"Heisei 19 (2007) Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Festival participant" "Kyoto" "Gion" "It was widely known as a place where maiko and geiko, who had inherited Japan's traditional arts of dance and Noh songs, served customers." "But at the same time it was also a scene of women's battles in the form of the ozashiki, parties where geiko serve their curtomers." "From Showa 40's to 50's (1965-1984), there was a gracious and valiant woman who was at the top." "She was known as Mineko." "Showa 40 (1965), March" "I entered this world of Gion in Showa 29 (1954), when I was only 4." "Masako." "Masako." "Showa 29 (1954), Spring Yamashina,Kyoto" "My name back then was Masako." "Mineko (Masako):" "Age 4" "Come here." "The youngest of 11 siblings, I was extremely shy around strangers." "How cute she is!" "I am serious." "I am thinking of having this girl become my successor." "You are... a little flower bud." "That was my first meeting with the owner of Iwasaki, an okiya in Gion." "[Okiya" " A house that cares for geiko and sends them to teahouses.]" "If you ever want to come home, you can come anytime." "If you don't like it there, I will come pick you up whenever you want." "All right!" "Gion Street" "She's here!" "Oh!" "I'm so glad you've come." "Men aren't allowed to enter." "Okiya, Iwasaki" "Okiya" " A house that cares for geiko and sends them to teahouses." "Isn't she cute?" "Masako-chan" "This is our accompanist, Umechiyo." "She is very skilled at the shamisen." "From now on, she will act in place of your mother, so you should call her "Mother"." "That's just a custom at the okiya." "Plus, I'm not old enough to be called mother yet." "Right, that's the most important point." "Oh, my..." "Ah, what a willful girl." "This is going to be difficult!" "Saeko-san-neesan, welcome back." "Welcome back." "Welcome back." "I'm back." "Welcome back." "Shouldn't you be at the Tokushige ozashiki right now?" "The customer was stingy and weird, and seemed like an idiot." "So I said my stomach hurt and came back early." "What a willful girl." "Who's she?" "That's my seat." "Get up!" "She's Masako-chan." "I plan to have her take over after me." "From today, your name will be Mineko." "So we'll call you Mineko." "No!" "No!" "I hate Mineko!" "Mineko-chan!" "My name is Masako, not Mineko!" "Raise your knees." "Face forward." "Don't lower your hand." "Higher, higher, higher!" "That's right, higher!" "Mine-chan, you have to scrub harder." "Cleaning the toilet is the successor's job." "It's tradition." "If the toilet is dirty, you're the one who will be laughed at." "Mineko:" "Age 10 6 years later, Showa 35 (1960), Winter" "Six years had passed since I came to Iwasaki, and it was winter." "Ow, it hurts." "Saeko-san, are you all right?" "Are you injured?" "Ow." "Ow." "Sorry about that." "For God's sake!" "She's the successor, huh?" "Well, what will you do?" "Come now, answer us, Mine-chan." "You must decide today." "Will you return to Yamashina?" "Will you return to being Masako?" "Oh, come out already" "I will become a geiko." "Oh my." "Oh!" "The flower bud has opened." "Mineko, blossom into a large flower in Gion." "Kinki District Family Court:" "Kyoto Branch" "I want to be adopted by Iwasaki." "Is that really okay, Masako?" "I'm Mineko." "Masako is already dead." "I will become the best geiko in Gion." "I will definitely be the best." "Misedashi (refers to becoming a maiko, or apprentice geiko)" "Mineko:" "Age 15" "You're so lovely." "Lovely!" "How lovely..." "Haruba's timing was so bad." "If she had only waited two more weeks..." "Take care of everyone." "Mineko." "Here in Gion, become a beautiful, beautiful flower," "one... that won't lose... to anyone." "Listen, Mine-chan." "Maiko must smile." "You can never stop smiling." "Okey?" "Mineko" "This is the Misedashi for Mineko of Iwasaki." "Please treat her well." "This is the Misedashi for Mineko of Iwasaki." "Please treat her well." "In March of Showa 40 (1965), in the spring of my 15th year," "I become a Maiko in Gion." "I look forward to working with you." "However, the real battle for me had just begun." "It was beginning of the flower battle (hana ikusa)." "Hana Ikusa" "Hana Ikusa Kyoto, Gion:" "The legendary Geiko, Iwasaki Mineko" "Based on "The Flower