Eiko was adopted out and then became a maiko (apprentice geisha) in a hanamachi (geisha district) around Kobusho (military training institute) near Kanda Myojin-Shrine because her adoptive family became badly off.
栄子は養女に出されたが、養家が困窮したため、神田明神下の講武所の花街で舞妓となった。