I couldn’t sleep the first night.
Me, neither.
Today Sumire’s hair will be in a bun for the first time.
gloom
Chapter 4 For Sleepless Nights
Struggling to sleep… how miserable!
I can’t wait!
You’ll look so pretty with your hair up.
I’m going now.
Bye!
A maiko’s bun is styled with her own hair.
Her hair is undone and washed once a week.
It is only when her bun is restyled.
That is also the only time she uses shampoo.
A maiko spends all day and night with her hair up throughout her career.
Beauty Parlor
I’m ready.
Please go ahead.
Kiyo, I’m so hungry.
I’m making supper now.
Yes!
Is this supper?
Rice porridge for supper?
I know it won’t be enough for me.
Oh, that’s not supper.
May I enter, Mother?
Yes, Sumire.
- Thank you.
From today, you are a senior apprentice.
Learn well from your mentor sister for your debut.
Thank you, Mother. I’ll do my best.
She’s here!
Her hair’s up!
Wow, nice! Looks good!
Wow! Sumire!
Wow.
Wow. Wow!
You’re so beautiful!
Thanks…
Wow, it’s really lovely.
You look so natural in a bun.
What’s in the pot?
Oh, right!
Hurry, hurry!
Great!
Sister, I’m done bathing.
How was it?
I managed to keep my bun.
Ooh!
Right! I have something for you.
This is your new pillow.
What?!
A maiko sleeps on a pillow with a wood base to protect her hairstyle.
You can do this.
We’ve all been through it.
Just bear it.
Poor girl.
Don’t cry, Sister.
It’s too high to breathe. My body keeps slipping.
My neck is bent. My stomach and elbows hurt, too.
My cheeks are numb under the weight of my head.
And my head feels so unstable!
I can’t sleep!
This is tougher than I thought.
But I’m not giving up!
I give up.
What to do?
Kiyo?
I knew it!
It’ll be ready in no time.
Everyone says sleep is impossible the first night.
So, I prepared something.
Amazake (Drink made by fermenting rice and koji mold. Sweet as sugar.)
Amazake!
A warm belly may help you sleep.
Thanks, Kiyo.
Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House
Sumire
And Kiyo’s
Dish of the Day
Today’s dish is amazake.
It warms your body on cold days.
I always got some at the shrine on New Year’s.
I like it, but some people find the flavor too unique.
Amazake is made from sake lees or rice koji mold.
The taste and flavor are so different.
Mm hm.
They are made differently, too.
So…
"Sake lees are dissolved in water."
"Then it is seasoned with sugar."
"Sake lees have slight traces of alcohol from the Japanese sake."
Sake lees
"To make the other kind, koji mold is used to ferment steamed rice."
Rice koji mold
"So, it doesn’t contain alcohol."
"It’s naturally sweet, smooth and easy to drink."
Some people only like amazake made with rice koji mold.
Did you know you can make it at home with koji mold?
I heard you were simmering rice, Kiyo.
You used it for amazake!
I put the pot under a blanket with a hot water bottle for fermentation.
You can also put the pot in a styrofoam box.
"Styrofoam retains heat well."
"It is ideal for keeping temperature constant."
There are many kinds of amazake.
Homemade and available in stores, also.
Tasting them to find a favorite would be fun.
Chapter 5 Some Things Will Always Be
100% Fresh Milk
Flour
Hotcakes (Not too thick or thin. Fluffy.)
Great!
Kiyo, I’ll help you serve.
Sumire! Thanks!
I can’t relax sitting, anyway.
Mother wants to see me after we eat.
What happened?
Nothing.
I’m finding out my maiko name.
Maiko Debut
A debuting maiko receives a name
from her House mother for her formal introduction.
The name could take a character from her mentor’s name
or divined at a shrine.
She will live her Kagai days with this name.
Ah, wait!
Take this, too.
Honey instead of maple syrup, just for you.
Honey absolutely goes best with hotcakes.
You’ve said so since we were kids.
It’s my commitment for life.
Next.
Yes!
My name is Sumire.
It’s the word for violets.
In floral language, it means to be faithful.
Thank you.
Next.
I don’t like the name Sumire.
But it’s perfect for you.
Exactly!
A lovelier name may have made me a lovelier person.
Kiyo means pure heart.
Kenta means healthy body.
Don’t you want more?
Who cares about names?
I don’t get it.
There! Lower your backside.
Yes.
That’s good.
You’ve improved, Momohana.