Battle of Geiko Mineko" by Iwasaki Mineko" "Do you have some sort of problem with me?" "Heaven forbid!" "That's not what I meant at all." "Then what did you mean?" "At that time, Saeko-san was the most popular geiko at Iwasaki." "I was hoping maybe you could be just a little more... enthusiastic at the ozashiki." "Just a little." "So, I'm asking who it is that has been complaining about me?" "Which teahouse?" "Fukumasaka?" "Tsujimoto?" "Mihanate?" "I can't really say..." "If you aren't happy with me, that's easily fixed." "I'll just quit." "Please don't say that!" "Alright, Saeko-san." "Think of it as helping me save face..." "And just what part of your face would you like me to save?" "Over here?" "Ow, ow, ow..." "Here?" "Stop that." "It hurts." "Hey, Mineko." "Now that you did your misedashi, you're not getting cocky, are you?" "When a teacup is empty, why don't you come and fill it quickly!" "No, please don't do that!" "That teacup is expensive, you know." "Your escort is here." "In this world, money is everything." "If you don't like it, try and see if you can stop giving me work." "Oh, no." "That was expensive..." "Mine-chan!" "Kae-chan!" "Done for the day?" "Yes" "Then, come on..." "Hurry up, come, come!" "Come!" "Wait a sec." "Ah!" "Oh look, there she is, Ayako-san!" "I really look up to her." "Me too." "Rumors have it that the current number one in Gion is either Saeko-san at your place or..." "Ayako-san from Suzunoya." "You're so lovely." "You've done your misedashi too, haven't you?" "I'm Mineko from Iwasaki." "It's nice to meet you." "The pleasure is mine." "So, Ayako-san, would it be okay if Mine-chan went in my place?" "I don't mind." "Mr. Amakasu is an expert at Japanese paintings." "It's his hobby to only draw portraits of young maiko who have just done their misedashi." "Oh?" "Anything is great when it's fresh." "Mr. Amakasu, that sounds somewhat lecherous." "What are you saying." "I meant that we shouldn't forget the feeling of just starting." "Don't move" "Ano" "Be careful of fire." "Maiko go to the hairdresser once every five days." "We must be careful not to mess our hair while sleeping." "Ah, you can't hold the sake bottle like that..." "Oh, give her a break." "You don't need to get after her for that." "Say, when will you let us take a ride on your yacht?" "Mineko-chan, right?" "You're so pretty!" "Thank you." "Mineko-san, since he's tried so hard to praise you, how about a dance as a thank you?" "Oh, that's a good idea." "Certainly." "Is "Gion kouta" fine?" "Please prepare." "Saeko-san, I haven't learned Gion kouta." "Please begin." "Oh, I'm suprised." "Hurry up and start dancing." "You've certainly embarrassed me." "But I haven't learned Gion kouta..." "Do you mean to say that you're too good to dance such an easy dance?" "Oh, how rude of me to say that to our little elite girl!" "That's" "Apologize!" "Do it!" "I'm very sorry." "I'm horrified that you are" "Iwasaki's successor!" "This way, please." "Those guys only think about money." "Takamiya-san, what are you doing?" "Please, hurry up." "I'm back." "Mineko-san, I heard this person is in Kyoto." "I heard we may even see him at a teahouse!" "Oh really?" "New face!" "Movie star!" "It's that man." "At that time, rather than being happy that I could meet a star like that," "I felt proud that I was serving famous customers as maiko in Gion." "Wind chimes!" "Wind chimes for sale!" "Come this way." "You're in the way." "Move." "Hiroki, it's the first room upstairs." "What?" "Huh?" "What's going on?" "She's brought Hiroki-san." "Hiroki?" "I gave him a room on the second floor." "Oh, give me a break, Saeko." "Men are not allowed in here, you know that." "In that case, give me the money to rent a room elsewhere." "Hey, wait." "You..." "You aren't pouring money into a man again, are you?" "Oh, my ears are ringing." "I can't hear anything." "Wait..." "You..." "As soon as you came back, you were so ungrateful to Haruba as to run off with man..." "Then, in the end, you got thrown out." "I got rid of him." "Taking back your child..." "What are you going to do now?" "Who are you to talk?" "You got divorced and shamelessly returned home yourself." "I'm done with men." "I'm sick of suffering for them." "He was sick of you!" "Who was it that