Inside the theater.
The rustic atmosphere handed down from the Edo period still remained.
The audience sat in low wooden seats known as masu-seki, or box seats.
Directly ahead was the small stage where the tayū performed.
Under the light of a few dim lanterns, only the circle at the center of the stage lay within a hazy glow.
The hall was every bit as lively as the streets of Asakusa outside.
Although it was already late at night, every seat was still occupied.
Kie and Tanjuro were seated on the second level, which offered a better view.
But they had barely sat down.
When they heard the audience around them talking in low voices.
An elegantly dressed elderly woman in the row ahead leaned toward her companion and whispered.
"I heard this tayū... is descended from a fallen court noble's family in Kyoto."
"She studied the arts at a dojo when she was young. Later, her family fell on hard times, so she came to Tokyo to make a living."
But a young man behind them who looked like a merchant interjected.
"Ma'am, I heard she came from Osaka."
"She used to be a courtesan in Semba, then a biwa master took her on as a disciple. She practiced hard for thirty or forty years to acquire such skill."
An older middle-aged man, however, gave a derisive laugh.
"Those are all just rumors passed from mouth to mouth."
"Even my grandfather's grandfather heard this tayū perform in his day."
His words left several members of the audience looking stunned.
"Wouldn't that have been during the Edo period? How old must she be?"
Only then did the middle-aged man continue, "Of course it wasn't the same person. 'Hizakura Tayū' is a stage name passed down through the generations."
"A different