10th, which is always the "Day of Maid' so keep an eye out for that.

Probably the most elaborate April Fools joke by a band in history! Love MISA's howls in this song! Now you need to do the only original song from Band-Maiko, "Gion-Cho"! This was so popular it inspired a mini-album with the arrangements modified by Kanami and lyrics re-written in the Kyoto dialect.

Band-Maiko doing Band-Maiko things. I love it. 🤘😍🤘

Akane is always eating in their videos!🫶🤣🤣🤣

If you chose to get that softwsre Misa's bass will blow your mind. She is playing a counterpoint solo beneath Kanami's lead a lot of the time!

❤❤❤❤❤🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘 Holy Geisha Rock Batman !!!

Wow that's interesting I never thought about it from the beatles perspective

Good evening Sir.. "Talk about out of Left field" Lol Only the Maids can pull off something like this.. Great reaction as usual.. Talking about pulling things off. The Ladies from Nemophila just released a new song.. It may be the best thing you see today, it was for me. NEMOPHILA AMA-TE-RAS Official Live Video Best wishes as always from France

Good evening. Thank you for choosing BAND-MAIKO. I love both the original and MAIKO versions of this song. I thought your information on BAND-MAIKO was quite accurate. I would like to see it revived, even if it's just for one day this April Fool's Day. (Google translation. Sorry.)

👍👍I truly love this performance.🥰 🖖❤

The Maids are not only masters at genre melding, transitions, riff production, structure and execution... they are also masters of cultural melding. Maidiacs are MAIKOACS, too! 😆 Thx, RC!

KISS tried to remake themselves. It didn't work out so well. Band-Maid could remake themselves as hillbillys and make it work. For me, Band-Maid is the best band ever.

With their limited edition releases of albums they tend to include a second disc which has videos of MV's and or videos of the band playing their individual instruments....So you can watch which ever member you like and see what they are playing..Like an overhead cam of Akane...etc..They also include things like instrumentals of the album tracks.

Akasimahen is one of my favorite Saiki vocal performances, and Gion Cho is a must ! 😏♥️🎙🎸🥁😎🤘

Mako is a type of shark. Maiko *(My-Co) has an i in it. Now, as a penalty for your mispronunciation, do 'Gion-Cho'.

A Maiko is a trainee Geisha from Kyoto. As you said this was an April fools joke by the band. It was bigger than you think. On April 1st 2018 the Band-Maid website and You Tube channel was taken down and replaced by Band-Maiko. All music was removed and replaced with this MV. They stated this was their new direction. They also don't sing in normal Japanese dialect, they sing in Kyoto dialect. They also changed their names: Saiki became Fujiki Miku became Hatoko Kanami became Kanoemi MISA became Umemisa Akane became Akatsuki In 2019 they did it again on April 1st releasing the MV to "Gion-Cho" - the only Band-Maiko original. They also released a seven track EP of Band-Maid covers with added traditional instruments plus "Gion-Cho" (Gion is the Maiko district of Kyoto). "Secret Maiko Lips" (Band-Maids "Secret My Lips") "Akasimahen" (Band-Maids "Awkward") "Ansan" (Band-Maids "Anemone") "Tora and Tora" (Band-Maids "One and Only") "Yolosiosu" (Band-Maids "YOLO") "Screaming" (Band-Maids "Screaming") "Gion Cho" The only band I know of that formed a covers band of themselves!

If you enjoyed this fusion of rock and traditional instruments I'd recommend checking out Wagakki Band - they do it in a BIG way and are truly awesome . Perhaps - " Homura & Akatsuki no Ito " Live 1st Japan Tour 2015 - would be a good place to start , but there are lots of stunning tracks - guarantee they'll make you sit up and take notice !

Great comments as always!

As you probably know by now this song is 1 of 7 on the Band-Maiko EP, all bar one are regular songs. The only song composed specifically for the Maiko EP is "Gion Cho". Your musical knowledge is great. I believe Badfinger were the first band signed to the Beatles Apple label. I gather that Badfinger were made up of a group of session musicians which happened a few times during this period- ie. The band Curved Air who were also session musicians in a house band from a theatre.

Hey RC, the more you listen to the Awesome BAND-MAID catalog and watch their MV's the more you'll admire their talent, tenacity, determination and grit. They provide more Awesomeness then any other Rock band in decades. Peace. 1.42

Everybody else has already commented about everything I would have, so let me point out that at 2:10 (in this video) Saiki scores very well at tosenkyo. She knocked the target off without hitting the stand and left the fan leaning against the paulownia box. Polite applause.

The Shodo that Miku draws translates to World Domination. Lyrics in Kyoto-ben.

舞妓さんとhard rock．こんな世界、外国人の方にどう映るのでしょうか?

They're a bit too soft for me xD

Nice to meet you. I always enjoy looking at your works. I am Japanese and I would like to explain the lyrics used in this song. (I try to comment on Band-Maiko's reactions with this explanation, so I know some of you guys who read this comment section have already read it somewhere else, but I'll post it here as well.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In all the songs of BAND-MAIKO, Saiki uses the word called "京ことば Kyo-kotoba (Kyoto dialect)". The Kyo-kotoba has many special phrases that are different from the so-called "Kansai-ben (Kansai region dialect. Kyoto is included in the Kansai region)", and even if you are from Kyoto, it is not a word that ordinary people other than maiko and geisha use on a daily basis. Many maiko are not from Kyoto, but when working as a maiko in Kyoto, it is not desirable to use the dialect of the region in which they were born and raised. Therefore, the training content of Maiko includes the acquisition of this Kyo-kotoba. The Kyo-kotoba is, so to speak, a "common language" for maiko and geisha. ※ "Maiko (Pronunciation is my-ko)" means a person in the apprenticeship stage of Geiko (Geisha). The Japanese instrumental sounds used are 三味線　Shamisen A Shamisen is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian. It is played with a plectrum called a Bachi. 琴　Koto Japanese stringed instrument that resembles a zither; has a rectangular wooden sounding board and usually 13 silk strings that are plucked with the fingers. 和太鼓　Wadaiko Japanese drums. 尺八　Shakuhachi A shakuhach is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. However, in fact, the actual instruments are not used, but rather the composer/guitarist KANAMI typed the sounds of the Japanese traditional instruments.