acted spoiled when he asked for a divorce, then cried all night while clinging to a telephone pole?" "Be quiet!" "No one knows how I felt back then." "They taught me never to become a woman who would be driven by romance." "Nyokouba School where maiko learn the arts" "Oh, she's so pretty." "It's definitely love." "Hey, are you listening?" "You there!" "Be quiet!" "Love, love, love!" "Love!" "Ayako-san, you are in love after all, aren't you?" "Kae-chan, I wondered what you were going to say." "Just admit it!" "You're in love, right?" "Well, I don't know..." "It is love, just as I thought!" "How nice..." "More than love, more than anything, I want to improve my skills." "I want to become the best in Gion." "That was all I was thinking about." "I'm back." "I won't..." "I won't lose..." "I didn't want to lose to anyone, not in arts or in service." "This is the angle." "When the bottle is at this angle, there is only enough left inside for one more cup." "Another, please." "Here you go." "Oh, this maiko is really on the ball." "Thank you." "Kae-chan, shall we change that bottle, too?" "Yes." "Please, sir." "On that day, I'm free from 9:30 to 10." "Alright." "Then, I'll let you know if I find a customer." "I'd appreciate that very much." "Even for 10 or 15 minutes, I would like you to call me." "Mother, good evening." "Good evening." "It's the first time I've seen a maiko like you." "The other girls don't go that far to gain customers." "For me, ozashiki is the best thing." "Some day, I would like to be the best in all Gion." "Being passionate is all well and good, but be careful." "The nail that sticks out is hammered in, they say." "Yes, thank you." "Mineko." "Mineko." "These days, your reputation is quite good." "As a person from the same okiya, I'm also proud." "Saeko-san?" "Do you have a moment?" "This is our secret." "Get yourself something to drink." "It's about Saeko-san..." "Yes?" "I believe she seduced one of my precious customers... and they left together..." "Do you know anything?" "I do not." "You really don't have an inkling?" "I don't know anything." "Is that so?" "Alright, then." "By the way, Mineko-san, what was all that earlier?" "What?" "You kept serving my precious customers before I could." "I just thought that it'd be rude to have our customers wait..." "It's rude to me!" "But this is odd." "If you are so adept at getting a head start," "I wonder why you haven't realized" "I am currently smoking." "Ashtray..." "How weird that you didn't get an ashtray out sooner." "Oh?" "There was an ashtray here?" "Go ahead." "Thank you." "Mine-chan?" "What happened?" "Saeko, um, um..." "Why are you looking so glum at this time of night?" "It's almost dawn." "Um..." "Saeko-san, what have you been doing, where, and with who?" "That doesn't matter." "What are your intentions?" "Oh, if it isn't Ayako-han from Suzunoya." "You don't stand out at all so I didn't even notice." "My apologies." "No need." "Well, well, well, first let's all, um... drink some tea and calm down, and then we can talk" "Talk about what?" "Do you have a problem with me?" "Of course not." "It's almost dawn, come, let's..." "Saeko-san." "What?" "You're the top geiko here." "What about it?" "As such, you should set a good example for the girls under you." "I believe that is the job of the top geiko." "Am I wrong?" "I don't know what you're on about, but this is not something I need to be told by an outsider." "Is it right for you to get a new geiko to help you disappear with a man?" "You certainly talk a lot." "Let's have tea!" "Oh, how about sake?" "No, wait, sake's not good..." "Oh, Mine-chan" "Shut up!" "Did you tell?" "Don't touch her." "This girl's career is just beginning." "Don't get her dirty with the hands that have done filthy acts." "You just don't stop, do you?" "In Gion, we sell our art, not our bodies." "What you're doing is no different than prostitution." "What did you say?" "Oh, oh, oh, do you know the weather tomorrow?" "Oh, you don't?" "It looks like good weather..." "Well then, I have something to say, too." "Ayako-han," "I hear this every so often:" "Ayako from Suzunoya has been concentrating for many, many years on just one man." "Despite that, she will not allow that man to even touch her." "What are you thinking?" "We