Neo MAI — Shrine Maiden Dance & Mindfulness in Tokyo | 19 November 2026

Wear the vestments. Learn the dance. CHOOSE YOUR TICKET Standard — 2 guests: 10:00–11:30. Group — up to 4 guests: 10:00–12:00. Standard + Shrine Offering — 2 guests: 10:00–13:45. All times are Japan Standard Time (JST). The 12:00 end time in the event header refers to the studio session; the shrine offering option finishes at 13:45. MEETING POINT Neo MAI Studio, Nishimachi Building 3B, 3-7-8 Takanawa, Minato City, Tokyo. For centuries, the miko — the shrine maidens of Japan — have danced at the country's shrines. Not as a performance for an audience. As a prayer, offered with the body. At shrines in Japan, only a very small number of women are permitted to dance it. Years of training. Chosen. Maki Daimon trained. She danced at shrines. Then she kept the philosophy — consideration for others, and harmony — and rebuilt the movement so that anyone can do it. She called it Neo MAI. In Japan, Shinto is less a religion than a way of living. You pick up the dust. You line up the shoes at the door. Not because a god is watching, but because the next person walks in. That care is the dance. Every gesture in it comes from there. ── WHAT YOU'LL DO ── TRANSFORM Full miko vestments, fitted to you — white chihaya over vermillion hakama. These are the garments worn in actual shrine rites, not a costume made for photographs. BREATHE Hi. Fu. Mi. Yo. I. Mu. Na. Ya. Ko. To. The ancient Japanese count to ten. The tenth sound, tari, also means "already full." Ten breaths. Ten small stones. LEARN THE GESTURES How a miko walks. Where the hands rest. How to bow while holding a branch. Each gesture has a reason, and you learn the reason with the movement. DANCE Mawariuta — "the turning song." A two-minute dance created by Maki Daimon, open to anyone. The lyric is a palindrome: it reads the same forwards and backwards. A dedicated photographer works quietly alongside you throughout the studio session, so you never have to stop and pose. EXCHANGE A BRANCH At the end, you trade your branch with someone you met that day. The same gesture as offering a flower to a god. Take it home as a reminder — be kind to the next person. ── THE DAY, HOUR BY HOUR ── Studio session Standard: 10:00–11:30. Group: 10:00–12:00. Dressing in full miko vestments. Mindfulness breathing and the hifumi ritual. The basic gestures. The Neo MAI lesson, and dancing it. Photographs and short video throughout. Standard finishes at 11:30; Group finishes at 12:00. The itinerary below applies only to the Standard + Shrine Offering ticket. 11:30 — 12:30 Travelling Still in vestments, by taxi to a historic shrine in Tokyo. 12:30 — 13:15 At the shrine Formal worship, purification, and the tamagushi offering. Then the dance, offered before the deity, led by Maki Daimon. 13:15 — 13:45 Back at the studio Change into your own clothes. Receive your certificate. ── WHAT YOU TAKE HOME ── · Photographs, taken by a dedicated photographer · Edited video of your own dance · A certificate with your name, printed on fine paper · Tabi socks, yours to keep ── OPTIONAL: SHRINE OFFERING ── After the studio session, still in vestments, we travel by taxi to a historic shrine in Tokyo. Taxi both ways and the shrine offering fee are included. · Formal purification, worship, and a tamagushi offering — a sacred sakaki branch presented at the altar · Offer the dance before the deity, led by Maki Daimon · Return to the studio, change, and receive your certificate Adds approximately 2 hours 15 minutes, including travel. ── ABOUT MAKI DAIMON ── Founder of Neo MAI. Professional actor and instructor of clinical meditation. For fifteen years she has developed her own method for drawing out expression and non-cognitive ability, in both children and adults. She fuses traditional shrine dance with contemporary physical theatre and mindfulness. Featured in the English-language publication Roppongi Times, and presented at the Taipei Fringe Festival 2026. ── GOOD TO KNOW ── Conducted in English. No religious affiliation, dance experience, or particular gender required. 2 to 4 guests per session. Never a crowd. The studio is in Takanawa, a short ride from Shinagawa or Gotanda station. This page is for 19 November 2026. All tickets start at 10:00 JST. Finish times depend on your ticket, as listed above. Please wear something with an open neckline (a V-neck is ideal) and soft trousers — it makes the dressing much easier. Everything else is provided. IMPORTANT — VESTMENT SIZING Vestments are available up to Japanese size L, for all genders. Plus sizes are not available. If the vestments do not fit on the day, you are still welcome to join the dance and mindfulness practice in your own clothes, but the fee cannot be reduced or refunded. Please tell us your height and preferred size in the registration form so we can check in advance. ── CANCELLATION ── Up to 7 days before the workshop, we refund the full amount. Within 7 days, we cannot offer a refund — the vestments are prepared to your size, the photographer is booked, and we hold the day for your group alone. You may, however, move to another date once, at no charge, within three months and subject to availability. Write to us as early as you can. If you do not arrive on the day, we cannot refund or reschedule. If the vestments do not fit on the day, the fee cannot be reduced or refunded — please tell us your height and size in the registration form so we can check in advance. If we cancel for any reason, you receive the full amount back. Questions? Write to us at [email protected] — we reply in English.