Written in a light-hearted manner, this story reveals changing attitudes toward a traditional Japanese institution known as the miai. Normally in old Japan a marriage was arranged through negotiation between the two families with the help of a go-between, sometimes even before the prospective bride and groom had met. The miai was a formal occasion to introduce the two young candidates. Inevitably, people of the younger generations grew increasingly reluctant to accept a custom reminiscent of feudal times.

Published in The Mother of Dreams and Other Short Stories.