Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Japanese Top Geisha (2)
There are many beautiful entertainers in Korea as well.
So why did Kim Chi-rok become interested in Yoshiko Hirose?
It was because Yoshiko Hirose did not look rough, but very refined and elegant. She gave the impression of a virtuous lady from the past, as if she had been reborn in modern times.
Yoshiko Hirose was a woman he would never have the chance to meet in his lifetime. Yet, strangely, he found himself drawn to her.
Translated information appeared on the screen. It could be summarized as follows.
Yoshiko Hirose
Born in Kochi Prefecture in 2003
Graduated from a public elementary school in Tosa City, Kochi Prefecture
Graduated from a municipal junior high school in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto
Enrolled in a Kyoto hanamachi nyokoba, a geisha training school
Trained as an apprentice maiko in Gion, Kyoto until 2022
Currently active as a well-known geiko (geisha) in Miyagawacho, a hanamachi in Kyoto
She is especially known for her skill in playing the traditional instrument shamisen and for singing kouta
Recently, there was an attempted kidnapping incident involving the son of Wakayama Steel. See related case.
Personal information about geisha is not usually available online in this way.
However, Yoshiko seemed to have gained fame through various modeling activities, acting as a city ambassador, and especially through the Wakayama Steel incident, which is likely why such information appeared.
Kim Chi-rok clicked on the related case.
It was the incident involving the son of Wakayama Steel.
The son of Wakayama Steel’s president, Wakayama Genji, committed suicide by ingesting poison at a villa in Kyoto along the Takase River on the 8th of last month.
The circumstances were that Genji had fallen in love with the famous Kyoto geisha Yoshiko Hirose, but after she refused to meet him, he is believed to have taken his own life out of heartbreak.
Genji had fallen in love at first sight with Yoshiko after seeing her at a Kyoto festival. He searched through ochaya, geisha banquet houses, across Kyoto’s hanamachi districts, and even caused disturbances at an ochaya in Miyagawacho. On that day, Yoshiko was performing and did not come to the ochaya.
Later, Genji attempted to kidnap Yoshiko to the Takase River area, but he was arrested by the Kyoto police after the ochaya’s okāsan, the proprietress, reported the incident.
After being released by the police, Wakayama Genji struggled with whether the incident would become public. The next dawn, he ingested poison at the Takase River villa and died.
It was reported that Yoshiko Hirose herself, shocked by the incident, had reduced her public activities.
After reading the article, Kim Chi-rok clicked his tongue.
What a pathetic guy. He couldn’t even hold Yoshiko’s wrist once and then died. Was he some kind of hikikomori to begin with? Falling for a geisha and killing himself just because she wouldn’t meet him? Completely insane. With such a fragile mentality, how could he inherit his father’s steel company?
Kim Chi-rok thought that even the son of a wealthy family could die so pointlessly. Thinking about it, he felt that someone like himself, with the intellect of a Seoul National University graduate and a healthy body, was far better.
He felt that he might not have money, but he still had dignity.
Daily life resumed.
Kim Chi-rok worked diligently at the company, and after work he returned to his studio apartment to read books.
He was someone who focused on self-development, so he never skipped reading after work. It seemed as if he might grow thorns in his mouth if he did not read.
His work life was manageable, but O Ha-young from the general affairs department kept flirting with him, which was driving him crazy. It was truly stressful to be approached by a woman he had no feelings for.
One day, when he came to work, a notice from the president appeared on the company intranet. It stated that participation in language classes held for one hour before work in the morning, designed to promote employee self-development, was low.
Team leaders in each department were instructed to encourage participation, and incentives in performance evaluations would be given to attendees.
Getting to work an hour earlier than others for training in the morning is not easy.
The classes offered were English, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese. When the program first opened, there were quite a number of participants, but after a couple of months, most had dropped out. At present, only three or four people were attending.
Kim Chi-rok’s English level was above a certain standard. So instead of English, he had initially signed up for Chinese as a second foreign language.
However, after about two months, waking up early became difficult, and he felt there would not be many opportunities to use it, so he quit attending. Then the president’s directive came down.
Director Park, upon seeing the notice, remarked,
“The company is paying all the instructor fees, yet only three or four people attend. That’s a problem. Maybe next month I’ll try learning Vietnamese as a second language.”
The manager Lee, standing nearby, chuckled and said,
“Director, if you do that, you might get assigned to Vietnam. I’ve heard rumors that you’re good at Vietnamese. You might be appointed as the head of the Vietnam branch right away.”
At those words, Director Park flinched.
“That won’t do. I’d better stick to English.”
“Director, your English is already good, isn’t it?”
“I’ve forgotten a lot. The president might tell even directors to take the lead, so I guess I’ll have to enroll too.”
Kim Chi-rok considered reapplying for Chinese, but then decided to choose Japanese instead.
Chinese was difficult because of the four tones, whereas Japanese did not have complicated tonal pronunciation. Also, the sentence structure was similar, which he liked.
