Summary of “Portrait of an Old Geisha” Character: Hiraide Sonoko (Kosono): She is the main character of this story. Hiraide Sonoko was her legal name, and Kosono was her professional name as a geisha. But at the very beginning of the story, the writer said: in any case, she was an old geisha, and perhaps that is what we ought to call her here. Yuki: He was an young man with the easygoing nature and his knack for cheering people up. He worked for the appliance store at first, and then was looked after by Kosono. Michiko: She was Kosono’s adopted daughter, a capricious girl. Though she seems to be precocious, but it was mostly veneer. She looked Yuki as a potential playmate at first, and the relationship of them turned to be more. Makita: He is the proprietor of the local appliance store, helping Konoso repair her house as an electrician. Is he introduced Yuki to Konoso and helped her fetch Yuki back when he running away at the end. Summary Kosono was an old geisha, and after years of hard work, she tried to mean herself from the business and turn to the simpler pleasures of private life. And she adopted the distant relative’s child, Michiko, as her daughter and sent her to a finishing school. Also, she was both attracted and a little mystified by the conveniences of modern life, and remodeled her house in a blend of Japanese and Western styles. Makita often came to Kosono’s house helping her repair her electrical wiring and lights. And one day, he brought a young man, Yuki, to help him look after the electrical repairs. After a talk, Kosono knew that Yuki’s dream was being an inventor and live off the proceeds from his patents. So she wanted to help him. She turned a wing of her house into a laboratory, and ordered whatever Yuki required in the way of equipment for his experiments, as well as the pocket money for things like movie or a few drinks at a bar. So Yuki left Makita’s shop and moved in with Kosono. Because he thought Konoso’s money was the easy money squeezed out of her men, Yuki didn’t feel overly obligated to her. And for the first time in his life, he felt peaceful and happy. But his engrossing in experiments and well-being sense only lasted for about half a year, and then, he lost his interest in invention. Surprisedly, Konose seemed that she didn’t care whether Yuki kept his experiments or not, and even hired two young geisha for Yuki to an outing. Yuki could no longer make sense of the old woman’s actions, started to guess why she did those things. Also, he try to avoided to meet Konoso. Finally he had the idea that Konoso just wanted him to accomplish what she herself had failed to do, and felt himself get swept up in her schemes. So he wandered off. Actually, he can’t escape Konoso’s influence and just pick a hiding place where could be found out easily. Makita was called to take Yuki back, but running away became a kind of habit with Yuki. He disappeared again and again. Every time, Kosono seemed angry, but on another side, Yuki seemed grow in her esteem, as what Konoso said, “The young have spirit, that’s for sure. Good for them!” 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/639deac0bb4cf7ec4afed0b6.html