Songs on our doorstep: Nanamami

A brief visit from a freshly formed folk duo resulted in an usual gig at our office yesterday afternoon. The duo, known as Nanamami, combine the talents of Mami Kisaragi, a celebrated kimono stylist who has worked with the likes of Madonna and Beams, and Nanae, a geisha currently working in Shimbashi. The two met last winter at 'an underground drinking establishment' in Yushima and quickly began working together, bringing their love of traditional Japanese folk music to the bars and clubs of modern Tokyo.

Both displayed an interest in traditional culture as children, though neither had planned for a career in music. 'We weren't particularly looking for performance partners. It was kind of like fate,' explains Mami. 'After just a couple of tries, it seemed natural to be working together.'

While Mami's involvement with the traditional arts developed through 'a kind of sense', Nanae came to her vocation through more formal means. 'Being a geisha is certainly not an everyday job,' she tells us. 'I started training as a geisha when I was 17, though maiko still train from as young as five years old.' While she says her speciality is traditional dance, in Nanamami she plays the shamisen, an instrument she has been studying since she was 12. 'I saw a friend of mine become a geisha, and I thought, "that looks nice",' she recalls. 'That's how I got involved. But since an early age I was dancing, and I had an interest in traditional culture.'

As Nanamami, the duo aims to perform folk songs that people may not know. 'People of all ages seem to have an interest in these songs. Across the age groups, they're growing more popular,' explains Mami. 'We take them to bars, and even perform them in noodle shops!' Their next big gig will be in Hisaichi, Iwate Prefecture, where they're heading on July 18, taking the area's folksongs back to their homeland as a form of tsunami relief. But before that, they found a minute or so to give the staff and readers of Time Out Tokyo a taste of what they have to offer.

Follow the adventures of Nanamami via the official Mami Kisaragi blog