February 29th, 2024: As one chapter comes to a close, another shall soon start. Fujichiyo (ふじ千代) of Fuji (ふじ) in Kamishichiken is wearing her sakkō ensemble ahead of her quickly approaching erikae. She will be the first erikae for the newly opened Fuji okiya and the first for Kamishichiken in nearly two years. Per Kamishichiken's tradition, she is wearing a lovely powder blue iromontsuki with a kai awase (shell matching game) pattern and pine with a black interlocking tortoiseshell pattern obi. Since this is a formal outfit she does not wear an obijime and a pocchiri. Her kanzashi features a simple motif of silver and gold pine, which will be passed down to other maiko in her okiya in the future. Her erikae will take place on March 4th ^^
Image is courtesy of Atelier Hanae.
Who is he, where did he come from? Talking monkeys aren't THAT common. How does he know engineering? How did he and Skeleton King meet? How did he get paired up with Jinmay?
He and Mandarin escape the Citadel of Bone in S2xEp1, but Mandarin is back with Skeleton King by the time we reach Versus Chiro. We don't see Sakko again until Incident on Ranger 7.
PRESUMABLY, Mandarin and Sakko split ways after escaping. Mandarin goes back to SK (look where that got him) and Sakko goes SOMEWHERE, to eventually be arrested.
Sakko's voice claim is "Tom Hulce as Quasimodo, but if Quasimodo was like from Alabama". He often sings to his siblings while playing Burro Banjo's banjo!
On The Twelfth Day of Fun I present... another spotlight! Someone actually did an ask about iconic obi, and to me there's no obi more iconic than those worn during the sakkō period.
While the sakkō outfits of each kagai may differ, there's one constant that remains the same: stunning obi with golden threads to celebrate the special occasion. Most tend to have white as a base, but others will incorporate other colors like beige, gold, taupe, or some shade close to gold. In other rare occasions you'll even see bold colors such as green or black; there's no strict rules when it comes to sakkō!
Gold is the color of wealth and celebrations, so its abundance is auspicious and a wish for much luck in the future. The motifs on the obi tend to be auspicious as well, with karabana (imaginary flowers) being quite popular as they're both beautiful and unique as no two designs are identical.
In some cases certain okiya will use the same outfits specifically for their sakkō periods, so we'll see certain obi used just for this period. Sometimes okiya will even use specific obi for specific naming lines if they have more than one under their roof. Other times okiya will choose their finest obi and pair it with their sakkō kimono. The combinations are almost endless and the traditions are unique from one okiya to the next, even within the same district!
Image Credits
Koeri (小衿)
Mamekinu (まめ衣)
Katsuki (勝貴)
Fukusono (ふく苑)
Kanako (叶子)
Tomitae (富多愛)
I wanted to draw some of the not entirely canon(and criminally underrated) Warner's:
I cried the first time I watched wakko's wish. Not cuz of the feels or anything but just because I couldn't find out how much a haypenny would equate to modern American money. True story
also sakko!!!! He's a character who appeared once in the comics: )
I also wanted to try my hands at a lakko design. (a scrapped wakko's wish character) and I came out with a few different looks:
none of them I like enough to color haha. But I like the tail of the last one and the ears of the first one so I guess I'll just work on it more: )