Chapter十二: Okiya Nishimura
"We are in need of our help. We are starving, with our four sons to raise, we cannot keep her anymore. We both work very hard, both of us farmers, she would be better off here, become more worthy here."
I had heard everything my parents were telling the owner of this Okiya*, one situated in the Kamischiken district in Kyoto, Japan. I was only nine years old and realized, understood that my parents were in the midst of selling me, their only daughter. As a female, I was worthless to a household of farmers, a poor family of farmers to be exact. The cost of keeping me fed, clothed and healthy was too much and this expense list didn't even include my dowry, or what I would have to owe my husband and his family. Thus, being so "expensive", I was inexpensive, worthless in my parent's eyes.
I had to wait outside, overhearing the debate on my selling price. I knew from the tone of my parent's voices that the amount was not what worried them, as they needed any amount of money they could get. What worried them was the guarantee that I would never become a burden to them ever again, that I was a problem only to the Okiya*.
When it had become clear to my parents that I was no longer theirs and the envelope of money was handed directly to them, they came out of the office and left me there.
No words of goodbye or "I love you," just a turned cheek and the sickening sound of coins jingling in my father's pocket.
I was left to the Okiya's* owner, a middle-aged woman who was once a Geisha* herself, Okasan* Nishimura. She was now my "mother", my keeper and my provider. Although, belonging to her did mean that I would have to pay her back with the money I would someday earn as a Geisha*. For now, I was going to become a Maiko*, an apprentice Geisha*. All of this however, I learned later. I only came to understand my role here in the Okiya* after when there were no more tears left in me to spare towards my family.
I had learned that no one would want me and I would forever be owned, not wanted.
Okasan* Nishimura took away the names my parents had given me, Takahashi Rika, and now I was given my new name, Nishimura Eri.
From that day on, I learned that my destiny was pre-determined, that I had no power over my own life. I had come to realize that I could, if need be, control and manipulate others. I was a promising student and fast at learning many skills. I was on the steady and sure path to becoming a Maiko* and surely, a Geisha*. In a house filled with women, it was easier to practice my power and manipulation, knowing that in order to bring any man down onto his knees, a woman had to be both subtle and mischievous to get the job done. I was proficient in both of these ways.
The little and naïve Rika was lost and forgotten in Eri, a mischievous and dangerous young woman who had no past but was granted a promising future.
*Okiya - is the lodging house in which a maiko or geisha lives during the length of her nenki (contract or career as a geisha)
*Geisha - are traditional Japanese female entertainers who act as hostesses and whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music, dance and games
*Okasan - The owner or proprietress of an Okiya
*Maiko - an apprentice geisha