ain, I can assure you. And just wait until you see the way she moves ... I invited you here, 
Sayuri, so all the men could have a chance to look at you; so you have an important job. You 
must wander all around-inside the house, down by the lake, all through the woods, 
everywhere! Now go along and get working!" 

I began to wander around the estate as the Baron had asked, past the cherry trees heavy 
with their blossoms, bowing here and there to the guests and trying not to seem too obvious 
about looking around for the Chairman. I made little headway, because every few steps 
some man or other would stop me and say something like, "My heavens! An apprentice 
geisha from Kyoto!" And then he would take out his camera and have someone snap a 
picture of us standing together, or else walk me along the lake to the little moon-viewing 
pavilion, or wherever, so his friends could have a look at me-just as he might have done with 
some prehistoric creature he'd captured in a net. Mameha had warned me that everyone 
would be fascinated with my appearance; because there's nothing quite like an apprentice 
geisha from Gion, It's true that in the better geisha districts of Tokyo, such as Shimbashi and 
Akasaka, a girl must master the arts if she expects to make her debut. But many 
of the Tokyo geisha at that time were very modern in their sensibilities, which is why some 
were walking around the Baron's estate in Western-style clothing. 

The Baron's party seemed to go on and on. By midafternoon I'd practically given up any 
hope of finding the Chairman. I went into the house to look for a place to rest, but the very 
moment I stepped up into the entrance hall, I felt myself go numb. There he was, emerging 
from a tatami room in conversation with another man. They said good-bye to each other, and 
then the Chairman turned to me. 

"Sayuri!" he said. "Now how did the Baron lure you here all the way from Kyoto? I didn't even 
realize you were acquainted with him." 

I knew I ought to take my eyes off the Chairman, but it was like pulling nails from the wall. 
When I finally managed to do it, I gave him a bow and said: 

"Mameha-san sent me in her place. I'm so pleased to have the honor of seeing the 
Chairman." 

"Yes, and I'm pleased to see you too; you can give me your opinion about something. Come 
have a look at the present I've brought for the Baron. I'm tempted to leave without giving it to 
him." 

I followed him into a tatami room, feeling like a kite pulled by a string. Here I was in Hakone 
so far-from anything I'd ever known, spending a few moments with the man I'd thought about 
more constantly than anyone, and it amazed me to think of it. While he walked ahead of me I 
had to admire how he moved so easily within his tailored wool suit. I could make out the 
swell of his calves, and even the hollow of his back like a cleft where the roots of a tree 


divide. He took something from the table and held it out for me to see. At first I thought it was 
an ornamented block of gold, but it turned out to be an antique cosmetics box for the Baron. 
This one, as the Chairman told me, was by an Edo period artist named Arata Gonroku. It was 
a pillow-shaped box in gold lacquer, with soft black images of flying cranes and leaping 
rabbits. When he put it into my hands, it was so dazzling I had to hold my breath as I looked 
at it. 

"Do you think the Baron will be pleased?" he said. "I found it last week and thought of him at 
once, but-" 

"Chairman, how can you even imagine that the Baron might not feel pleased?" 

"Oh, that man has collections of everything. He'll probably see this as third-rate." 

I assured the Chairman that no one could ever think such a thing; and when I gave him back 
the box, he tied it up in a silk cloth again and nodded toward the door for me to follow. In the 
entryway I helped him with his shoes. While I guided his foot with my fingertips, I found 
myself imagining that we'd spent the afternoon together and that a long evening lay ahead of 
us. This thought transported me into such a state, I don't know how much time passed before 
I became aware of myself again. The Chairman showed no signs of impatience, but I felt 
terribly self-conscious as I tried to slip my feet into my okobo and ended up taking much 
longer than I should have. 

He led me down a path toward the lake, where we found the Baron sitting on a mat beneath 
a cherry tree with three Tokyo geisha. They all rose to their feet, though the Baron had a bit 
of trouble. His face had red splotches all over it from drink, so that it looked as if someone 
had swatted him again and again with a stick. 

"Chairman!" the Baron said. "I'm so happy you came to my party. I always enjoy having you 
here, do you know that? That corporation of yours just won't stop growing, will it? Did Sayuri 
tell you Nobu came to my party in Kyoto last week?" 

"I heard all about it from Nobu, who I'm sure was his usual self." 

