On my last visit [to the Yamabuki in Yoshichō, Tokyo]...the proprietress [of the house] felt she had to say something. "When we first met, Kikuko, you were so studious—all those serious questions that we had to try and answer. You've really changed a lot... I'd say your training in Pontochō has taken very well. What a waste to go back to your country now, when you could be such a wonderful geisha!"Liza Dalby, Geisha (2000), pg. 199