He also had a sly thought that if things went well, he might even get to see Yoshiko Hirose perform, someone he had been dreaming about.
Let’s learn Japanese. I already know hiragana and katakana, so I’ll just work hard on conversational practice.
So Kim Chi-rok signed up for the Japanese class. Since the company was offering it for free, he thought it was a good opportunity to learn.
Seeing that Kim Chi-rok had enrolled in Japanese, Manager Lee said,
“Wow, Kim Chi-rok! After studying Chinese for a couple of months, now it’s Japanese! Have you mastered Chinese already?”
“I just thought Japanese might also be useful.”
“Indeed, people from Seoul National University are different. Mastering Chinese in just two months!”
“Oh, come on, why are you saying that? I only know basic greetings in Chinese. I can only say xiexie.”
“Then why Japanese?”
“Chinese seemed difficult, and I didn’t think there would be many chances to use it, so I switched to Japanese.”
“Even someone from Seoul National University says Chinese is difficult, so imagine how hard it must be for me. Chinese really is different from our language. King Sejong truly created Hangul well.”
Starting the next day, Kim Chi-rok came to work an hour early and attended the Japanese class.
The Japanese class was taught by a female instructor who said she had lived in Japan. She seemed to be a good teacher overall.
However, a source of stress appeared. O Ha-young from the general affairs department also joined the Japanese class.
And every morning when she saw him, she would look at Kim Chi-rok, raise her right hand, and say “Ohayō gozaimasu.”
“Kim Chi-rok? Ohayō gozaimasu! Good morning!”
This is driving me crazy.
Two months passed like this.
Kim Chi-rok even considered quitting the Japanese class because he disliked constantly running into O Ha-young. And he felt that by now he had learned enough to continue self-study on his own.
The Japanese instructor was also quite surprised by Kim Chi-rok’s progress. She said he had the fastest learning speed among all the people she had taught. As expected, the mind of a Seoul National University graduate showed its true value in such areas.
O Ha-young seemed to be less quick in learning. Although she had graduated from a university in Incheon, she struggled quite a bit. However, the Japanese instructor asked her to sit next to Kim Chi-rok and study, saying she should learn from him since he was doing well.
At that, O Ha-young quickly picked up her bag and came to sit beside Kim Chi-rok, exuding the scent of perfume.
One day, Manager Lee, who had been passing by while taking Chinese classes, glanced into the open Japanese classroom. He saw Kim Chi-rok and O Ha-young sitting side by side in class.
After Kim Chi-rok returned to the office after class, Manager Lee laughed and said,
“Hehe. Kim Chi-rok! Sitting side by side with O Ha-young studying Japanese? It was like a perfect pair.”
“What do you mean, a pair?”
“A young man and a young woman sitting side by side like that, isn’t it nice? I almost took a picture with my phone.”
“Why would you take a picture of something like that?”
“It looks great, doesn’t it? The rumor that you like O Ha-young seems to be true.”
“Why would I like O Ha-young? The Japanese instructor just arranged the seating that way!”
“The instructor probably noticed your relationship with O Ha-young and arranged it like that.”
“I’m losing my mind.”
“Didn’t I tell you? O Ha-young’s father runs a motel in Juan, so they seem to have money.”
“Who dates someone for money?”
“Didn’t you join the company because of money too?”
“I’m busy. I have to write a business plan.”
“O Ha-young is an only child. She’s the only one in that family. So that motel will naturally become hers.”
“I’m not interested.”
“If you marry O Ha-young, you could just sit and count the money coming in from the motel.”
“Stop it. Don’t make such pointless jokes.”
Frowning, Kim Chi-rok became serious, and only then did Manager Lee return to his seat.
The next day, while analyzing half-year financial results at the company, Director Park called Kim Chi-rok.
With a somewhat stiff expression, Director Park said,
“Kim Chi-rok! You’ve been transferred. You’ve been assigned to the Group Headquarters Strategic Planning Office!”
“What?”
“It’s not even transfer season, but the notice has come. The personnel order should appear on the intranet shortly.”
“Really?”
“I had hoped you would stay here in Incheon and become a pillar of H Chemical, but this is how it turned out.”
“Why now, when it’s not transfer season?”
“They must have picked you out carefully because of your strong credentials and experience here.”
“I’ll go, but I feel a bit overwhelmed.”
“To grow within an organization, it’s better to go to Seoul. The chairman is there, and so is President Jung-hee, one of the most influential figures. President Jung-hee, who previously oversaw the Americas subsidiary, has now come to serve as president of the strategic planning office.”
“I already saw that news on the intranet.”
“Didn’t President Jung-hee ask your name again at the Osaka Expo? You’re going to go far.”
Kim Chi-rok still felt bewildered.
If he went to Seoul, the group headquarters building would be on Teheran-ro in Gangnam, which would be good. He could commute from his home in Bongcheon-dong, so he would not need to pay for a separate studio apartment.
And above all, he was glad to be free from the tiresome O Ha-young.