Mori Nana as Kiyo in The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (2023) © Netflix
You’d think that a new series co-written and co-directed by Koreeda Hirokazu would be big news for Netflix, but as is typical for their most intriguing programming, it was dropped onto the streaming service with little fanfare. Those who seek out The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, however, are in for a warming, nourishing treat.
To start, a glossary of terms. ‘Maiko’ are apprentice ‘geiko’ (the regional term for geisha in Kyoto); these teenagers board together at their school-cum-workplace in Kyoto’s geiko district Gion and take lessons in the traditional ‘mai’ dances. ‘Makanai’ is the term describing meals cooked for the institution’s employees, and also the name given to the on-site chef who cooks them. The above can also serve as a plot summary of sorts for this low-key, low-drama adaptation of the popular manga Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House; its nine 40-minute episodes primarily comprise the daily goings-on of the household. Those looking for conflict and melodrama might wish to avoid this programme, in which episodes hinge around such moments of trial and tribulation as a new household member being a bit annoying, someone feeling slightly unwell, or tickets being collected for a raffle. Low-stakes problems are resolved with minimal fuss.
Our protagonists are Kiyo and Sumire, best friends from Japan’s northern Aomori Prefecture, who arrive together at the maiko house with dreams of becoming geiko. Kiyo struggles while Sumire shines, and soon enough Kiyo finds herself a new role in the kitchen, where she lovingly crafts bespoke meals for the maiko with wide-eyed joy. Though Kiyo is a central figure in the series, as a budding makanai she sits apart from the maiko drama, her cooking sequences (beautifully shot by Kondō Ryūto, the cinematographer of Koreeda’s 2018 film Shoplifters) acting as interludes even more placid than the surrounding scenes. Mori Nana, who plays Kiyo, is terrific at embodying such a cartoonishly guileless character without seeming out of place, and her playful personality is one of The Makanai’s greatest pleasures. Kiyo’s love for her housemates (Sumire in particular) and for providing their meals is touching, emphasising the power of food to bring people together, even as regional differences in ingredients and recipes are explored.
The series’ focus remains outside of the kitchen, however, exploring the various stages of a maiko and geiko’s career as we follow young Sumire (played by Deguchi Natsuki) and the rest of her apprentice cohort; Momoko, the maiko house’s star geiko; Yoshina, a geiko who returns after leaving her husband; Azusa, the house’s ‘mother’ and former geiko; and Chiyo, the elder stateswoman of the house, who is referred to as ‘master’ by the maiko. The focus is on richly drawing out the various traditions surrounding geiko, from the nuances of their mai and the ‘ozashiki’ festivities at which they perform, to the various shrines and trinkets they rely upon for good fortune. Various romantic subplots pootle along without resolution – the fact that geiko are forbidden to marry makes it a choice between career or romance – but these hint at future plot points, should further series be produced. Momoko is an intriguing character, embodying supreme grace in her professional practice but preferring to lounge about and watch zombie movies at home, while the other supporting roles are charming if one-note.
Potential criticisms of the maiko tradition are brought up but quickly dismissed. Sumire’s father comes to take her home, concerned that his daughter is living in quarters next to a bar, but is soon won over by the beauty of mai performance. Fleeting remarks about weight gain or the beauty of pale skin also hint at the body image issues that might arise in an environment where standards of attractiveness are so rigid, but this is clearly not something the series is interested in investigating. With the household’s inhabitants banned from using mobile phones, living in a convivial atmosphere within a beautiful neighbourhood, the Gion district we see is perhaps artificially idyllic, making for ideal escapist TV if perhaps not a true-to-life portrait of the lifestyle.
Fans of Koreeda will find much of his voice throughout the series – the maiko household is a found family à la Shoplifters and his recently released Broker (albeit without the moral ambiguity brought about by legal transgressions in those films) – and if, like this critic, you’re a soft touch when it comes to gentle, heartstring-tugging moments of joy, you’re likely to find yourself falling for The Makanai’s considerable charms.
► The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House is available to stream on Netflix now.