ABSTRACT
Considered by the villagers to be either Osaki’s illegitimate child or the child of one of Osaki’s karayuki friends, and considered by Osaki to be someone from the water trade who for some complex reason had taken shelter in her home, I was at last able to learn Osaki’s life story. As we lived together, day after day, she began to respond little by little to my nonchalant questions, until at last I had a clear picture of her life as a karayuki-san. Although I should have known quite well what the life of a prostitute who wandered abroad might be like, I could not help but be touched by her heartrending account.
