Ichinosuke is an attendant at a brothel, a "gangster," but only due to the circumstances of his birth. He was left swaddled and abandoned near a ditch, a landmark that symbolizes the captivity of the geisha and sex workers there. Women are sold to the brothels and held until they pay off their debt, purchased by a man as a wife, or they die. Until then, they are confined to the brothel and kept inside the property lines by the ditch. Ichinosuke's mother was probably one of these women, but since he was raised in the brothel, he's now forced to work within it, subjecting women just like his mother to the same, cruel fate. Ichinosuke does his best to earn his keep. However, unlike his masters and his more pragmatic beliefs, he finds himself bestowing kindness on the many women of the brothel. But he puts on an aloof front. That is, until he meets Tojiro. Tojiro is an apprentice dyer, and he is highly skilled. He comes to the brothel to study the kimono there, but Ichinosuke knows that men who come to these places aren't there for any other reason than to get drunk and have sex. Yet, no matter how hard he and the women try, Tojiro makes it clear: he's only there for the kimono. Ichinosuke is surprised and in disbelief, especially so when Tojiro's goal then switches from the kimono to becoming his friend. Ichinosuke's life was set in stone from the day he was born. Yet, why does this strange man make him wish for more?
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