as geiko sell art, not our bodies." "What we show is not skin, but the spirit of service." "If you relax this here, men will be drawn in." "You sure talk a good game when you can't even catch one man." "Who are you to lecture me on my own love life?" "!" "What are you doing, you bitch!" "It's your fault!" "That kimono was a gift from..." "Let go of me!" "You bitch!" "What the heck!" "What are you doing, Ayako!" "Wait!" "Please stop!" "We're all wet." "Ayako-han, whether you want to be nice to Mineko is up to you." "But it is not your place to comment on her training." "After all, this girl" "No, you can't say it." "This girl... is my... biological... sister." "You said it..." "Hiroki, let's go." "That woman..." "That woman... is my actual sister?" "You were hiding it?" "You were hiding it from the beginning?" "Why?" "!" "Why did you hide it?" "!" "We didn't mean to..." "It just sort of happened that we neglected to tell you." "Why?" "!" "Why did you hide it?" "!" "Why, why?" "!" "Why?" "!" "Why?" "!" "Mine-chan." "Shall we go out?" "Why..." "Why does a person like that... have to be... my... my sister?" "Look, the beginning of a new day." "How lovely." "Mine-chan, do you always carry this with you?" "It's the face an innocent young woman." "That woman is my real sister." "The same blood flows through our veins." "Is blood so important?" "In a manner of speaking," "I feel like all the women who live in Gion share the same blood." "Wanting to climb the same mountains, falling into the same ditches..." "I don't agree." "Ayako-san and that woman are completely different!" "We're the same." "I think you're not." "I said we're the same." "Saeko-san, me, and also you." "In this world, there are those that rise to the top and those that sink." "What do you think is the difference?" "It's just how much you have it together." "It's how much you can resist other people's influence, how much you can be yourself, having pride in yourself." "Say," "Would you give this to me?" "What?" "I was young once, too." "We shouldn't forget the feeling of just starting." "Is it okay?" "I don't mind." "Thank you very much." "Thank you." "I will definitely win." "I will not lose to anyone, not with art, not with service." "I will be the best geiko in Gion." "Right around this time, I finally began to feel confident" "that I was surviving and could continue to survive here." "A short time after that, one day... an incident happened that I could never forgive," "for my entire life." "In this world, there are things that are okay to do and things that are not." "Of those, what you did was the absolute worst." "Oh, Saeko!" "How unusual." "What are you doing down here, Hiroki?" "Hey, Saeko..." "I'll be borrowing this." "For what?" "I'm taking a taxi to Tokyo with a customer." "Eh, Tokyo?" "!" "I'll return it soon." "Wait." "Just now, Hiroki..." "Hiroki what?" "In the bath, he..." "Mineko..." "What?" "Mineko." "What are you doing?" "Give that to me." "This... is not your money." "That doesn't matter." "It's okay, it's okay..." "It is not okay!" "What's okay with being robbed by her?" "I would like you to stop." "You've been quite full of yourself, talking to me like that." "Oh, is it that?" "After you found out I'm your real sister, you suddenly stopped holding back?" "There's no wall between us, then." "As sisters, how about we cooperate with each other?" "So lend me that." "I don't know what Hiroki did to you, but in a manner of speaking, he's your relative." "I don't care what family does with each other." "Saeko-san." "Do you mean what you just said?" "It's true, we're family." "That's right, everyone who lives here is family." "Do you think you can get away with acting spoiled... and bringing shame to that family?" "Get out!" "Mineko, you don't have to go that" "No!" "You are far too kind." "You really are full of yourself." "Who do you think you are?" "I am..." "I am... the successor of this okiya." "Oh my!" "Get out." "Take that, take your son," "and get out!" "In Gion, there is a line you can't cross." "Those who cannot accept it cannot live here." "Showa 45 (1970), November 2." "Midnight." "Mineko:" "Age 21 On my twenty-first birthday," "Umechiyo-san cut the ties holding my hair up." "You have worked hard." "Thank you." "I