Hannari Girori no Yoriko-san (はんなりギロリの頼子さん)

Yes.

Ah, yes.

I transferred from the Tokyo main office.

My name is Yamada.

Yes.

Yes, sure.

I'll try my best to write good articles.

I'm looking forward to working with you starting tomorrow.

Um, I wanted to ask something about the new business cards I received.

Well, it says Yamakawa instead of Yamada.

Uh, well, you should already know, but my name is Yamada.

Uh, I-I mean please change kawa to da .

Hello?

Excuse me, the reception...

It seems the reception is bad over here.

Ah, excuse me.

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

It's disconnected...

I visited this place, 500 kilometers away from Tokyo,

on a school trip in middle school,

that was 10 years ago. Starting today, right here.

I'm so sorry!

Excuse me... Ah!

I moved in next door. My name is Yamada.

I was cleaning outside my door and must have walked over your side by accident

Are you a student?

Uh, no... I moved here from Tokyo because of my work.

Tokyo?

Uh, I write articles for a magazine and

I'm in charge of the town magazine here now.

So you're a writer?

Oh, no. It's not that special.

You even made it so clean here.

You were so nice to do this troublesome chore for me.

A new life is about to begin.

Right here, in Kyoto.

So this is the famous Gion district?

Perhaps... I'm already adapting to Kyoto?

- Excuse me? - Yes?

We're looking for hotel.

We're from France.

It's okay. You can leave anything Kyoto-related to me.

This way.

I can't tell them, that all the houses and streets look the same and

I don't even know myself where I'm walking anymore.

How would I even say that in French?

Hi, excuse me.

Which brand?

No, uhm, I got lost.

Could you help me, please?

Please excuse me.

- She's cute! - Yes.

Did you come from France?

Great! You speak french.

What did you just say?

Huh?

- The map. - Yes, sure.

Go straight and that'll be on your right.

Very well. Thank you for your help.

And after we've dropped off our luggage, we're going to the Kiyomizu temple.

You can use my bikes.

Really? Thank you!

That was our first meeting.

To the people living in Kyoto, I was still an outsider.

This woman, who runs a tobacco shop in downtown Kyoto,

glares at men when they look at her and doesn't talk in Kyoto dialect.

I didn't know yet why she did that, though.

Newbies shouldn't tell foreigners the way.

I just couldn't help it.

That's amazing, that you speak French. Did you study abroad?

I just remembered how to tell the way.

I see...

I just went to Yasaka Shrine.

The scenery seems different when you go there as an adult.

I also saw a Maiko in Gion District!

She's so pretty! It's my first time seeing one myself.

Do you like Maiko's?

This is a fake one.

The real ones only go out at night.

The ones walking around during the day are tourists who want to experience being a Maiko for a day.

But she even smiled and gave me a nod.

Well, isn't that because she was happy you thought she was a real one?

This is a real one.

The way they stand or behave is totally different.

I can't tell the difference... No, I really can't.

Look at the shoes.

The real ones wear lacquered wooden clogs that are hard to walk in

because they are so high, so they lower them for the tourists.

Clogs?

The wooden Geta.

There's even more. The real ones apply lipstick differently.

Lipstick?

Those who have only been a Maiko for less than a year only apply lipstick on their lower lip.

When they apply the lipstick on their upper lip, they become real Maikos.

Such regulations really exist, huh...

All right. If you've got it, then leave. If we talk any more it'll affect my sales.

What?

Could I get one?

You've told them the way for me, and I didn't do anything in return.

Huh? You don't even smoke, right? I can tell.

I'm sorry.

But I want to do something in return.

Well, then clean up outside the shop.

I'm not forcing you to, though.

No,...

but does it make people happy when someone else cleans for them in Kyoto?

My neighbor said that it was nice of me to do this troublesome chore for her.

Did you perhaps clean in front of her door as well?

Yes.

You received a baptism.

It's called "kadobakki." In Kyoto, there is an unspoken rule if you clean outside your house.

For real... follow me.

For example... from this point on...

this is your space.

And this'll be your neighbor's space.

It's correct to go a bit out of boundary.

Cleaning only in front of your door is not good.

But if you go all the way to your neighbor's door

it's like saying that they pushed a unnecessary favor on you.

Really?

Yori-chan, whatcha doing?

Shunsuke! Are you back from school?

Happy as always.

Who's that?

Uhm...

Yori-chan!

Oh, Junko!

You know him?

Oh, I'm sorry.