Kyoto Trip (3)
Kim Chirok and his companions emerged once more onto the streets of Gion.
Gion was Kyoto's premier pleasure quarter, home to the five great hanamachi where geisha still appeared. The festival had ended, but the tourists had not scattered; they lingered here to eat, drink, and enjoy themselves.
The student pointed toward an alley lined with traditional wooden houses and began to explain.
"That's Miyagawacho over there. The neighborhood you can see across the bridge is Pontocho. The geisha who performed the dedicatory dance today are from Miyagawacho."
Along the way, at Manager Lee's suggestion, they even stopped to take commemorative photos in a Miyagawacho alley.
Manager Lee grumbled.
"I don't see a single geisha."
The student laughed.
"It's hard to spot geisha on the street. They live communally in the okiya and don't come out into the streets. That's why most tourists go home without ever seeing one."
"So we got lucky, seeing them dance today?"
"Very lucky. I've been here three years, and this is the first time I've seen geisha perform a dedicatory dance at Yasaka Shrine."
"Really? Even you?"
"But honestly, Hirosue Yoshiko looked like an angel."
"She did, didn't she."
"I saw a few girl-group performances back in Korea, but none of them could hold a candle to Yoshiko."
"I've never been to a girl-group concert, but Yoshiko is the real deal — a perfectly formed beauty, every feature in its proper place. Not that it matters. She's another country's beauty."
Their legs aching and their stomachs empty, the group ducked into a restaurant tucked inside the alley. The three of them ordered soba noodles and tempura shrimp.
After the meal they walked on, and before long something that might have been a river — or perhaps a stream — came into view.
"This is the famous Kamogawa River," the student said.
"This is a river? It's pathetically small compared to the Han. More like Korea's Jungnangcheon stream."
The water, however, was remarkably clean. Kim Chirok found himself thinking that the Japanese seemed to manage their waterways well.
Crossing the bridge brought them into Pontocho. Here, too, traditional wooden houses packed a narrow alley so tightly that the crush of spectators made it hard even to pass through. It was exactly like Bukchon in Seoul, where tourists flocked to the old houses. There were plenty of Westerners, Black visitors as well, and East Asians speaking Chinese.
Walking this street, Kim Chirok recalled the time he had visited the H Group Chairman's villa. The woman who had called on the Chairman that day had said she ran an ochaya here in Pontocho. An impulse to seek her out flickered through him.
He turned to the student.
"If you go to an ochaya here, have a meal, and call a geisha — that costs a fortune, doesn't it?"
"A great deal, from what I hear. And they won't take you without a reservation. Even then, you need a regular customer to vouch for you."
Kim Chirok remembered hearing this before. It sounded like what the branch manager had said during the last Osaka business trip. Back then, too, the branch manager had insisted that to enjoy a geisha banquet you needed a regular's recommendation and a reservation. He'd mentioned the cost as well — comparable to visiting a hostess bar back in Korea. Neither Kim Chirok nor Manager Lee seemed to be of a station yet to sit in an ochaya drinking sake.
The group had dinner in Gion. They had considered eating near the hotel, but decided to dine here instead. It was their last night in Japan, so they splurged a little, going to a yakiniku restaurant for Japanese wagyu beef.
It was the student guide who had suggested the wagyu. Men in their twenties and thirties seemed to prefer beef, while company executives in their fifties gravitated toward sashimi.
Over the meat, Manager Lee remarked,
"Japanese beef is pretty good, huh? Tender and flavorful."
The student spoke up, as if to take credit for a job well done.
"I was worried the place would be packed when I brought you two here. But look — we got a table."
"Is it usually crowded?"
"This is a tourist district. Anyone who comes to Kyoto ends up here. Empty seats are rare."
"Open a shop here and you'd make a killing. Hey, when you graduate, skip the job hunt and open a place right here."
"You'd need capital for that."
"You'd have to scrape together seed money, sure. Look at me. I'm a manager at a major corporation and I'm still struggling. Find yourself a Japanese woman and run a business here. That'd be the faster path."
