d with him. I had to reach him before anyone else did. I wasn't 
properly dressed for the weather, but I put my ration coupons back into the pocket of my 
peasant pants and set out at once for the northwest of the city. The General was rumored to 
be living in the Suruya Inn, the same one where we'd met during the evenings twice a week 
for so many years. 

I arrived there an hour or so later, burning with the cold and dusted all over with snow. But 
when I greeted the mistress, she took a long look at me before bowing in apology and saying 
she had no idea who I was. 

"It's me, mistress . . . Sayuri! I've come to speak with the General." 

"Sayuri-san . . . my heavens! I never thought to see you looking like the wife of a peasant." 

She led me inside at once, but wouldn't present me to the General until she'd first taken me 
upstairs and dressed me in one of her kimono. She even put on me a bit of makeup she'd 
stashed away, so the General would know me when he saw me. 

When I entered his room, General Tottori was sitting at the table listening to a drama on the 
radio. His cotton robe hung open, exposing his bony chest and the thin gray hairs. I could 
see that his hardships of the past year had been far worse than mine. After all, he'd been 
accused of awful crimes-negligence, incompetence, abuse of power, and so forth; some 
people considered him lucky to have escaped prison. An article in a magazine had even 
blamed him for the Imperial Navy's defeats in the South Pacific, saying that he'd failed to 
oversee the shipment of supplies. Still, some men bear hardships better than others; and 
with one look at the General I could see that the weight of this past year had pressed down 
upon him until his bones had grown brittle, and even his face had come to look a bit 
misshapen. In the past he'd smelled of sour pickles all the time. Now as I bowed low on the 
mats near him, he had a different sort of sour smell. 

"You're looking very well, General," I said, though of course this was a lie. "What a pleasure it 
is to see you again!" 

The General switched off the radio. "You're not the first to come to me," he said. "There's 
nothing I can do to help you, Sayuri." 

"But I rushed here so quickly! I can't imagine how anyone reached you before I did!" 


"Since last week nearly every geisha I know has been to see me, but I don't have friends in 
power any longer. I don't know why a geisha of your standing should come to me anyway. 
You're liked by so many men with influence." 

"To be liked and to have true friends willing to help are two very different things," I said. 

"Yes, so they are. What sort of help have you come to me for anyway?" 

"Any help at all, General. We talk about nothing these days in Gion but how miserable life in 
a factory will be." 

"Life will be miserable for the lucky ones. The rest won't even live to see the end of the war." 

"I don't understand." 

"The bombs will fall soon," the General said. "You can be certain the factories will take more 
than their share. If you want to be alive when this war is over, you'd better find someone who 
can tuck you away in a safe place. I'm sorry I'm not that man. I've already exhausted what 
influence I had." 

The General asked after Mother's health, and Auntie's, and soon bid me good-bye. I learned 
only much later what he meant about exhausting his influence. The proprietress of the 
Suruya had a young daughter; the General had arranged to send her to a town in northern 
Japan. 

On the way back to the okiya, I knew the time had come for me to act; but I couldn't think 
what to do. Even the simple task of holding my panic at arm's length seemed more than I 
could manage. I went by the apartment where Mameha was now living-for her relationship 
with the Baron had ended several months earlier and she'd moved into a much smaller 
space. I thought she might know what course I should take, but in fact, she was in nearly as 
much of a panic as I was. 

"The Baron will do nothing to help me," she said, her face pale with worry. "I've been unable 
to reach the other men I have in mind. You had better think of someone, Sayuri, and go to 
him as quickly as you can." 

I'd been out of touch with Nobu for more than four years by that time; I knew at once I 
couldn't approach him. As for the Chairman . . . well, I would have grabbed at any excuse 
just to speak with him, but I could never have asked him for a favor. However warmly he may 
have treated me in the hallways, I wasn't invited to his parties, even when lesser geisha 
were. I felt hurt by this, but what could I do? In any case, even if the Chairman had wanted to 
help me, his quarrels with the military government had been in the newspapers lately. He 
had too many troubles of his own. 

So I spent the rest of that afternoon going from teahouse to teahouse in the biting cold, 
asking about a number of men I hadn't seen in weeks or even months. None of the 
mistresses knew where to find them. 

