"Comparing heights"), English titles including Growing Up and Child's Play, is a novella by Japanese writer Ichiyō Higuchi, first published in 1895–96.
[1] It depicts a group of youths growing up in Shitaya Ryūsenji-chō, Yoshiwara, Meiji era Tokyo's red light district, over a span of four months.
Whilst all this chaos is brewing, Midori struggles with her identity and future as she is torn between her own freedom and her family’s wishes for her to become a courtesan like her older sister, Ōmaki.
These characters, like children before the Restoration, never question the sense of inheriting their families' professions and places in society, since the ancient, plebeian Shitamachi area lacked from the beginning any stimuli that promoted hopes of personal growth for them.
Similarly, Nobu, who despises the lifestyle of his family, decides to train to become a priest like his father, preparing to take on his role as heir to Ryūgeji temple.
Examples of this theme are best seen through the characters being labelled by their parents’ social status or occupations: ‘‘Shōta of the Tanakaya’’; ‘‘Nobuyuki of Ryūgeji’’; ‘‘Chōkichi, the Boss’s son,’’ etc.