"Heh. Why would a Japanese woman marry someone like me?"
"Don't Japanese women like Korean men these days? The Korean Wave and all that? I thought YouTube was full of that stuff."
"Come on, that's a tiny minority. The cultures are different — who'd marry a Korean guy?"
"Japanese women are great, aren't they? They treat their husbands well, they're grateful for the little things — and you don't even have to buy a house, right? How good is that? I heard they don't even do lavish weddings."
"There is that tendency, but still, the women who actually choose Korean men are a small fraction."
"Give it a real shot with a Japanese woman. If I ever remarried, I'd want a Japanese wife. I walk in the door and all I hear is money, money, money. I'm sick of it."
"Haha. Is that so?"
"I think my wife looks at my face and sees a stack of bills."
This time Kim Chirok spoke up, smiling.
"You still seem to dote on her, though. I've seen you agonizing over what gift to bring her, and you call her all the time."
"You think I do it because I want to? I do it so she doesn't throw me out."
At that, all three of them laughed.
By the time they finished dinner and stepped outside, dusk had begun to settle. They made their way through the crowded Gion streets toward the banks of the Kamogawa.
Crowds of people sat along the riverbank, cooling off the way people did along Cheonggyecheon back in Korea. Behind them, the lights of the hanamachi had begun to glow, and the scene felt distinctly foreign.
Kim Chirok gazed at the flowing water and thought of two Japanese women and two Korean ones. The Japanese women were Hoshino Chieko, whom he had met at the H Group Chairman's villa, and Hirosue Yoshiko, whom he had seen that afternoon at Yasaka Shrine. The Korean women were Oh Ha-young of H Chemical's General Affairs Department, who had hounded him to the bitter end, and Bang Mihee, the H Group Chairman's secretary.
That stretch of old buildings just behind us is Pontocho, isn't it? Hoshino Chieko is probably there right now, entertaining wealthy company presidents at a banquet.
It occurred to him that Chieko might well have been the Chairman's former lover. Looking ahead, he could make out Miyagawacho in the distance, just as the student had pointed out.
Hirosue Yoshiko should be in Miyagawacho by now, the day's performance behind her. After an event that big, she's probably having tea with her fellow geisha at the okiya.
He still found himself mixing up the okiya, where geisha lived, and the ochaya, where banquets were held. He understood the okiya to be something like a geisha's production company.
Gazing at the Kamogawa as it flowed past, Kim Chirok found himself wishing that someday he might see Hirosue Yoshiko up close. He wanted to hear her sing a kouta, too. A song like that would be far better suited to a tatami room on the second floor of one of those old buildings along the Kamogawa than to some Gangnam apartment in Korea.
Manager Lee's voice came from behind him.
"Let's head back to the hotel. Squatting by the river like this is killing my legs."
On the train heading toward the subway, Kim Chirok's thoughts turned to Oh Ha-young's accusation. Once they returned home, the trial over her complaint would begin. How was he supposed to handle it? The mere thought of Oh Ha-young set his teeth on edge.
In front of the hotel, the student said he would be heading home. He bowed and addressed Manager Lee.
"Your flight tomorrow is in the afternoon, so I'll take you to one more sightseeing spot in the morning and then to the airport."
"That works."
"I'd have liked to take you to two places, but I think it's better to get to the airport with time to spare."
"One is plenty. We've already seen Nijo Castle, Kiyomizu-dera, and Yasaka Shrine. That's enough. We'll come back over a long weekend sometime."
"Then I'll be heading off."
"Yeah. Good work today."
Kim Chirok and Manager Lee returned to the hotel.
After a shower, Kim Chirok felt refreshed. Manager Lee spoke up.
"Hey, Kim Chirok! This is our last night in Japan — we can't just go to bed. Let's go out and have some Japanese sake."
"Sake? That'll be expensive, won't it?"
"It's not like we're going to a place with geisha. How expensive could it be? I'll treat. Come on."