"He certainly was," said the Baron. "A peculiar little man, isn't he?" 

I don't know what the Baron was thinking, for he himself was lit-tler than Nobu. The Chairman 
didn't seem to like this comment, and narrowed his eyes. 

"I mean to say," the Baron began, but the Chairman cut him off. 

"I have come to thank you and say good-bye, but first I have something to give you." And 
here he handed over the cosmetics box. The Baron was too drunk to untie the silk cloth 
around it, but he gave it to one of the geisha, who did it for him. 

"What a beautiful thing!" the Baron said. "Doesn't everybody think so? Look at it. Why, it 
might be even lovelier than the exquisite creature standing beside you, Chairman. Do you 
know Sayuri? If not, let me introduce you." 

"Oh, we're well acquainted, Sayuri and I," the Chairman said. 

"How well acquainted, Chairman? Enough for me to envy you?" The Baron laughed at his 
own joke, but no one else did. "Anyway, this generous gift reminds me that I have something 
for you, Sayuri. But I can't give it to you until these other geisha have departed, because 


they'll start wanting one themselves. So you'll have to stay around until everyone has gone 
home." 

"The Baron is too kind," I said, "but really, I don't wish to make a nuisance of myself." 

"I see you've learned a good deal from Mameha about how to say no to everything. Just 
meet me in the front entrance hall after my guests have left. You'll persuade her for me, 
Chairman, while she walks you to your car." 

If the Baron hadn't been so drunk, I'm sure it would have occurred to him to walk the 
Chairman out himself. But the two men said good-bye, and I followed the Chairman back to 
the house. While his driver held the door for him, I bowed and thanked him for all his 
kindness. He was about to get into the car, but he stopped. 

"Sayuri," he began, and then seemed uncertain how to proceed. "What has Mameha told you 
about the Baron?" 

"Not very much, sir. Or at least. . . well, I'm not sure what the Chairman means." 

"Is Mameha a good older sister to you? Does she tell you the things you need to know?" 

"Oh, yes, Chairman. Mameha has helped me more than I can say." "Well," he said, "I'd watch 
out, if I were you, when a man like the Baron decides he has something to give you." 

I couldn't think of how to respond to this, so I said something about the Baron being kind to 
have thought of me at all. 

"Yes, very kind, I'm sure. Just take care of yourself," he said, looking at me intently for a 
moment, and then getting into his car. 

I spent the next hour strolling among the few remaining guests, remembering again and 
again all the things the Chairman had said to me during our encounter. Rather than feeling 
concerned about the warning he had given me, I felt elated that he had spoken with me for 
so long. In fact, I had no space in my mind at all to think about my meeting with the Baron, 
until at last I found myself standing alone in the entrance hall in the fading afternoon light. I 
took the liberty of going to kneel in a nearby tatami room, where I gazed out at the grounds 
through a plate-glass window. 

Ten or fifteen minutes passed; finally the Baron came striding into the entrance hall. I felt 
myself go sick with worry the moment I saw him, for he wore nothing but a cotton dressing 
robe. He had a towel in one hand, which he rubbed against the long black hairs on his face 
that were supposed to be a beard. Clearly he'd just stepped out of the bath. I stood and 
bowed to him. 

"Sayuri, do you know what a fool I am!" he said to me. "I've had too much to drink." That part 
was certainly true. "I forgot you were waiting for me! I hope you'll forgive rne when you see 
what I've put aside for you." 

The Baron walked down the hallway toward the interior of the house, expecting me to follow 
him. But I remained where I was, think

ing of what Mameha had said to me, that an apprentice on the point of having her mizuage 
was like a meal served on the table. 

The Baron stopped. "Come along!" he said to me. 


"Oh, Baron. I really mustn't. Please permit me to wait here.
"


"I have something I'd like to give you. Just come back into my quarters and sit down, and
don't be a silly girl.
"
"Why, Baron," I said, "I can't help but be a silly girl; for that's what I am!
"
"Tomorrow you'll be back under the watchful eyes of Mameha, eh? But there's no one 


watching you here.
"
If I'd had the least common sense at that moment, I would have thanked the Baron for
inviting me to his lovely party and told him how much I regretted having to impose on him for


the use of his motorcar to take me back to the inn. But everything had such a dreamlike 
quality ... I suppose I'd gone into a state of shock. All I knew for certain was how afraid I felt. 
"Come back with me whil