“I think he liked it very much,” she answered. “He shared some with Mr. Ueda, who came to visit that evening.”
“Does Mr. Ueda visit often?”
She nodded in a way that intimated to me she did not like how often, so I asked, “Is he unpleasant company?”
She pursed her lips. “He is not unkind.”
Here, Akiko piped up, her voice soft and girlishly conspiratorial. “Mr. Ueda wants to marry Miss Yuki.”
Miss Yuki reprimanded her, but the girl went on.
“It’s true!” Akiko insisted. “Everyone says so. He’s trying to impress Mr. Itoh.”
“And does he impress him?” I asked her, ignoring Miss Yuki’s admonishing looks.
Akiko thought hard about this. “It’s difficult to say. If Mr. Ueda’s farm continues to do well, then it’s probably a good match.”
I turned to Miss Yuki. “And what does Miss Yuki say? Is it a good match?”
Her cheeks were flushed and she did not meet my eyes. “I feel like I am being teased. How mean you are!”
“I’m sorry. I’m only having fun.”
“Well, to answer your question, the joining of our two farms would be beneficial for both Mr. Ueda and my father. However...”
“However?” I prompted anxiously.
“However, I do not care about farming.”
I sat back, satisfied, certain she was telling me that I had a chance.
After that day, I looked for Miss Yuki often. Sometimes we met at the temple, or along the way. I had purchased a subscription to one of the weekly Tokyo newspapers and when she saw me carrying a paper one day, she asked if I would read to her. Naturally, I was glad to. She had quite an interest in the outside world, and I gathered from our conversations that her father would never consider letting his precious daughter stray far from home. Mr. Itoh certainly saw her as frail, as did most people, it seemed. Setting aside a sensitivity to the sun that required her to always carry her parasol, and poor eyesight that was a bit strange in one so young, I perceived nothing frail about her. Her character was strong, and her intellect keen.
Mr. Itoh soon became used to seeing me. I tried to drop by at least once week to keep my relationship good with the household as a whole. When the old man lamented that his gin was almost gone, I brought him another bottle, though it was my last. Miss Yuki would come and sit with us sometimes, and, armed with my newspaper, I caught the two of them up on worldly developments.
When reading a particular article on the great number of telegraph lines springing up all over the country, Miss Yuki cried, “I would like to send a telegraph!”
Mr. Itoh snorted. “To whom would you send a telegraph? Everyone you know is right here!”
“If you’d really like to see how it’s done,” I ventured, “you may accompany me tomorrow. I’ve been writing letters with my cousin in Tokyo. He is working with another man on starting an imports business. He has requested that I respond to him immediately about some matter, and that I send him a telegraph.”
Mr. Itoh raised his bushy eyebrows. “Do you think you will go to Tokyo and work on this business with him?”
I had to answer honestly that I didn’t know. I was then a man without an occupation, and I had told Atsushi to keep me informed of opportunities.
“I suppose I can’t be a burden to my older sister forever. And if this is a sound venture...” I trailed off. Miss Yuki was staring at the floor while her father sipped sake.
“If it’s all right,” the young lady finally ventured. “I’d like to see the telegraph office. And perhaps the day after you will accompany me to the port?”
This seemed to also surprise her father, who said, “The day after tomorrow? When was this trip planned? You should ask Ueda when he will next go and go with him.”
Miss Yuki fairly scowled. “Why must I make my plans coincide with Mr. Ueda’s? If Mr. Fukui is free, he can be my escort.”
“It’s very rude to impose yourself like that,” her father reprimanded. Fukui, I apologise for my daughter’s impudence.”
“No, no. I don’t mind. It’s true that I don’t have business there, but I have not visited in some time. I think it will be nice to see how things have changed.”
Miss Yuki looked triumphant while her father scowled, but said no more. I excused myself soon after, asking Miss Yuki if I should retrieve her the next day. She declined, saying that Akiko could show her the way to my sister and brother-in-law’s home, which was on the way to the telegraph and post office. I spoke with Nakamura that night over what had occurred that afternoon between Mr. Itoh, Miss Yuki, and myself. He pondered this deeply.
“You know,” he carefully began. “There has been a lot of gossip about you in the village.”
“Oh?” I tried to keep my demeanour neutral while in fact I was bristling.
“Such as,” he went on. “You and a certain young lady have been seen many times walking together. And you’ve visited Mr. Itoh’s house very often. I’ve heard you visit for the same reason as that Mr. Ueda.”
“What reason would that be?”
Nakamura waved his hand at me. “You know very well! Two men visiting the household of a beautiful young lady who is not yet married? How do you think that looks? I heard there is a great rivalry between the two of you.”
“A rivalry? But I hardly know the man! I have only run into him maybe three times since I’ve returned.”
“All the same.” Nakamura sipped his tea and shook his head. “And you tell me that she is coming here tomorrow?”
“Only because we are on the way to the telegraph office, which she wants to see.”
“Hmm, a fine excuse.”
I scolded him. “Are you trying to discourage me? Aren’t you and my sister always asking me if I have met any women in the village? Well, now you know that I have, and you’re telling me that it makes you unhappy.”