graduated from a maiko to a geiko." "Erigae (refers to graduating from maiko to a geiko)" "In the autumn of my twenty-first year, I become a geiko in Gion." "Thank you for waiting." "We've been waiting for you!" "In this way, after six years..." "I met him again." "Welcome." "Please, stop." "This is an ozashiki in Gion." "you really are a sting fish." "A sting fish?" "Sorry, sorry." "I heard everyone calls you "sting fish"..." "I wanted to see for myself." "If you touch her just a little, her thorns come out in an instant, like a sting fish." "What a good metaphor!" "I almost didn't recognize you." "You've become a beautiful geiko." "You remembered!" "How could I forget?" "As expected, a star like you is good with words." "Since your name is Mineko, you must be an unattainable flower." "Note: "Mine" means peak, ridge or mountain." "That's right." "I don't bloom on just any ordinary peaks." "Please, excuse me." "I learned that this is Gion dance." "This." "It's this." "Someday, I would like to master these arts." "My resolve to live on in Gion increased yet again." "I'm sorry, we have lots of customers tonight." "No problem." "I only came to see your face." "Eh, ah, are you leaving already?" "I'm glad I was able to have a look at you." "That was the first time." "My heart began to tremble." "Have you heard?" "A state guest from England gave Mineko-han his autograph on her fan, but she gave it right back." "What, really?" "It could have become a house treasure..." "It would be rude for me to use a fan with particular customer's name on it at another ozashiki." "I figured that I couldn't use it anymore and returned it." "Was that wrong?" "Back then, I could feel I was overflowing with confidence." "But," "from time to time, that feeling would come to me suddenly, and tremble the deepest part of my heart." "Mine-chan," "I've been waiting for a good time to say this, but..." "I'm getting married." "What?" "One of my patrons asked... if I would be his wife." "Is that so?" "He runs the family's 200-year-old sake brewery in Kobe." "That's great, isn't it!" "I wish you happiness!" "Thank you." "A few days later," "I received boxed food from Kae-chan, as a notice that she was leaving Gion." "This white rice is the outside world, the red rice is the symbol of Gion." "So she's going from here to there." "Some day, she may return here." "So it means, "at that time, please welcome me again."" "It's an old, old tradition." "So the red rice is... like insurance to return to Gion." "You say such weird things!" "No matter how spiritedly they left, if their dreams failed and they returned to Gion, they would be warmly welcomed back." "This tradition expressed that feeling." "Ayako-san!" "Where are you going..." "A silent pilgrimage?" "I'm trying my best." "I've taken what you told me to heart." "I'm living with pride, true to myself." "A silent pilgrimage is a way of praying in which one doesn't talk to anyone... from the time one leaves one's house until after one returns." "One does this seven days a year for three years." "I wonder how many times Ayako-san has done this silent pilgrimage." "As it turned out, I was not to learn the answer ever." "Ayako-san!" "Ayako-san-neesan!" "Neesan!" "Why?" "Neesan!" "Neesan!" "Neesan!" "NO!" "Ayako-san... was rejected by the person she loved." "Then that man got together with a maiko from the same okiya." "How terrible!" "Ayako-san lost her place, both as a woman and as a geiko." "How pitiful." "It must be tough for you, too." "She took good care of you." "Thank you." "Thank you for coming." "For better and for worse, this place is a women's battleground." "The winners stay and the losers must live." "This is Gion." "I can't fall in love." "I absolutely can't." "I missed you." "Mineko." "I'm sorry." "Please forgive me." "Please!" "I will never do that again." "No, please don't worry." "I was the one who got upset." "I love you." "I love you, Mineko." "What happened?" "You're not yourself." "I've seriously fallen for you." "Is this the caprice of a big star at the height of his career?" "No!" "I can divorce my wife." "I'm sorry." "If you say that in Gion, you'll appear unsophisticated." "Every time I think about you, my heart starts to tremble." "Go ahead and laugh." "This is