A wonderful manga about the life of a caterer for a maiko (junior geisha) house in Kyoto, a young 16-year old who is best friends with an aspiring maiko but who dropped out of her apprenticeship. Very slice of life, very calming, mono no aware and all that jazz. With chapters only about 12 pages long and lots and lots of food porn, it’s fairly plotless though structurally it does basically follow the progression of the best friend through her apprenticeship. Probably at its best when contrasting the ‘public facing’ part of the maiko persona with the ‘backstage’ portion (a maiko who mostly wanders around off-duty in glasses and a hoodie is the best example of that contrast).
I will say for all the ephemeral beauty of the Japanese cultural traditions etc etc etc it’s nearly impossible not to come to the organic conclusion (though the narrative doesn’t draw attention to it) that being a maiko/entertainer/geisha is baaaaaasically just prostitution but far more polite and with no sex. The parallels of mostly having elderly male clients shower you with money and gifts as maiko display their feminine arts is so upfront it hurts.
Apparently NHK is making an anime … in 3D. it looks godawful.
Jintor, December 2020
Manga OT 