“You’re wrong! You’re wrong! Don’t get so upset. I am very pleased, I promise you. I am only telling you what people are saying. If you were to marry Mr. Itoh’s daughter, that would be very good for me, you know. Still... I don’t know about Mr. Ueda. I don’t want him to cause any trouble.”
“Trouble for you or for me?”
Nakamura looked a little grave when he answered, “Both.”
I rose early the next morning in anticipation of Miss Yuki’s arrival. I breakfasted with my sister who teased me about my appearance. I had started wearing traditional clothes again, which she had made for me a few weeks before, but I still wore my boater hat when I went out. My sister thought I looked funny with my short hair poking out beneath the brim. I ignored her and patted myself on the back for not retaliating.
I met Miss Yuki at the gate having been warned of her approach by the maid. I thought she picked up her pace when she noticed me. Akiko giggled behind her hand when we exchanged greetings, and I remembered what Nakamura had said the night before about gossip.
The man at the office was happy to show us the telegraph desk. Miss Yuki marvelled at how simple it was - she’d expected it to be much larger - and peered closely while he tapped out my message to my cousin. A newspaper was waiting for me, so I looked through that while the man sent the telegraph and Miss Yuki and Akiko were so enthralled.
It was a little funny to see their awe. Had I reacted in such a manner the first time I had seen a telegraph machine? And how would the ladies react to airships and carriages that propelled themselves, as I had seen in London? I wondered if one of them might not faint.
We walked down by the sea after my errand was complete, and I read to them from the newspaper. There was a report of a new model of airship developed by men in the south, and of a new rail line reaching ever further north. When Akiko asked why anyone would want to travel so far, I explained it was also a very convenient way of m
oving goods from one place to another. People in the cities could get rice much more quickly than before, for example, and people in the country, like us, could get fresh produce from other parts of the country. I don’t think she understood why this was necessary. Miss Yuki’s eyes, though, gleamed.
I was delighted to also report that they were building an airfield not too far to the south. Just a small one, mostly to be used by hobbyists, I speculated, until it could grow and receive an actual airship.
“What do you mean hobbyist?” Miss Yuki asked. “Can anyone have an airship?”
“Not an airship, necessarily. Not like the big ones that fly over the ocean. But if one has enough money, he can buy a kit to build his own hobby craft that glides.”
Since I had never seen one in action, I couldn’t explain further. Even so, she seemed quite impressed. Akiko seemed to have grown bored with us and began to wander further and further away, looking at stones and shells brought to shore by the waves.
“How can you stay here?” Miss Yuki asked me after several moments of walking in silence.
“What do you mean?”
“There is nothing here. You talk about airships and trains and automatons - all kinds of wonderful things! But here we only have a train and a little telegraph desk. I want to see a doll as large as a person serving tea, or dancing, or doing anything! You could go back to Tokyo and see all of these things. So why don’t you?”
She had stopped, but I kept walking and soon she followed. I had to choose my response carefully. She waited with some impatience.
“It’s true that I hardly think of this village as my home,” I finally answered. “I have not lived here for some time. My mother and father are dead, so I can’t return to their house. My sister and her husband are very kind and let me stay, but I am only a guest. I must leave at some point.”
“Yes, yes, exactly,” she agreed.
“Maybe I will return to Tokyo and go into business with my cousin. In this new world, I feel like I could do anything!” I smiled, but it was not returned, and so I asked, “Will you be sad if I go?”
She turned and walked a few paces away. “Perhaps.”
“Have you ever thought of leaving?”
“How would I do that? Where would I go?”
I studied her profile, so elegant that I sighed. She looked perfect standing next to the sea with her paper parasol, gazing at the horizon.
“Look!” Akiko cried from just below us at the water’s edge. “A ship! A monster ship!”
She meant one of the new steam ships. They were indeed quite large and presented an impressive silhouette.
Miss Yuki shaded her eyes with her hand and squinted. “Where? Where?”
“There,” I said. “Can you see it?”
She moved to line up her sight with my pointing hand.
“I think I see it...”
She squinted so tightly that her eyes looked closed. When we visited the port city the next day, I knew what I would look for.
The next day she again met me along the road in front of my house and we walked from there. The port was a couple of hours away. Yet we managed to find plenty to talk about, and even the silences were somehow pleasant. I asked Miss Yuki what she hoped to buy, and she answered that she would like to look at new fabrics and perhaps pick up some drawing materials. I asked if she drew, and she said that she liked to try.
“I would like to see your drawings,” I said.
“Oh, no! You would laugh at me!”
I promised I wouldn’t, yet she bowed her head to hide her face behind her sleeve.
“My drawings look strange,” she said in a small voice. “Everything is blurry, indistinct.”
“I have seen such paintings on display in museums,” I answered. “There’s nothing strange about it.”
She looked at me sceptically. “Really? Are you joking?”
“It’s true, it’s true!” I swore and promised that I would never lie to her. This seemed to brighten her mood.
