The Scent of Sake (46 page)

A few months later Rie wanted to visit Seisaburo again, this time alone, without Yoshitaro or even Eitaro. When it came right down to it, Seisaburo was becoming her most trusted business

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ally, apart from Kinnosuke. His entrepreneurial skill was without peer. Confident though Rie was in her choice of Eitaro, she knew Seisaburo had the edge when it came to innovation. Rie left through the kitchen door, telling only O-Natsu where she was going. She smiled at the sense of adventure finding her own ricksha gave her, a simple enough act but not part of her daily routine. Seisaburo was not expecting her, but she trusted to luck that she would find him there.

She left the ricksha at the entrance and entered the gate whose tinkling bell announced her presence. Seisaburo’s wife, Mari, greeted her with a bow and a smile.

“Welcome! What a pleasant surprise. And you came all this way alone?” She placed slippers at the edge of the hall platform for Rie.

“Oh, yes. Is Sei in the office?” Rie asked without polite preliminaries.

“I am afraid he has gone to our other kura. He should be back by noon, though,” Mari said, nodding.

“I wonder if your banto, Hirano-san, would mind if I talked with him?”

“I am certain he would be honored to speak with my husband’s mother from the main house. Please wait here a moment.” Mari indicated a seat in the parlor near the tokonoma.

Rie sat at the lacquer table. A maid bustled in with tea, but Rie only nodded.

Mari returned, breathlessly solicitous. “Please come this way, Mother,” she said. She led the way along the earthen corridor to the office.

Seisaburo’s chief clerk, Hirano, bowed low to Rie. “What an honor to see the mistress of the main house here, Oku-san,” he said. Mari excused herself and left Rie alone with the ample, heavy-browed chief clerk.

Rie bowed slightly. “Actually, I had hoped to speak with my

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son about a rather delicate matter, but as I know you are his loyal banto. . .”

“Is there something I can do to help?” Hirano asked.

Rie looked at him, this sturdy, experienced man in his forties. She herself had advised Seisaburo about hiring him when Sei began his branch house operation, and Hirano was aware of his obligation to her.

“Well, Hirano-san, I have been thinking. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to have one of your clerks come to work at the main house for a while? We could send you one of ours in exchange. It would be a good experience for both boys and make our house ties stronger. Having an apprentice eat someone else’s rice works both ways, doesn’t it?” She did not mention that she hoped to find an apprentice she could keep as Kinnosuke’s future successor.

She smiled and looked around the office at three young clerks working there. Her eye rested on a boy she judged to be the right age, about fourteen, a well-built boy, with a businesslike air about him.

“What about that boy over there? A good worker?” she asked. “
Ah,
he is my son. Yes, I have been training him, grooming

him myself.” He bowed. “He has been helping your son.”

Rie nodded. “Would you be willing to part with him for a year? Of course you would still be dealing with him on a regular basis, and you would have one of our clerks in exchange.” Rie kept her eye on the boy and became more persuasive as she watched him.

Hirano bowed. “I would be honored to have my son work in the main house for a year.”

“What is his name?” Rie asked.

“Buntaro. He is thirteen years old, soon fourteen.”

“The right age. Good. I’ll wait until my son returns. We can formalize the arrangement if it is agreeable to everyone. I’ll send you a most able clerk in exchange.”

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Rie bowed and returned to the house to wait. Mari brought in more tea, then excused herself to take care of her children. “My husband will be back soon, I am sure,” she said.

Rie nodded. She hoped Seisaburo would not object to her selection of Buntaro as Kinnosuke’s apprentice. Kinnosuke and Yoshitaro might be another matter.

the dinner table.

A few days later Rie caught Yoshitaro alone at

“You know, Yoshi,” she began slowly, “it might be a good idea to begin thinking about selecting the apprentice who will become Kinno’s successor.”

“There’s no hurry about it, is there? He’s still young and we have several clerks about the right age. We could start grooming one of them. No lack of talent or training.”

Rie took out her fan, then put it down and poured tea for Yoshitaro.

“That’s true, Yoshi. But you know, there’s something else to consider. She paused and looked pensively at her fan. “You know what they always say about having a son or apprentice ‘eat someone else’s rice’ so they don’t become spoiled or complacent, so they learn other ways of doing things.”