my... first love." "Please... stop." "I am a geiko, this is my job." "I won't have that sort of relationship with a customer." "What do I have to do for you to believe me, to understand?" "Tell me, what should I do?" "!" "Let's see." "Then..." "I want you to call me to an ozashiki every day." "How is that?" "Are you telling me to come to Gion every day?" "That's right." "Every day... for three years." "Three years." "Every day." "See, only an idiot would actually do that." "Bye." "How interesting." "If I do that, you'll accept me." "But it'll be tough not to lay even one finger on you for three years." "How's this?" "For the first year, one finger." "What?" "Each year, the number of fingers will increase." "Wait, are you serious?" "The first year, one finger." "The second year..." "The third year..." "I understand." "Then..." "And this leftover pinky..." "I will hold on to it as a reminder." "Cut my pinky, beat me 10,000 times, drink porcupine fish." "Even though I said that, I didn't think he meant it." "But... he actually came to Gion every day after that." "He called for my services." "Before long, my costume changed from a long kimono to shortened one." "The second year came." "There were even outrageous occurrences." "Seiichirou-san." "I think days when you are sick don't count." "Then where do I draw the line?" "What?" ""I can't come because I caught a cold"" ""I can't come because a death occurred to my friend."" "For whatever reason, if I miss a day, it's over." "Am I wrong?" "Well, that..." "You and I are either all or nothing." "All or nothing?" "One more year." "One year later" "Finally, three years had passed." "Today marks exactly three years." "Please forgive me!" "Why?" "!" "Don't you think that Gion is like a town of goldfish?" "A town of goldfish?" "I, a geiko, am a goldfish." "And you come here, enter the shops, enjoy yourself as long as you can, and then leave again..." "But as a goldfish, I cannot leave." "No matter how kind you are to me," "I cannot live outside this town." "Outside of Gion," "I cannot live." "Outside of Gion, my Seiichirou-san does not exist." "I've come to think this over these past three years!" "This is... a town where you can flirt." "You cannot have a fling." "Especially... if the love is real, I will drown." "It was an interesting three years." "I enjoyed it." "Thank you." "Mine-chan!" "Where are you going?" "Oh my!" "Sorry to have kept you waiting." "Sir, what are you doing?" "!" "Sorry, sorry to scare you." "I lost at rock-paper-scissors, and as a punishment I had to scare the next person to enter..." "Sit down." "Mine-chan it was just a joke." "I am going to end this person's life." "Mine-chan, we were only playing a game." "Crazy games are unacceptable!" "Embarrassing someone and then laughing at them, is that a game?" "Should the one being played with force them self to laugh along?" "And you over there, seeing a fellow geiko played with and shamed, and laughing at that, is that amusing?" "You're certainly laughing like there's nothing wrong" "If you thought you were only playing a game, you were quite mistaken!" "I'm so sorry." "Welcome." "It's painful, it hurts." "It hurts to breathe." "This is a town where you flirt." "You cannot have a fling." "Especially if the love is real, I will drown." "I'm on location in Hokkaido, starting tomorrow." "Hokkaido?" "That's so far away." "I'll be back in ten days." "When I get back, I plan to settle the divorce." "I understand." "What's happened to your skin?" "Welcome back." "Mineko-san, welcome back." "What's wrong?" "At this time, you should be at the Tokushin ozashiki" "The customer was stingy and weird, and seemed like an idiot." "So I said my stomach hurt and came back early." "Such a willful thing to do..." "I'm coming in." "Mine-chan, really, what happened?" "Nothing." "I just don't feel into it today." "It's not just today." "Even before..." "I've been getting phone calls from teahouses..." "Which teahouses?" "Well..." "They said that you've been acting weird lately." "So there are complaints about me." "Oh no, that's not what I meant at all." "What did you mean?" "It's just... maybe you could be a little more careful at the ozashiki." "Tell me who told you that!" "Tell me who!" "Tell me