The port had certainly built itself up from my childhood! It could accommodate much larger ships, for starters, and a number of large warehouses had been built to house goods awaiting transportation. There was a train station there, as well, of course.
I followed Miss Yuki to a surprisingly chic shopping district that had sprung up in my absence. The merchants must have become even more affluent since the restrictions against them had been lifted. I confessed my admiration and surprise to Miss Yuki, as well as a desire to explore.
“Don’t let me keep you,” she answered. “We’ll be shopping here. Please explore as much as you wish.”
I bowed and happily left the ladies to their shopping. It looked to me the place that Miss Yuki had indicated was a women’s clothing shop, and therefore definitely not for me. But not only did I want to explore this new growth, I had my little plan to complete.
There were all manner of merchants here, from clothiers to mat-makers. Though I enjoyed wandering through most, I was on a mission, and was growing quite discouraged that I would never find what I was looking for when I finally spied it: a brass spyglass. I eagerly handed my money to the shopkeeper, who gave me a funny look, but said nothing, only wrapped it for me in paper. I hoped Miss Yuki would like it. I hoped it would allow her to glimpse the ships of the new world that she so desperately wanted to be acquainted with. I returned to the shop where I had left the women with my present under my arm, whistling as I walked.
“He’s coming! He’s coming!” I heard Akiko cry out. I perceived a flurry of activity behind the entry curtain and stopped, calling out myself: “I’m here! And I have a present for Miss Yuki! Should I wait outside?”
The curtain was thrust aside and I nearly dropped my package as Miss Yuki stepped out. She still held her paper parasol, beneath the brim of which she gazed at me shyly, but that was the only part of her apparel that had not been altered. She now donned a dress in the modern style of a black and white striped fabric and a matching jacket with dark brass buttons. Her sleeves were tight around the shoulder and down the arm, so different from the voluminous traditional sleeves of her usual clothing. I was struck by how thin her arms were. I thought I could circle her wrist with my thumb and forefinger. Her waist, too, was now revealed by the cut of her new dress, and in back, the little bump they called a bustle. The sight of her took my breath away as surely as if some blow had knocked it from me.
“What do you think?” she asked.
I stammered considerably before getting the words out, “You’re beautiful!”
“Oh?” she replied, twirling her parasol, then resting on her opposite shoulder. “So I wasn’t beautiful before?”
She was teasing me, yet I bowed my head in chagrin at my poor choice of words. Akiko was peeping out from behind the door curtain, and I asked her what she thought of her mistress’ new clothes.
“Is this how women dress in London?” Akiko asked me. I confirmed that it was, and she made a face. “It’s so much harder to put on!”
Miss Yuki and I both chuckled at this. With Akiko carrying Miss Yuki’s old clothes in a bundle behind us, we set out to find lunch, and then had a picnic by the water. If only I were in one of my London suits again, I thought, we would be just like one of the paintings I had seen in the museums.
It turned out that Miss Yuki had also purchased a small amount of drawing materials. Akiko had been sent out for them while the dressmaker had helped Miss Yuki at the clothing shop. I learned that not all of the dresses had been made there in the port, but that the dressmaker and her daughter had taken one apart and tried their hands at recreating them with the cloth they had on hand. It was a very different assembly than our traditional clothes, which were cut from the same sized cloth regardless of the height or girth of the intended wearer. Evidently, Miss Yuki had spoken with the dressmake
r at some length about cut, style, and technique, the bulk of which was lost on me.
In the excitement of the moment, I had completely forgotten about my present. Miss Yuki drew my attention to it at our picnic.
“Didn’t you say that you had a present for me?”
“Oh! I completely forgot! I’m so embarrassed.”
I drew out the package, which I had stashed in my sleeve. She turned the parcel over and over in her hands and shook it to see if she could guess what was inside. I laughed at her childishness and she laughed with me before carefully removing the paper in her lap. Her face wore a puzzled expression and she drew out the spyglass.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Hold it up to your eye. No, like this.”
She peered through the glass timidly, perhaps thinking this was some kind of joke. Then she gasped, “What...?”
“It’s called a spyglass. People use it to see things that are far away. I don’t know if it makes anything clearer for you, but I thought it might help bring the ships closer so you could see them even a little.”
Miss Yuki scanned the horizon through her new tool. “There. Is that one?”
She pointed to a spot a little north of us. I squinted and confirmed that it was, pleased that the spyglass was working.
“It appears to be heading for the port,” I said. “We can watch it arrive!”
I don’t know if the images that the spyglass brought closer were any clearer, but Miss Yuki was delighted that she could share more of what Akiko and I saw when we looked out to sea. I suggested she could also use it at night to look at the moon or the stars. I think this must have influenced her drawing as the next time I paid her a visit at home, she invited me into the garden and held a stack of papers in her lap. She was wearing traditional dress again. Her father had not approved of her new clothes, Akiko whispered to me as she led me to the garden, but Miss Yuki had refused to return them.
We exchanged our usual warm greetings, and she patted the bench next to her where I was pleased to sit.
“You must promise not to laugh,” she began. “I have decided to share my drawings with you.”
Valves & Vixens Page 5