That evening, the Ichiriki was busy with farewell parties. It was fascinating to see how 
differently all the geisha reacted to the news. Some looked as though their spirits had been 
murdered within them; others were like statues of the Buddha-calm and lovely, but painted 

over with a layer of sadness. I can't say how I myself looked, but my mind was like an 
abacus. I was so busy with scheming and plotting--thinking which man I would approach, and 
how I would do it-that I scarcely heard the maid who told me I was wanted in another room. I 


imagined a group of men had requested my company; but she led me up the stairs to the 
second floor and along a corridor to the very back of the teahouse. She opened the door of a 
small tatami room I'd never entered before. And there at the table, alone with a glass of beer, 
sat Nobu. 

Before I could even bow to him or speak a word, he said, "Sayuri-san, you've disappointed 

me!
"
"My goodness! I haven't had the honor of your company for four years, Nobu-san, and 
already in an instant I've disappointed you. What could I have done wrong so quickly?
"


"I had a little bet with myself that your mouth would fall open at the sight of me.
"
"The truth is, I'm too startled even to move!
"
"Come inside and let the maid close the door. But first, tell her to bring another glass and 


another beer. There's something you and I must drink to.
"
I did as Nobu told me, and then knelt at the end of the table with a corner between us. I could 


feel Nobu's eyes upon my face almost as though he were touching me. I blushed as one 
might blush under the warmth of the sun, for I'd forgotten how flattering it felt to be admired. 
"I see angles in your face I've never seen before," he said to me. "Don't tell me you're going 

hungry like everyone else. I'd never expected such a thing of you.
"
"Nobu-san looks a bit thin himself.
"
"I have food enough to eat, just no time for eating it.
"
"I'm glad at least that you are keeping busy.
"
"That's the most peculiar thing I've ever heard. When you see a man who has kept himself


alive by dodging bullets, do you feel glad for him that he has something to occupy his time?
"
"I hope Nobu-san doesn't mean to say that he is truly in fear for his life ...
"
"There's no one out to murder me, if that's what you mean. But if Iwamura Electric is my life, 


then yes, I'm certainly in fear for it. Now tell me this: What has become of that danna of
yours?
"
"The General is doing as well as any of us, I suppose. How kind of you to ask.
"


"Oh, I don't mean it kindly at all.
"
"Very few people wish him well these days. But to change the subject, Nobu-san, am I to
suppose that you have been coming here to the Ichiriki night after night, but keeping yourself
hidden from me by using this peculiar upstairs room?
"


"It is a peculiar room, isn't it? I think it's the only one in the teahouse without a garden view. It
looks out on the street, if you open those paper screens.
"
"Nobu-san knows the room well.
"
"Not really. It's the first time I've used it.
"



I made a face at him when he said this, to show I didn't believe him.
"You may think what you want, Sayuri, but it's true I've never been in this room before. I think


it's a bedroom for overnight guests, when the mistress has any. She was kind enough to let
me use it tonight when I explained to her why I'd come.
"
"How mysterious ... So you had a purpose in coming. Will I find out what it is?
"
"I hear the maid returning with our beer," Nobu said. "You'll find out when she's gone.
"
The door slid open, and the maid placed the beer on the table. Beer was a rare commodity


during this period, so it was quite something to watch the gold liquid rising in the glass. When
the maid had left, we raised our glasses, and Nobu said: 


"I have come here to toast your dannal"
I put down my beer when I heard this. "I must say, Nobu-san, there are few things any of us
can find to be cheerful about. But it would take me weeks even to begin imagining why you 
should wish to drink in honor of my danna.
"


"I should have been more specific. Here's to the foolishness of your dannal Four years ago 
I
told you he was an unworthy man, and he has proved me right. Wouldn't you say?
"


"The truth is ... he isn't my danna any longer.
"
"Just my point! And even if he were, he couldn't do a thing for you, could he? I know Gion is
going to close, and everyone's in a panic about it. I received a telephone call at my office
today from a certain geisha ... I won't name her . . . but can you imagine? She asked if 
I
could find her a job at Iwamura Electric.
"


"If you don't mind my asking, what did you tell her?
"
"I don't have a job for anyone, hardly even myself. Even the Chairman may be out of a job


so