who!" "Fukumasa?" "Tsujimoto?" "Mihanate?" "Which teahouse?" "Fukumasa?" "Tsujimoto?" "Mihanate?" "If I'd had the courage... to hit Saeko back then, maybe she wouldn't have come to such an end." "I regret that." "I don't want to make the same mistake twice." "I've been... watching you since you were four." "So I know that you're only letting off steam." "There's no help for it." "I don't even have children of my own, and being suddenly told to act as your mother..." "I didn't know what to do." "Even if I can sing folk songs with the shamisen," "I don't know songs from anime." "But even so," "I intend to always watch over you." "I've been worried." "In the twenty-some years since you've been here," "I worried you would turn out like Saeko." "I'm so despicable." "I know that you've been having love troubles." "I know you were suffering." "Thinking that... someday you may even end up like Ayako," "I can't sleep at night." "I tought you may suddenly drown yourself." "Or you may hang yourself." "What would I do if you died?" "What should I do?" "I'm so worried, so worried." "You don't have to do anything." "Even if I wither away, I am a geiko." "No matter what happens," "I won't hang myself." "I will only strengthen my resolve." "Mine-chan..." "I love you!" "My heart trembles when I think of you." "You and I are either all or nothing." "It was an interesting three years." "Thank you." "Kae-chan?" "I'm a divorcee." "What?" "I thought you were happily married." "How to put it..." "They could only think of me as a woman from Gion." "I realized that I belong here." "That I can succeed here." "You're so pretty." "Geiko clothes really suit you." "Thank you." "Oh, Mine-chan, it looked like you were crying earlier?" "What?" "Did something happen?" "Is it love sickness?" "It's true that I did fall in love once." "Oh!" "But it was so long ago, it's already just a memory." "It's already in the past." "Another set of nested boxes came from a maiko who was leaving Gion." "White rice is the outside world." "Red rice is the symbol of Gion." "It's the color of flowers that bloom in Gion." "Flowers, huh." "That reminds me, Haruba often told me this." ""You are a flower."" ""Blossom into a large flower."" "You've certainly blossomed." "You are the largest flower in Gion." "You've become just as Haruba said." "You are a born geiko." "Being a flower in Gion is your calling." "It's a flower alright, but one that blooms in battle fields." "Everyday is a struggle to keep your flower from falling." "A flower battle." "A flower battle, huh?" "Let's eat." "You have certainly worked very hard by yourself." "I tought that, too." "That since I was four, I've worked so hard to get where I am now." "I will master toilet-cleaning." "I will master running errands." "I will master greetings." "I will become an adept maiko." "I will become an adept geiko." "I will become the best geiko in Gion." "In that way, my world expanded little by little." "Well, a beautiful flower fan has opened." "But recently, I finally understood." "For a fan to open properly, this part must be solid." "This part is important." "If it's messed up, that's it, the fan won't open." "That's right." "Now that I've opened, I understand." "I didn't do anything alone." "I had someone supporting me the whole time." "Thank you very much." "For saving my goldfish." "Thank you for everything up until now." "And please continue to support me in the future." "Mom." "You called me..." "You..." "You called me Mom for the first time." "Look at the time!" "We have to get ready." "We have to go to 12 ozashikis tonight." "Wasn't it 10?" "You added two more?" "You're working so hard!" "I have to work harder." "You called me Mom..." "You called me Mom." "Mineko continued to be a geiko." "She was entrusted with a number of high-quality ozashiki and stood at the forefront of Gion." "Come on." "Let's hurry." "She continued to have the highest sales for the six years until... she retired in Showa 55 (1980) at the age of 29." "Now, Mineko lives outside of Gion and works to spread the correct understanding of Kyoto's..." ""Flower and Willow World" through lectures and writing books." "In July of Showa 55 (1980), when Mineko decided to retire, they say the nested boxes Mineko sent... contained only white rice."