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Author Insight
Wishing for BETTER
Tatsuko was beautiful, robust, intelligent, and more motivated than the other maidens in her impoverished Japanese village. Her wish for a better life came true. Most young girls of my time wished for betterment in their lives. Tatsuko obtained lasting beauty, a Geisha during the Edo period, (1603–1867), the final period of traditional Japan, under the Shogunate, the military dictatorship. Educated in the arts, Tatsuko sang and played instruments while serving tea to rich males. I was not to be old and tired in a small backward town, population less then of 30,000. Neither was I to marry an overworked husband, have six children, or work in a factory for income, or becoming a prostitute for money. I was college bound; my grades were excellent and I received a scholarship and National Defense Loan. My wish came true education for females from the impoverished inferior of the USA.
Book Excerpt
Damsels Overcome
When work finished, Tatsuko walked to Goddess Benten’s in the Temple to ask the Goddess to keep her young, agile, and healthy. Benten sat and listened. Once when Tatsuko traveled during a blizzard, the Goddess spoke to Tatsuko's prayers, "You may have your wish, dear child, be sure to share with your mother and villagers. Drink the fresh spring waters.”
After the long cold winter, Tatsuko rode with maidens to gather herbs in the new flowering fields. While her friends took naps, Tatsuko searched for the spring of water as directed by the Goddess Benten. Finding the spring, Tatsuko cupped her hand catching the water. As she drank, fire spit from the earth and a violent earthquake shook the valley.
Screaming and running into the valley, the frightened friends shouted, "Tatsuko is lost, gone." The villagers observed smoke swelling from the ground in the valley; they felt the earth shake.
"My daughter!" screamed Tatsuko's mother.
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