I am most often referred to as the daughter of the great Nitta Sayuri, regardless of the fact that she'd never been heavy with child around the time she was in her early twenties; her most adoring clientele could affirm that. She had had a danna, yes, but no children, but some still think I was the hidden child, the Nitta okiya's secret weapon, so to speak. I hadn't received any of her beauty, if that were to be true, like those eyes once described to me as the color of a mirror by a few geisha. I later learned that a former sumo wrestler had first called her eyes that color, and it remained a way to describe them long after her departure. I like to think that, from living with her, I did inherit some of her beauty and grace, and I suppose this is so, for a photograph taken when she was roughly the same age as I was at the time (she had just made her debut, as had I) showed the same round face and nose in both of us.
Still others believe I was Hatsumomo's daughter, the reason she left Gion in disgrace. They know I never met this woman, and they think I was left there to be raised by the Nittas. They know Hatsumomo was on the brink of insanity, but they dismiss it as this "postpartum depression" that I had never heard of when I was a child. I have seen her pictures, and we do have slightly similar features, but nothing I could infer a mother-daughter relationship from. If I was her daughter, I certainly didn't inherit her temper.
Most people are content to think I popped out from the womb in maiko garb, ready for my debut instantly, a master of the arts at an age where most babies are mastering their language skills. Most people believe I debuted the moment I was in double digits, with my mother – if they believe Nitta Sayuri is my mother – as my older sister, rubbing her skill and charm off upon me. They "know" I was born of the highest geisha pedigree and from generations of geisha blood running through my veins, I became one of the greatest geisha of all time.
This, however, is not so.
I was born and raised on a little farm on the outskirts of Western Kyoto, born to two parents. They were poor, but adored me very, very much, as I was their only living child, my mother having lost 3 babies before me. I wasn't sent to school, or if I was I don't remember it, because of the war.
I met the Nitta sisters when I was very, very small. They came to my house from Gion, they said. They ran an okiya there, with two geisha. I was four at the time and could only marvel at the pretty things they had, but my mother told all of this to me later. I remember the one with the yellowed eyes wanting me to call her "Mother", which my own objected to, so I just called her Kayoko-sama. She enjoyed that, I think. The other sister, the one with the lopsided walk like the wind was blowing on her very hard, asked me to call her Auntie. I had no Auntie of my own, so I did so, and she soon took a liking to me, calling me Mei-chan, niece. Auntie and I often ate together, and would play word games. She would give me a word, and I would have to give her a rhyming one. It was quite a lot of fun, especially to have such an important guest paying attention to me. Mother rarely gave me the time of day, only looking at me when I was walking or skipping about with my friends and the animals. Sometimes I'd catch her smiling; other times, she said something under her breath before going back to her original task.
The day before they left, Auntie called to me.
"Mei-chan, would you like to see where we came from?"
"Yes, Auntie! I would love to visit where you come from." Auntie looked slightly uncomfortable but nodded.
"I shall see if I can arrange that…"
She spoke with my father and mother for a while that night, and quite often I heard my mother give a sharp rap to the table they sat at, a sure sign she was unhappy with their topic. Finally, many hours after the sun had set, they came out, my parents looking resigned and weak, Auntie looking satisfied, and Kayoko-sama looking like she'd just stumbled upon a great treasure.
"Papa?" I said, looking up at my father.
"Musume, tomorrow – " here he took a deep breath, " – tomorrow you will go with the Nitta sisters back to Gion."
"Papa! I get to see where Auntie and Kayoko-sama live?"
"Hai, and you will live there too."
"Papa!" He looked down. "Mama?" Mother averted her eyes. "I don't want to stay!"
"You are going to become a geisha. You must stay."
"Mei-chan, I thought..."
"Musume," said my father, who seemed to now want to call me daughter while he still had the chance, "You are going." I looked up at his face quickly, then down at the floor.
"Hai, Papa."
I went up to my room as calmly as possible, closed the door and cried myself to sleep. The next morning Auntie woke me with a slight shake.
"Mei-chan, come along. We're leaving." She exited. I sat up, the memory of the night before rushing back to me. I was leaving the only home I'd ever known. I sat on my bed, crying quietly, and Kayoko-sama appeared at my doorway.
"Come on, little girl, we're going." The unusual harshness in her voice (that I realized later was her way of trying to be kindly) made me sob out loud. She repeated herself, stepping forward threateningly. I got up, dressed, and packed some of my clothing in a little bag. We piled up in a car one of the soldiers had lent them for a while, tears streaming down my parent's cheeks, whereas mine were dry from the night before. The car sped towards Kyoto, but turned and went north for a ways. When it stopped, I started to get out, confused, but Kayoko-san grabbed my arm and motioned for me to sit and, as we were waiting, told me to call her Mother. I nodded, but my eyes were on Auntie. Auntie went up to the door and knocked, carrying two bags. A woman opened the door, and they conversed rapidly before the woman turned and shouted for someone else to come to the door. Auntie handed the first woman the two bags and then embraced the second woman, before bowing twice and turning. The other woman was crying, called out goodbye, bowed an endless amount of times and then followed Auntie out, the American soldier having grabbed her things so she didn't have to carry anything.