Kim Chirok and Manager Lee headed out. Only the area immediately around the hotel was brightly lit, thanks to the restaurants and bars clustered there. Step away from the hotel, though, and the streets went dark. Korea's street lighting seemed better.
They found an izakaya and went in. Inside, it was noisy — a mixed group of men and women, by the sound of it. Women's laughter rang out.
Manager Lee remarked,
"The Japanese act all meek outside, but listen to them in here. They say Japanese people keep an outer face and an inner one — looks like that's true."
Kim Chirok asked the server what time they closed, using the Japanese he had learned. The server said they were open until one in the morning. Plenty of time to drink. Kim Chirok ordered food. Beside him, Manager Lee said,
"Skip the beer and order sake. Ask if they sell Gekkeikan by the glass."
Gekkeikan appeared to be a Japanese sake. When Kim Chirok asked if they sold it by the glass, the Japanese server smiled pleasantly and said they did.
When the food and drinks arrived, Manager Lee photographed them first thing.
"Heh heh. Gotta take a proof-of-visit shot. I'll post it in the alumni group chat and show off a little."
Gekkeikan tasted similar to Korean cheongju. As they drank, Manager Lee asked,
"You said you were going to Daechi-dong to work as a tutor, right? Have you found a position?"
"I'll start looking in earnest once we're back."
"With your credentials, it shouldn't be a problem. Seoul National University isn't a school just anyone gets into. If you start pulling in a fat salary, don't forget me — buy me a drink."
"Forget you, Manager? Never."
"Once you're a star lecturer raking it in, come back here and take us to one of those ochaya places with the geisha. I'm buying tonight, but you'll be buying then."
"Haha. If I make that kind of money, it's a deal."
"So if Oh Ha-young asks what you're up to, should I tell her you went to Daechi-dong?"
The mention of Oh Ha-young's name made his blood boil all over again.
"Do whatever you want. I can't stand the sight of that bitch — I mean, of her."
Kim Chirok considered telling him that Oh Ha-young had filed a sexual harassment complaint against him, then thought better of it. Manager Lee probably had a vague idea of why he'd been banished to H Heavy Industries. He'd likely heard the rumor that Chirok had been reassigned to the provinces for making a pass at the Chairman's secretary. Combined with Oh Ha-young's accusation, that rumor could brand him a sexual harasser for good. So he decided not to mention her complaint. He didn't want idle talk making things worse.
Manager Lee asked for two more glasses. Kim Chirok ordered two more Gekkeikan.
Manager Lee, seasoned by years of corporate drinking, held his liquor well. Sake, it seemed, was a drink you handled with experience. Kim Chirok had a low tolerance, and his head was already starting to ache.
"Drink up."
"Yes, sir. I'm drinking."
"By the way, there's a strange rumor going around among our female staff."
"What kind of rumor?"
"That you had a thing for the Chairman's secretary. Not that it's any of my business who you like — that's personal."
Kim Chirok smiled.
"That's a baseless rumor. That secretary is about to marry one of my classmates. I have no idea why people spread nonsense like that."
"I know you're not the type to fall for women easily. But is she pretty, that secretary? I suppose the Chairman's secretary would be. Pretty like Yoshiko this afternoon?"
"The Chairman's secretary is a beauty, but she doesn't come close to Yoshiko. Yoshiko is prettier than any of our K-pop idols, don't you think?"
"Yoshiko really is stunning. Though I wonder if women like that marry well."
"Why? Being that beautiful, I'd think she'd marry even better."
"Didn't you hear what the branch manager said on the last Osaka trip? About the son of some steel company chairman — or president — who fell for Yoshiko unrequited and killed himself?"
"That's on him. He fell for her all on his own."
"Anyway, a beauty that rare isn't going to have an easy life. Ah — look, they've got a Yoshiko poster in here too!"
The same poster of Yoshiko they had seen in Osaka was hanging in this bar as well. She stood beneath a cherry blossom tree, holding a traditional Japanese paper umbrella, smiling radiantly.