A Visit to the Yoshiwara

Konnichiwa minna-san, I hope you enjoyed last week’s blog post by Amethyst-chan. Here is her second piece (well, this is her third blog post to date, and her second in this series). ^_^
-          Okamisan Aisya

A Visit to the Yoshiwara

*Tossing a wooden sandal over the walls over Little Yoshiwara, and trying to climb over the wall in her tight red kimono.  Heaving her body weight as she grunted lifting herself: Ame-chan is trying hard as she sneaks away from her home at the Shinmachi.*

Today, for some reason, she is having this feeling to visit Little Yoshiwara.  

As she came near the ochaya she was greeted with a bow from Sayu-san, a beautiful Geisha of the hanamachi in Little Yoshiwara.  Returning the bow, Ame-chan's eyes moved around the main room as she removed her shoes.  Proceeding in more, she was greeted by Okita-san. 



Bowing, Okita-san waved both of her arms delicately in front of her with a small smile.  She remembered Okita-san from when she was a young minarai; at the time she was learning, too, before she moved over to Shinmachi.  Ame-chan pondered on how she would give her small tips and offer her help on learning about the world of the Geisha.


Ame-chan preceded into the room as she greeted others and then took her position on the cushion.  Wondering what was going on, she waited quietly.

With guests filling the room, Sayu-san and Okita-san came to join the patrons as they served each customer while smiling and bowing.  With the lovely, swishing sound of the rustling kimonos, they slid across the floor when they walked.


With a voice from Geisha Sayu-san, she welcomed the patrons:

"Nice to see you.  Welcome...Oideyasu, it's nice to see so many friends, we have a nice treat for you today, as you know."

"Ikebana is a part of the Japanese tradition of art and design for centuries and it’s been a huge influence in the west for over 100 years.  I’ve had the honor of knowing and being Okita-chan's Oneesan for over a year, and it’s been nothing but good feelings."  Sayu-san smiled as she looked at Okita-san.

Ah.  Smiling, Ame-chan's eyes turned on to Okita san while she was doing her presentation, which was showing Okita-san's explanation about Ikebana.  This is part of the training for the minarai to move up in rank to become maiko, and it was done with so many of minarai here.  In the past, as Ame-chan was training to be a Geisha, she remembered how shy Okita-san was when greeting others and was usually in the back.  

Ame-chan was seeing now how Okita-san flourished by still continuing on her with learning to become a Geisha one day.  She was showing how strong she was with no matter to how hard it is.  Okita-san was able to continue which helps Ame-chan know she is able to continue with her training, too.