Thank you, Sensei.
Mother Matsu, Sumire is even more brilliant as Momohana.
She is.
I see slight changes in her daily behaviors, too.
She has embraced her new name.
Kiyo, we’ll help serve.
Thanks!
This tray, please.
Can you take the other, Sumire?
Okay.
Come on Kiyo, she’s Momohana now!
No one else in Kagai calls her Sumire.
Everyone’s praising her for growing into Momohana.
Sorry.
I’ll take this now.
Thanks!
Wait! This, too!
Honey for hotcakes.
It’s my commitment for life.
Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House
Sumire
And Kiyo’s
Dish of the Day
Hotcakes are tasty and easy to make.
If you don’t have hotcake mix, just use flour.
You’ll need flour, eggs, milk, sugar and baking powder.
Add vanilla essence if you wish, and simply bake in a frying pan.
I like them hot off the stove.
With some butter and plenty of honey.
Most of the girls here like maple syrup.
But you always prefer honey, right?
It’s my commitment for life.
So, Sumire.
I’ve had a pressing question about hotcakes.
Yes, what is it, Kiyo?
Are hotcakes and pancakes different?
That’s a tricky one.
Are hotcakes thick and pancakes thin?
Thickness
But some places serve fluffy thick pancakes.
Maybe pancakes have fruit or whipped cream on them?
Toppings
And hotcakes topped with syrup only?
But some pancakes have no toppings.
True. Let’s look it up as usual.
Haha, you seem puzzled.
Oh, Tsurukoma Sister.
I, Tsurukoma, senior maiko of the House will answer!
Hotcakes are a sweet snack. Pancakes are more like a meal.
I guess.
You know everything, Tsurukoma!
Well, don’t stop there. Ask me anything!
Pancakes and hotcakes are the same.
Eh?
"Any cake baked in a flat-bottomed pan is a pancake."
"So, hotcakes are the same as pancakes."
Oh!
Of course, Mother knows.
That reminds me, I better go!
Bye now!
She’s fled.
Only Tsurukoma can misunderstand and be so confident.
Chapter 6 Snowy Day Reminiscence
Kiyo?
Morning.
Morning. You’re up early, Sumire.
I mean, Momohana.
Your snow shoveling woke me up.
Oops.
It made me so happy, I got up.
I’ll help you.
Great, thanks!
Oh?
This shovel won’t do.
I’m almost done, anyway.
Why don’t you stay warm inside?
Okay.
Kiyo?
Can I stay and watch?
Um, sure.
Sumire!
I mean, Momohana.
I’m done.
Sorry.
I lost track where I was listening to you shovel snow.
It sounded the same as in Aomori.
Your sound, Kiyo.
Of course.
Right, of course.
What’s for breakfast?
A snowy morning could only mean one thing.
You know…
Wheat dumplings!
Great! I’ll need your help today, Sumire.
Alright.
Sorry, I meant Momohana.
You can keep calling me Sumire.
Really?
Really.
Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House
Sumire
And Kiyo’s
Dish of the Day
Ah, I can’t stand the snow and cold!
I’m never leaving the foot warmer!
On cold days, it’s best to heat the body from the inside with warm broth.
Yes, drinking hot soup on cold days is so soothing.
So, what was the warm soup we had for breakfast today?
Hittsumi, wheat dumpling soup.
Kiyo and I always had it after shoveling snow.
Shoveling Aomori’s heavy snow is hard work.
You’re exhausted and chilled to the bone.
Homemade Hittsumi soup warms the body and spirit.
The taste has memories of snowy days for me and Kiyo.
Taste with memories… I like that.
I’ve never had it before, but it tasted familiar.
The white chewy things in the soup.
I think I’ve had them before.
What were those?
That’s the hittsumi.
Hittsumi are torn up and boiled pieces of kneaded flour and water.
So, kneaded flour with water.
A-ha! Like suiton dumplings!
No wonder I knew that smooth chewy texture.
What’s suiton?
You must know suiton!
The soup with the chewy white things.
No, that’s hittsumi.
I remember now!
There are regional foods like suiton all over Japan.
Each one has a different name.
Maybe it’s called suiton in your hometown, Tsurukoma.
But we call it hittsumi back home.
That’s so interesting!
Mmhm.
Where have you been, Kiyo?
Kiyo Arrives in Kyoto (Part 1) Kiyo Arrives in Kyoto (Part 2) An Apprentice Maiko’s Morning
Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House.
Tune in again next time!