. . . a soft voice called out from behind us: “Sunmahen.”
Turning around, I found a maiko mincing our way.
“Kannindossé,” she said as she passed. [1]
You could barely contain your excitement: “Wasn’t she the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen!”
We watched her walk away in that affected manner of a geisha, then disappear around a corner.
“I’ve never told anyone this, but I wanted to become a maiko myself when I was young.” [2]
“Is that so?”
“No one would have believed it. I was always so boyish as a child, climbing trees, doing karaté . . .”
“Karaté?”
“Yes, I have a green belt.”
“I’ll have to remember to never make you angry.”
“Ha-ha. Anyways, I was always playing dodgeball with the boys in my class. And now that I think about it, I didn’t even wear a skirt until junior high school when I had to because of the uniform. Until then, I was always in pants or shorts . . . Still, in the bottom my heart, I wanted to be dolled up like a maiko, and get fussed over by men. My sister, on the other hand . . .”
“You have a sister?”
“Yes, a younger sister. She’s in college right now. Mana . . .”
“Mana?”
“Yes, Mana. Kana and Mana. We once had a golden retriever called Sana-chan.”
“Funny.”
“Anyways, that sister of mine is the personification of Yamato Nadeshiko.[3] Wide-eyed, skin as white as milk, shy, but coquettish at the same time. She’s shorter than me and slightly plump, but in a good way. At any rate, she’s awfully cute and boys have been throwing themselves at her ever since she was in the fifth grade of elementary school. It’s no use fantasizing . . .”
“Oh, why not?”
“I was always too tall for one.”
“Too tall?”
“They say it all depends on the okiya, but there is a height limit of between one-hundred fifty-five centimeters and one-hundred sixty-five.” [4]
“I didn’t know that.”
“One reason is that the girls share their kimonos so they need to be about the same height. Another reason is that with their hair done up and the okobo sandals they have to wear, a maiko’s height is increased by about fifteen centimeters. I was already one-hundred sixty centimeters tall in junior high school.”
“And with all the get-up, you would have been one hundred and seventy-five centimeters tall. Interesting. I never considered that.”
