Good friends since childhood

Author: Ichiko Higuchi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Ichiko Higuchi is undoubtedly among the greatest female writers of the 19th century. Her The Little Woman is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read. Her heartwarming narration carries the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the night. -- Chinese writer Yu Hua, Literature and Literary History
At 15, Buntaro is the "queen of the children" in the lower town of Tokyo, around the Daiten Temple. Her sister is a famous courtesan in the Yoshiwara pleasure district. The entire family lives in a detached house of the first-class brothel called Dairei. Her classmate, Hironobu, the son of the abbot of the Longhua Temple, is also 15 and attends the same school as Buntaro. The two develop a secret crush on each other.
However, Hironobu's friend Nagayoshi gets into a fight with children from another street and offends Buntaro. On a rainy day, Hironobu breaks his geta (wooden clogs) while passing in front of Dairei and gives them to Hironobu. The silk strip, which looked like "a red maple leaf from Meishan and Guangdong," along with Buntaro's tears, are left behind in the mud. Later, Buntaro experiences her first menstruation and "gains the demeanor of a grown woman." On a frosty morning, she picks up a paper narcissus flower, which is likely the one Hironobu brought into the Dairei detached house.
Later, Buntaro accidentally hears that Hironobu will wear his monk's robe the next day and leave the temple to study outside. As for herself, she will eventually end up like her sister, falling into a brothel and becoming one of the countless courtesans in the Yoshiwara pleasure district.