“What are you getting at?” Yoshi chewed on a toothpick.

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“Well, I wonder if it might not be mutually advantageous for us to take an apprentice from one of our branches, either from Eitaro or from Sei, and send them one of ours in exchange for a year?”

“I suppose it’s a possibility. I’d prefer one of Sei’s, if you put it that way.”

“All right,” Rie nodded, pleased that he had so readily acqui-esced to her plan. She knew Yoshi would prefer Sei’s apprentice to anyone from Fumi’s house. “And I wouldn’t object to the idea of promoting a clerk from Sei’s to be Kinno’s successor eventually, if he works out well.”

“But what would our clerks think if they were passed over by one of Sei’s? And I’m not sure Kinno would agree. Haven’t we caused him enough trouble, forcing him to divorce Nobu?”

“You can persuade him, Yoshi. I know you can. And he’ll see the wisdom of it. Just think of all the improvements Sei has made in brewing. Having a future banto trained by Sei will enhance our business in the future. It’s bound to. It will make our tie with Sei’s branch even stronger. You need to be looking toward the future, Yoshi. Kinno may be young now, but he won’t last forever. Neither will I.” She paused to smooth her hair self-con- sciously. “We can try him out, see how he works. We don’t need to make a decision about Kinno’s successor until he has worked here a year or so and proven himself. No need to mention that plan to Kinno yet.”

Yoshitaro nodded but frowned, his mouth a study in negativ-ity. “You are very persuasive, Mother.”

“You can be too, Yoshi, especially with Kinno. He values your opinion above everyone else’s. And after all, you have the final say in any decision.”

Yoshitaro raised his eyebrows slightly but said nothing.

*

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The emperor’s birthday, a holiday, meant that Fumi was bringing her family for a visit. Emperor Meiji, a child of thirteen at the time of the Restoration in 1868, was now only seventeen. Everyone knew it was the samurai loyalists from Satsuma and Choshu, not the child emperor, who had transformed the country from an isolated feudal regime to something resembling a modern nation-state.

“How good it is to see you all.” Rie held out her arms to Hirokichi. Whenever he came to the main house for training, he followed Buntaro around, the new clerk from Seisaburo’s branch. Buntaro was now installed as a permanent clerk in the office, and even Kinnosuke had agreed that he be promoted to number one apprentice. Rie smiled whenever she saw Hirokichi and Buntaro together. It repeated the pattern of Yoshitaro and Kinnosuke years earlier, a bond to be fostered.

“And Mie, come here, my dear.” Rie put an arm around Mie, who sat down next to her. “Hiro too.” Rie handed both children some candies from her sleeve.

“Hiro, you’ve grown so. How old are you now?”

“I’m eleven, Grandmother. My birthday was three months ago.”

“Don’t tell me I forgot such an important event! How ne-glectful of me. So you’re the same age as Ume, aren’t you, dear?” Rie smiled at Ume and Hirokichi.

“I’m nearly twelve, Grandmother,” Ume said, frowning at Hirokichi.

“You’re all growing up so fast I can’t keep up with you,” Rie said laughing. She indicated a plate of cakes to Tama, who passed them and poured tea.

“Hiro is very busy these days, Mother,” Eitaro said. “Besides his apprenticeship here he spends time with me the first thing each morning. We go into the kura to check everything.”

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Rie glanced at Eitaro and thought how good it was for Fumi that her husband was not only capable but also attractive, with his sharply chiseled features and agreeable manner.

“My, is that so?” Rie said. “And how do you like that, Hiro?” “It smells wonderful in the kura, Grandmother. I like to watch the bubbles grow with the yeast, and the koji room is so warm on cold mornings. It’s too bad you can’t go into the kura, Grandmother.” Hirokichi tossed a ball jauntily as he talked. “Ume can’t

either,” he said, with a superior glance at his cousin. Ume pouted and stuck her tongue out at Hiro.

“That’s right, Hiro. We women can never enter the kura. It’s for the safety of the sake. We are taught never to cross the threshold. And our sake has only gone bad once,” Rie said.