Writer and the director of J ATOLL Inc.( http://www.jatoll.com) Graduated from Waseda University. After working for a publishing company, she became a correspondent of “Number” (Bungeishunjusha) and an independent writer. In 1999, she established J ATOLL, a magazine advertisement company. She expanded her business to the internet since 2010 and has been involved in public publication and marketing which adopt the style of the mixture of paper media and websites. She is now preparing “President Japan”, which is the project that supports Japanese CEOs.

Later, I knew that maiko have two holidays a month. But what they do on holidays is usually strolling around Kamishichiken in kimono. They seldom go out for movies or shopping. On their working days, they practice dance and music and go to ozashiki rooms. On top of that, junior maiko have a lot of chores. And needless to say, I was told “We have never been to a horse racecourse”.

It was the first time for me to go to Kyoto Racecourse. I thought maiko knew something about the racecourse and I could follow them. But again, I came to know that I had to handle everything here… I had to make arrangements after we got to the racecourse. The first thing I did was calling to Mr. Sukemoto. He said that he was not able to get out of the reservation area so he wanted me to bring the maiko to the entrance of the reservation area through the entrance of the racecourse. Anxiety came to my mind for a moment. A racecourse is a worldly place which is utterly opposite to the dream world of hanamachi. Can I guard the two maiko? But my mind was in the dream world then. I had nothing to worry about. As soon as we reached to the racecourse, the driver told me “Go up the stairs. Then you will see the entrance of the reserved-seat area.” I lead the two maiko and slowly climbed up the stairs and looked around. I saw some people who showed a curious look on their face and took photos of maiko but did not find something that looked like the entrance. The two maiko watched me with worried face. I was upset and even thought that my dream might finish here. But at the time, I saw Mr. Sukemoto waving his hand in distance. This is my first experience of escorting maiko. I somehow managed the assignment but I did not handle it well. However, we managed to join Mr. Sukemoto and others. I was relieved and changed my mind to enjoy the dream world after that.

The main race was over and the first part of the seminar was successfully finished. Before going to “Umeno” of Kamishichiken, which is the stage of the second part of the seminar, we joined Umeyae and other members. They were on the different seats. But I notice her face a bit rigid. Suddenly, I felt uneasy. I was the only woman in the club members this time. But I never went to see how she was. She might have been worried being left alone surrounded by men in the horse racecourse and it was the first experience for her to go to such a place. Again, I felt how careless I was.

Then I noticed that Umechiho was not in the room. I wondered why but other maiko started dancing in the room. I was attracted by the dance and stopped thinking of her. After the dance, we enjoyed “Tora Tora”, which is the traditional ozashiki play. It was the zenith of the dream world. But I was behind the scheduled a lot at the time. The last Shinkansen for Tokyo was 9:34 p.m. It was already nine o’clock.

Luckily, I was able to catch the last Shinkansen. In the train headed for Tokyo, I was thinking about Umechiho. She did not appear at the ozashiki room in the day. She got in the car before her senior maiko. She enjoyed drinking beer at the racecourse. I even imagined that she might be scolded because of such behavior. There is no way to dispel such anxiety in the real world. I have to visit the dream world again to quell my anxiety. To make it realize, I will have to work hard and succeed in the business to visit hanamachi with a lot of money someday. I will need some experience to be a smart customer, too. From now on, I set it as my objective in the real world. Hanamachi is the place where people can freely come and go between the dream world and the real world. But I must get the freedom to go there by myself. Last but not least, I thank Shota Harada and Daisuke Wada, the organizers of Creative Deconstruction Club, and all club members for sharing the seminar “A day with maiko in Kyoto”. And I am deeply thankful to Mr. Sukemoto earnestly for giving me the wonderful assignment of escorting maiko.