The first thing I noticed was her eyes. They were striking when wet with tears, but they were a gray color, nearly blue. The next thing I noticed was the way she shuffled, taking small steps instead of the normal ones. I learned later it was a habit for her, having been a geisha for so long. She climbed up into the car with Auntie, Mother and myself, and gave a little bow to the two elders before eyeing me.
"Konnichiwa, Little One." She sat down next to me. I scooted over to give her some room.
"Konnichiwa."
"My name is Nitta Sayuri," she said, giving me a little nod, her palms pressed together. I bowed my head deeper, aware that this woman was high above me, while telling her my name.
"How old are you, Etsuko-chan?" she asked. My name was once Etsuko, long before I took a geisha name.
"I was born in the year of the Rabbit."
"She is nine, Sayuri-san," Auntie spoke up. Sayuri smiled a dreamy smile, but her eyes were unfocused and the smile soon died. When Sayuri-sama was unhappy, it affected both Auntie and Mother. Auntie finally shifted uncomfortably and cleared her throat.
"Sayuri-san, we received your letter and are pleased Nobu-san has resumed interest in you."
"Auntie…" Sayuri-sama trailed off, and her gray eyes became clouded. I looked at Auntie, who was obviously displeased.
"Sayuri, whatever it is that you seem to have against Nobu, you need to get over it." Sayuri nodded.
"I have nothing against him, Auntie… I'm just nervous to be going home." Auntie nodded, pleased with this answer. Sayuri locked eyes with me and gave me a sympathetic smile, which I returned.
"Sayuri-sama, if I may ask…"
"Hai, imouto-chan?" I blushed, lowered my eyes and looked back at her. She smiled. "If you're wondering why I called you little sister, it's because we are going to be sisters soon. You are going to live at the Nitta okiya, and I live there too. Someday, you will be what I am." I nodded, my eyes on the floor of the car. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her motion for me to continue. Unsure if I should call her older sister, I just decided on calling her what I did before.
"Sayuri-sama, what exactly are you?" At this, she let out a little giggle, but I didn't understand why until she spoke next.
"Auntie! Mother! Didn't you tell her what Gion is?" Auntie looked down, and Mother looked straight at her. I tilted my head, confused.
"Sayuri-san, we had no chance… It was decided she would come only last night…"
"I'll tell her, Mother, don't worry. Imouto-chan, Gion is a wonderful place, a place where men come to relax… Gion is a geisha district. I am a geisha."
"What does that mean?"
"Geisha means artist. I can play different musical instruments, and I can dance as well as sing. Auntie, I can't believe you didn't tell her about the place where she was coming home to!" she teased the older woman. Auntie blushed, her eyes now out the window.
We entered Gion within the hour, and I looked at all the women, some wearing white masks and some wearing what seemed to me to be no makeup at all! Sayuri put her hand on my shoulder, squeezing it slightly.
"Imouto-chan, this is Gion. This is your new world." I gasped when I looked at the kimono of the women whose makeup I had only been paying attention to. They were among the most elaborate kimono I'd ever seen (some of the ones Auntie and Mother had had with them were far more superior to some of these), and Sayuri laughed when she realized what I had gasped at. "I had the same reaction when I first saw a geisha in a kimono."
We pulled up at the Nitta okiya, and we all helped to unload our things from the car before Mother paid the driver, who thanked her in English and then sped off, almost running over a geisha in a green kimono. Sayuri waved at the girl and asked if she was all right, and the geisha replied she was, bowed, and hurried off in the opposite direction. Mother unlocked the gate to the okiya and opened it farther. We brought our things into the doorway, and then she shut it and locked it again. I took this as a chance to look around at my new home.
The first thing I thought was that this itself was Gion, and everything else outside was a different little town. I didn't know that this was an okiya, and a rather common-styled one for the where in Gion it was. It looked so much like a little village I thought it was one. Sayuri tapped me on the shoulder and I blushed, grabbed my bags and followed her.
"This is the maid's room," she said, motioning to one of the little houses. "You'll sleep here until you become a geisha." She slid back the door, and I gasped at what I saw. Cobwebs covered the entire area inside, and rats scattered from the light and the noise. I stepped inside tentatively, and Sayuri stuck her tongue out, crinkling her nose with displeasure at the smell and look. "I didn't think the room would be this bad… If you'd like, you may sleep in my room until this one is clean." I followed her to another little house, taking my time. She opened the door to find it in no better condition than my own. Sighing, she stepped inside, then motioned for me to follow.
