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by Mizuno Kyoka · 2026-03-31

It was nine years ago. Takamine was still a medical student at the time. One day, I decided to take a stroll with him through the Koishikawa Botanical Garden. It was May 5th, and the azaleas were in full bloom. Hand in hand, we wandered in and out among the fragrant flowers and grasses, circled the pond in the garden, and enjoyed the wisteria in full bloom.

As we walked along the pond, heading up to the azalea hill, we saw a group of spectators approaching from a distance. A man in Western clothes, wearing a top hat and sporting a magnificent mustache, was surrounded by three ladies. Behind them followed another man in similar attire. They were noblemen's coachmen. The three ladies, all carrying deep parasols and rustling their skirts, walked gracefully. As we passed them, Takamine instinctively looked back.

"Did you see?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I saw."

We went up the hill and looked at the azaleas. The azaleas were beautiful, but they were just red.

At that moment, a middle-aged man who looked like a merchant, sitting on a nearby bench, spoke up. "Yoshisan, you did a good thing today."

"Yes, sometimes it's good to listen to you. If I had gone to Asakusa and not come here, I wouldn't have been able to worship them."

"Even so, since all three are together, I can't tell which is the peach or the cherry blossom."

"Isn't one of them wearing a marumage?"

"Either way, it's not a matter for discussion. Whether it's a marumage or a sokuhhatsu, any hairstyle is fine."

"By the way, from their appearance, I thought they would definitely come with a takashimada, but they came with an icho. What's the meaning of that?"

"Icho, I don't get it."

"Ah, it's a bad pun."

"Apparently, you gentlemen are incognito, and the idea is not to stand out. See, the one in the middle was quite striking, wasn't she? The other one is a body double, they say."

"So, what did you think of their attire?"

"I guessed wisteria color."

"Huh? Just wisteria color won't be enough for reading. It's not like it's at your feet, is it?"

"It was so dazzling, I bowed my head. The skylight naturally didn't open."

"So you must have looked below her obi."

"Don't be silly, what a waste. It was so brief, I don't even know if I saw anything. Ah, what a pity."

"And her way of walking was simply unparalleled. It was as if she was gliding on mist. I saw the way her hem swayed and her kimono skirt lifted for the first time today. Her upbringing must be different. That was already natural, innate, and celestial. How could anyone from the lower world imitate it?"

"Don't speak so harshly."

"It's just a joke, but I know you two have abstained from the red-light district for three years. Yet, it's nothing. Let's put on our amulets and walk along the embankment at night. It's a wonder we haven't been punished. Today, I've made up my mind. What shall we do with those ugly women? Look, there are red things flickering here and there, what do you think? They look like dust or maggots wriggling. How ridiculous."

"That's quite severe."

"It's not a jest. Look at them, they still have hands, stand on their feet, wear kimonos and haoris, and stand with similar umbrellas – they are, with all due respect, human women. And new courtesans at that. They are undoubtedly new courtesans, but how do they compare to the one we just saw? They look so dull, and for lack of a better word, utterly defiled. And yet they are the same gender, hmph, it's astounding to hear."

"Oh dear, you've started saying something terrible. But it's truly so. Until now, whenever I saw a pretty woman, I would just, you know. I've caused you a lot of trouble walking with me, but after seeing her just now, my heart feels clear. It's somehow refreshing, and since then, women are completely out of my mind."

"Then you'll never find anyone in your life. Genkichi, that princess herself wouldn't say such a thing."

"I'll be punished, it's unreliable."

"But what will you do?"

"Honestly, I'll run away."

"Even your feet?"

"Huh, and you?"

“I’ll run away too,” I said, meeting his gaze. Words failed us for a while.

“Takamine, shall we walk a bit?”

I stood up with Takamine, and as we moved away from the distant elders, Takamine said with a look as if he had sensed something.

“Ah, that’s how you move a truly beautiful person. You’re good at it. You should study it.”

As I am a painter, I am not easily moved. After walking several hundred steps, in the somewhat dim, dense shade of that large camphor tree, I caught a glimpse of the hem of a wisteria-colored robe from afar.

Upon leaving the garden, two tall, stout horses stood, and three stablemen rested in a carriage with frosted glass. After that, nine years passed, and until the incident at the hospital, Takamine never spoke a word to me about that woman. However, despite his age and status, Takamine, who should have been married, had no wife at home. Yet, his conduct had become even more rigorous since his student days. I should not say much more.

The Aoyama cemetery and the Yanaka cemetery, though different in location, passed away one after the other on the same day.

To speak of it, those two, who were religious figures of the world, had committed sins; should they not have been allowed to go to heaven?