fungi
Level 3
Thank you to @._shadow_. for letting me use your interview format and to @BleuLittleMuffin for letting me use your beautiful screenshot.
Music for your enjoyment.
Music for your enjoyment.
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Rie Saiky, an autobiography.
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61 years of age.
Born on October 16, 1959.
A Japanese female.
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-An excerpt from the last writings of Edward Miller, an American journalist who spent his twenties traveling Japan studying the ancient tradition of Maiko. Accompanying the short sentiment is a yellowed photograph labeled “Ms. Iwasaki, 1975.”
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Family.
“I love them more than anything, honestly. When I was so alone and so lost they welcomed me and gave me a purpose. I owe all of my happiness to them. It’s been long overdue for me to come live with them in Karakura.”
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Mom and dad.
“My mom left me when I was four. I can't blame her. It seems to have been for the best. As for my father, dead or alive, I hope that whatever you did that kept you from raising a child was worthwhile. I would never miss out on the opportunity to care for a child of my own.”
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The nieces and nephews.
“Watching them grow was my greatest privilege in life. It tore me apart watching them be taken away from home. My only wishes in life are to finally own a home with properly built kimono closets and to never have to see one of my children or grandchildren die. Aiya, Fuse, Katalina, Mavis, Lux, Tuesday… all of them have a special place in my heart. It is my greatest joy to work alongside my wonderful and talented Luciel and my greatest pride to see my lovely niece Itsumi thrive and become the businesswoman I always knew she would become.”
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The kids.
“Ah, the children. The spice of life. Of course, we have Itsumi’s kin. Yoshi, Whisper, Minato, Marie. All equally lovely. Then Kanokwan and Tomoe from my dear friend and cooking partner Roderic; I must say, Kanokwan and Minato make quite a pair of troublemakers. Then Olivia and Diana, my sweet and gentle ladies. Both exceed in their education, so very proud of them. No matter their differences they all do their part in brightening my day.”
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New beginnings.
“My dear love Renard. The best thing to happen to me since I moved to Karakura. I look so much forward to becoming Mrs. Saiky-Ripper. He took me and whisked me away from my uncertainties. Life is still hard at times, but I stick it out for him. Being with him makes me forget everything evil I once desired. My cigarettes, my drink… He never leaves me unsatisfied. I go home happy whenever I see him. I can’t wait until we no longer have to part.”
“My dear boy Graziani introduced me to Renard. I owe everything to him. I don’t know if he’ll ever think of me as ‘Mom’, but I surely think of him as my son.”
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Friends.
“The people I’ve met… I can’t even express how happy it makes me to see them in my cell phone, to have them visit me at the hospital. I get lost very easily in my work, my stress, pretty much anything that comes at me that deems an emotional response. My friends keep me floating along lightly like a leaf upon a stream. I remember that American song by Elton John...
"I thank the Lord for the people I have found
While Mona Lisas and mad hatters
Sons of bankers, sons of lawyers
Turn around and say, "Good morning" to the night
For unless they see the sky
But they can't, and that is why
They know not if it's dark outside or light."
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My companions.
“Mitsuko, Akane, Sayoko, Noto… all people who mean the most to me. Meeting people is my job. I see so many new faces every day. Seeing a long time old friend must be the best feeling in the world. When these people come back to talk to me it really means the most. I also must thank my family for many of the people I have met. I hope we stay that way, joined together by our friendships and not just our name.”
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Old faces lost.
“I am not a stranger to death. Sometimes I feel that I’m too closely bound to the subject. It doesn’t quite disturb me anymore. When someone close to me dies I can only think of what could have been, not what had not. To those I have lost, rest well. Raymond, it was unfair for you to leave a world where you were far more loved than you knew to be true. Edward, thank you for the good times. In a landscape where the only thing I had to offer to the men I met was a smile and a song, you kept me sane. I wish I had met a man of your caliber earlier in my life. Thank you for your friendship, I hope that I can provide the same relief and pleasure to the friends that I will make for the remainder of my life. To my late husband, I am sorry. It was not only your fault for our entrapment, it was mine as well. Love works or it doesn’t. It was far too obvious.”
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A note to my past.
Why do the good times only present themselves to us when they pass? My life as a maiko was privileged. Privileged, glamorous, and competitive. Why was I not grateful to come out on top?
My mother left me at the Iwasaki okiya when I was only four years old. I was raised to be beautiful, quiet, hardworking, and submissive. By the age of twelve I was already wearing kimonos of silk worth upwards of a million yen, toddling around the main streets of Kyoto in ridiculous wooden geta with my hair greased up into a three-kilogram split-peach bun. I have been slathering the traditional bone-white paint on my face since I was ten, yet somehow I can find no motivation to wear any of the more modern styles of makeup that I see on my nieces’ faces. When a man entertains a geisha he gifts her many things; kimono, jewels, pets, artwork. The artwork and kimono I have kept. The canaries are long dead, and the jewels have all been sold. The only thing that I present to the public on the daily that represents my past is my lipstick. Maybe it’s just an old habit bucking its ugly head, but I got attached to the little blood-red jars of ochre on my dressing table. Something so simple yet so beautiful. Simplicity is far more important to me now then it has ever been before in my lifetime.
I can imagine many young women lining up around the block to take part in the life that I lived. Money, glamour, beauty, attention from the opposite sex. There is no point in wondering about who would lead that life anymore. The experiences that existed in my youth have faded away. Children are not raised away from their families just to look pretty and sing a nice song, men do not pay to court young girls, and a beautiful woman by your side can be found and paid for in many other places then a teahouse. That is the beauty of the past. It can never be relived. What is that American saying- the grass is always greener on the other side? Well, in this case the grass is always greener outside the home that you lived your childhood in. I wonder what the next generations of my family will wish that they had never left behind.
-Rie Saiky, 1977 - Present day. Rie Iwasaki, a part of me that ceases to live but will never truly die.
Thanks for sticking with me. I will add more information as I see fit. Probably more on religion and social values.
