heard their stomachs grumble. Today they could eat as much as they wanted. They elbowed one another to grab the bean curd with corn, the fried fish, the white radish and eggplant in miso, the bits of grilled duck. Their mouths dripped with sauce, and they sputtered as they spoke in their funny dialect.
“Fumi says being beautiful is not the most important thing here. She says even if I’m not beautiful, I can be successful by being good,” said Shino.
“Fumi is, like, todally wrong. Being beautiful iz most important,” said one of them. “Izn it?”
They said that a lot. “Izn it?” I had started to say it to my mother, to tease her. It got my father in trouble for leaving me in the brothels while he worked. Still, she didn’t ask that I stay at home.
“Even if I were to believe you,” said Shino in her careful way, “and I am not certain I do, can you tell me who determines what is beautiful?”
I slurped my soba noodles. The artists did, I thought.
“That’z a very good question, yakko, ” said Fumi.
Everyone laughed. She was supposed to call her Shino.
“Nobody decides. It’z not for, like, deciding. It’z just for, like, kno-owing. Duh-uh!”
“That’s not true! Men decide.”
“They doan.”
“Do too.”
“Do not!”
“Who’s beautiful is just, like, obvious. Like Hana-ogi.” She was the top courtesan.
“Or Fumi.”
Kana was thoughtful. “But the weird thing is, it changes. Like the whole idea of who’s beautiful and for what reason changes year to year. I c’n remember. . . . Like, now the girls have to be thin. But before, when I was first in the biz, the famous girls were round.”
“Never! I doan believe you. Yu mean, like, fat?” That was Takao, stuffing her face.
“Yu doan remember ’cause yu’re too young, but yeah, it’s true—like round. The girls were, like, round.”
Everyone made various noises of disgust.
“And men liked it,” Kana added as an afterthought.
Everyone laughed.
“So who decided we hafta be thin?”
“I tell you who decided. We decided,” said one girl.
“We did?”
“Yah. We make the fashion. ’F I wear this, like, bamboo-leaf pattern in my kimono and let my red underskirt show, and ’f I tie a purple and green obi around, really wide—like, way wider than anyone else—and I go strolling down the boulevard, then the artists paint me, even the noblewomen will think thaz a new style an’ it’z gorgeous. Izn it?”
“ ’Member when Hana-ogi went to the Spring Festival dressed like a man? They thought that was beautiful too.” Everyone laughed.
“Yah, maybe yu’re right. We decide.”
“That is, like, so cool! We’re, like, the evil ones, but they wanna dress like us? Even the little girls in the samurai families?”
“And talk like us. They copy our words, like iki —”
“Because we’re so clever. We set the styles. And we’re fuh-ny —”
“We’re fuh-ny till they suddenly decide we’re very bad for their health !”
Everyone laughed again.
“Well, we are. Bad for their health. Izn it?”
Everyone laughed more, and some leaned sideways on the floor, they were so full.
“Not to mention our health.” Kana looked pointedly at one girl. It’s true she was very skinny. And pale. And she kept coughing. “You don’t look so great, Sanae.”
“Doan say that!” she wailed. “If they think I’m sick, they’ll sen’ me home, won’t they?”
“We might all hafta go home if Sadanobu enforces these rules they’re talkin’ about.”
“But they doan really mean it. They’ll never shut down the brothels.”
“The only way we close ’em down is if we burn ’em down.”
“Mmmm, great idea,” murmured someone.
More laughter.
Our stomachs were bursting with food. We were lying around groaning.
“So what did we decide beauty is?” said Shino.
“We didn’ decide.”
“But we c’n give you the list.”
Fumi recited. “Best between fifteen and eighteen years of age.”
I thought
“Fumi says being beautiful is not the most important thing here. She says even if I’m not beautiful, I can be successful by being good,” said Shino.
“Fumi is, like, todally wrong. Being beautiful iz most important,” said one of them. “Izn it?”
They said that a lot. “Izn it?” I had started to say it to my mother, to tease her. It got my father in trouble for leaving me in the brothels while he worked. Still, she didn’t ask that I stay at home.
“Even if I were to believe you,” said Shino in her careful way, “and I am not certain I do, can you tell me who determines what is beautiful?”
I slurped my soba noodles. The artists did, I thought.
“That’z a very good question, yakko, ” said Fumi.
Everyone laughed. She was supposed to call her Shino.
“Nobody decides. It’z not for, like, deciding. It’z just for, like, kno-owing. Duh-uh!”
“That’s not true! Men decide.”
“They doan.”
“Do too.”
“Do not!”
“Who’s beautiful is just, like, obvious. Like Hana-ogi.” She was the top courtesan.
“Or Fumi.”
Kana was thoughtful. “But the weird thing is, it changes. Like the whole idea of who’s beautiful and for what reason changes year to year. I c’n remember. . . . Like, now the girls have to be thin. But before, when I was first in the biz, the famous girls were round.”
“Never! I doan believe you. Yu mean, like, fat?” That was Takao, stuffing her face.
“Yu doan remember ’cause yu’re too young, but yeah, it’s true—like round. The girls were, like, round.”
Everyone made various noises of disgust.
“And men liked it,” Kana added as an afterthought.
Everyone laughed.
“So who decided we hafta be thin?”
“I tell you who decided. We decided,” said one girl.
“We did?”
“Yah. We make the fashion. ’F I wear this, like, bamboo-leaf pattern in my kimono and let my red underskirt show, and ’f I tie a purple and green obi around, really wide—like, way wider than anyone else—and I go strolling down the boulevard, then the artists paint me, even the noblewomen will think thaz a new style an’ it’z gorgeous. Izn it?”
“ ’Member when Hana-ogi went to the Spring Festival dressed like a man? They thought that was beautiful too.” Everyone laughed.
“Yah, maybe yu’re right. We decide.”
“That is, like, so cool! We’re, like, the evil ones, but they wanna dress like us? Even the little girls in the samurai families?”
“And talk like us. They copy our words, like iki —”
“Because we’re so clever. We set the styles. And we’re fuh-ny —”
“We’re fuh-ny till they suddenly decide we’re very bad for their health !”
Everyone laughed again.
“Well, we are. Bad for their health. Izn it?”
Everyone laughed more, and some leaned sideways on the floor, they were so full.
“Not to mention our health.” Kana looked pointedly at one girl. It’s true she was very skinny. And pale. And she kept coughing. “You don’t look so great, Sanae.”
“Doan say that!” she wailed. “If they think I’m sick, they’ll sen’ me home, won’t they?”
“We might all hafta go home if Sadanobu enforces these rules they’re talkin’ about.”
“But they doan really mean it. They’ll never shut down the brothels.”
“The only way we close ’em down is if we burn ’em down.”
“Mmmm, great idea,” murmured someone.
More laughter.
Our stomachs were bursting with food. We were lying around groaning.
“So what did we decide beauty is?” said Shino.
“We didn’ decide.”
“But we c’n give you the list.”
Fumi recited. “Best between fifteen and eighteen years of age.”
I thought
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