The photograph had arrived a few days previously from Zenkō Sakuragawa, the male geisha at Yanagibashi.

The task of selection that faced Tomo was difficult. She had already been at Kin’s for more than a month yet still no girl worth telling Shirakawa about had come to light. Several times she had written to her husband in her labored hand explaining that under no circumstances did she wish to bring back someone who did not please him, and each time the reply from Shirakawa had said that there was no hurry; she was to give every care to her choice. Nevertheless, as the rainy season gave way to clear skies and the Bon Festival drew near Tomo began to feel a sense of urgency. Not only her husband but the home left without its mistress were weighing heavily on her conscience.

It was at this point that the new proposal had come from Zenkō. This time, Kin had been told, Mrs. Shirakawa was quite certain to be satisfied.

The girl was called Suga and was fifteen years old; her father owned a shop that sold bamboo skin for wrapping purposes. Her accomplishments included the Nishikawa style of dancing, which she had been studying since she was a small child. She was an attractive girl and since early childhood had won applause whenever she appeared in performances put on by her dancing school. The mother and the elder brother, who was now head of the family, were both reputable citizens, but a dishonest employee had been into the firm during the past few years and the family had fallen on hard times. They had been driven to a point where they would either have to dispose of the shop or sell the girl to a geisha house. The mother had had no idea of making her a rich man’s concubine, but the dancing teacher, who was on friendly terms with Zenkō, had heard of Shirakawa and decided to mention the matter to him, thinking that it might better serve the girl’s own future interests to be taken into such a distinguished family than to be set adrift in the uncertain world of the geisha.

‘She’s a quiet girl,’ the dancing teacher had said. ‘And another thing is she’s unusually fair-skinned for a Tokyo girl. When she goes to the public bath the children actually come over to stare at her.’