Summary

Two years later, Pumpkin makes her debut as an apprentice geisha. Soon after, Pumpkin, dressed as an apprentice geisha for the first time, is taken to the Mizuki teahouse where she and Hatsumomo perform the ceremony that binds them as sisters. From then on, she is known as Hatsumiyo, although most people continued to refer to her as Pumpkin. Mameha is busy, and when they see each other again, almost six months have passed. To celebrate Chiyo’s approach to womanhood, Mameha has Tatsumi dress her in a proper kimono of dark blue silk with carriage wheels in red and yellow. Then Mameha takes her out into the street where Chiyo begins to learn how to walk as a geisha. Spring and summer pass. Mameha continues to take Chiyo from shop to shop, ensuring that she is ‘seen’ by all the right people...