"Set down your things, we need to get to work." I did so, and she handed me a broom. I swept while she washed the floor I had done. When we were finished, she took the futon, replaced the old mattress with one she had brought. I put my mattress on the floor, and Sayuri smiled at me.
"I'm quite glad you're here, imouto-chan."
"Why, Sayuri-sama?"
"Oh, goodness, don't call me "Sayuri-sama"… Call me onee-san, please," she said, smiling at me. "After all, now we're sisters."
"Hai, onee-san."
"Anyway, I'm glad you're here, imouto-chan, because I think you'll become a great geisha. Besides-" here she smiled "-I need the company."
She and I talked for a while, addressing each other as older sister and younger sister. I learned she was from Yoroido, in northern Japan, and that she was nearly twenty-eight. She was not the natural daughter of Mother, but had had a different mother and a father, but they'd died when she was nine herself, and her sister had run away later on, so she was alone in the world. She'd come to the okiya six weeks before her parent's death, and was hated by the then-star geisha, Hatsumomo. Mother had adopted her when she was fifteen, right before her mizuage (which I didn't understand, but kept quiet about). Later on, Mother had kicked out Hatsumomo, for Sayuri was, by then, the okiya's prime geisha and the daughter. I was so absorbed in hearing about Sayuri's past, I didn't hear Mother enter the room.
"Sayuri-san, you shouldn't distract the young maid… I paid good money for her, you know."
"Mother, if I may be permitted to inquire… When shall she start going to the school?"
"Whenever she proves herself ready, Sayuri-san."
"Imouto-chan," she said, turning to me. "When would you like to go to the school to learn how to become a geisha?"
"Onee-san, as soon as I may! I only hope I will become as great a geisha as you." Sayuri smiled, looking up at Mother. Mother sighed, then retreated.
"Auntie? Bring Sayuri-san and Etsuko some rice, please," called Mother. We heard Auntie affirm Mother's request; soon she entered with our bowls.
"Arigato," I said when she placed it before me. Auntie nodded and left. Sayuri smiled at me.
"You remind me of this rice." I looked up at her, startled. She laughed. "I mean it kindly, imouto-chan! Maiko wear white makeup… Your face reminds me of a rice grain in shape, and with the makeup you shall surely look like one. Someday you will become a geisha, and both women and men alike will envy you for your beauty and grace. Someday you will be "thrown into the pot", so to speak, as I was, and you will fluff up, beautiful and graceful and wonderful. I'll make sure of that." I was so scared of how serious she sounded; I nodded and brought the rice to my mouth in such hurried gestures, for I couldn't think of what to say. Certainly it was rude to be compared to food, but the way she said it was so kind, so respectful, that I couldn't be mad at her for it.
"Come, imouto-chan… Let us go for a walk. I'll fetch you a kimono. Bekku-san!" she called. I stood at the door, and opened it when I heard a man's voice say, "Hai, Sayuri-san?"
"Fetch Etsuko-chan a kimono, please… We're going for a walk."
"Hai, Sayuri-san." The man left, and I shut the door behind him. Sayuri asked me to turn around, and when she told me I could turn back, she was in her underrobe, a blood red, thin thing covered with stitching to infer flowers. I believe my jaw dropped when I looked at her, for even in her underrobe, she looked gorgeous. She smiled a soft half smile. I averted my eyes from her, over to the door. I could hear someone coming towards the room. Rushing it, I opened the door to see a man carrying two kimono, one of a white color and one of a black. Sayuri took the black one and handed it to me, while she took the white. Searching through my robe, I found another everything I'd need to put on the kimono. Within minutes, I was ready for Bekku-san, and he for me. Twenty minutes later, I was ready… But Sayuri stopped me, telling me that I should have put makeup on. Putting another robe over the kimono, she put some white makeup she'd kept just for this purpose. After applying reds and eyebrows, she showed me to another area where she kept ornaments for her hair, picking out two for me and one for her. Mine were a lovely black-lacquered hair comb and a strand of flowers, silver in color. Placing them in my hair (which I had swept back earlier into a normal bun at the top of my head), she nodded and stood up, with me following her example. She walked outside and I followed her, staying close to her as a shadow stays close to its owner. She called up to Auntie, telling her that we would be going for a walk, then continued to the gate. Slipping out of the regular house-shoes she wore, she turned to me, handing me a pair of black-lacquered zori, while she herself wore red. Opening the door, she turned to me.
"Do me a favor, imouto-chan?"
"Hai."
"Get that flint of the shelf, if you please. The rock next to it, too." I did so. "Now strike the flint against the rock so it sparks." I did. Some of the sparks jumped onto her kimono, and I cried out. She smiled.
"Onee-san, your kimono!"
"Don't worry, that's exactly what I wanted you to do. Now, come along." Still confused, I stepped out into the bright sunlight into the world of the geisha.