Memoirs of a Geisha

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Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel by Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first-person view, tells the story of a geisha working in Kyoto, Japan, before World War II. An Academy Award-winning film adaptation of the novel, directed by Rob Marshall and starring Zhang Ziyi, was released in 2005. It garnered the most Academy Award nominations of any film that was not nominated for Best Picture in 2006. It won three Oscars in Costume Design, Art Direction and Cinematography.

Contents

1 Plot

1.1 Contents
1.2 Characters
1.3 Controversy

2 See also
3 The Book
4 References

Plot

It is 1929 in Japan. Before her mother dies, the main character, Sakamoto Chiyo, and her older sister, Satsu, are taken to Gion by one Mr. Tanaka. Satsu is sold to a brothel while Chiyo is sold to an okiya, a house for geisha.

With her unusual blue-grey eyes, Chiyo is to train to become a geisha, but is constantly antagonized by Hatsumomo, the resident (and only) geisha of the Nitta okiya. The arrogant Hatsumomo recognises Chiyo's potential and is upset at any hint of competition. Due to Hatsumomo's machinations, Chiyo is reduced to becoming a maid in the okiya, ostensibly with no future of becoming a geisha.

An encounter with the wealthy and benevolent Chairman changes her luck. Soon after, Chiyo wins the eye of Mameha, the most successful geisha in Gion, who is despised by Hatsumomo because she outshines her in every aspect and, having earned her independence as a geisha, unlike Hatsumomo, cannot be toppled. She takes Chiyo in as her younger sister and protege and trains Chiyo to rival Hatsumomo. Chiyo's entrance into apprenticeship is marked by being given a new name: Sayuri.

With her success and her virginity sold, Sayuri not only becomes a highly successful geisha, but she also manages to pay off all the debts that bound her to the Nitta okiya when she was a maid and is adopted by the mistress of the okiya. Sayuri and Mameha destroy Hatsumomo's reputation entirely thereafter and Hatsumomo is thrown out of the okiya.

The outbreak of World War II, a theme foreshadowed by growing reference to the Japanese military, represents, structurally, another major challenge for the heroine. Her successes are quickly made irrelevant, and her physical beauty is tarnished by manual labor and malnutrition. The life of luxury is replaced by a new reality: her personal dark valley.

During her time as a geisha before the war, she encounters the Chairman again, but finds it impossible to get close to him as she desires. Instead, she finds herself constantly being pushed to be with Nobu, the Chairman's most trusted friend. It is Nobu that saves Sayuri from the harsh labor of the war until Gion is able to open again on the condition that she will allow him to become her patron, despite the fact that it is the Chairman she desires.

However, it is not until she puts herself in an undesirable position that Sayuri's desire to be with the Chairman truly frees her to pursue her own destiny. When the Chairman frees her from the okiya to become his mistress, she sets up a lavish teahouse for Japanese businessmen in New York so that he may save face in Japan when his daughter is about to marry a man set to be the Chairman's heir.

Characters

The list is incomplete; you may help by adding to it.

Sayuri - The main character of the book. Born Chiyo Sakamoto, she is taken to Gion when she is nine, into the Nitta okiya, where her life is changed forever. It is here where she realizes her destiny: to become a successful geisha, no matter how much she is tortured. She feels an affection towards the Chairman. Her unusual blue-gray eyes play an important role in her physical appearance as a geisha.
Hatsumomo - The Nitta okiya's only resident geisha. She is extremely beautiful, but also equally cruel. She knows that Chiyo has great potential as a geisha and tortures her to stop this. She uses her status in the okiya to make life very difficult for Chiyo. Eventually her status with Sayuri is swapped, resulting from Sayuri being the main source of income and adoption by Mother. She is kicked out from the okiya after getting into a fight with a friend of hers.
Mameha - Gion's most successful geisha. She is Hatsumomo's three-year-younger rival, and cannot be toppled because she earned her independence as a geisha. It is her kimono that Hatsumomo forced Chiyo to ruin. Mameha eventually takes Chiyo as her younger sister and trains her to become a geisha. With her help, Sayuri becomes successful and manages to pay back all of her debts.
Pumpkin - A maid in the Nitta okiya just the same age as Chiyo. She is known for her very round babyface (hence the name Pumpkin) and her tongue always sticking out. Hatsumomo takes her in as her younger sister and changes her name to Hatsumiyo, which doesn't stick to her. However, Hatsumomo is not a nice older sister to her. At first, Chiyo and Pumpkin become friends, but Hatsumomo's intervention mostly puts a stop to this. When Chiyo is adopted by the okiya, their friendship is ruined entirely. At one point it seems that she and Chiyo have become friends again, but after one incident, it turns out she still holds a grudge against Chiyo for stealing her position of being adopted by the okiya.
Auntie - A failed geisha with a broken hip. She is one of the mistresses of the Nitta okiya, and is the "sister" of the other mistress. She is the nicest person in the okiya to Chiyo, but is not beyond becoming extremely angry with her. It is she who warns Chiyo about the dangers that can stop her future as a geisha.
Mother - The other mistress of the okiya. She is Auntie's "sister", meaning they were trained under one older sister. She is quite greedy for money, and is always pictured with account books. She prioritizes, at first, Hatsumomo, and will always listen to her, no matter what ridiculous lies she tells, but as soon as Sayuri becomes more successful, the tables turn. She throws Hatsumomo out after an incident in which Hatsumomo attacks a certain friend. She owns a little dog called Taku.
Granny - An elderly, bad-tempered woman who is the highest mistress of the Nitta okiya. She takes an instant dislike to Chiyo the moment they first meet, not wanting another pretty face with no brains (like Hatsumomo). Granny was the one who broke Auntie's hip by beating her hard, leading to her failure as a geisha; this is why Auntie takes the job of beating Chiyo herself, so that she does not suffer the same fate. Granny fears fire more than anything because if the okiya should burn, all their valuable kimono will be destroyed. In the middle of the novel, she dies when her Iwamura Electric electric heater becomes electrified and she touches it.
Chairman - The Chairman of Iwamura Electric, Ken Iwamura. It is he who inspires Chiyo one day when he finds her crying while out on an errand. He inspires Chiyo, and she idolizes him, saying that all of her actions are designed to get her closer to him. Chiyo wants him to become her danna, the most important man in a geisha's life, who funds her activities.
Nobu - Nobu Toshikazu is the Chairman's best friend and the real president of Iwamura, because he saved the company from bankruptcy once. He is a former soldier, and has an amputated arm, the result of trying to save his commander from an explosion. He develops an interest in Sayuri, and Sayuri develops an affection for him as well. Unfortunately Sayuri still has feelings for the Chairman and tries to break their friendship. After finding this out, Nobu realizes it was not their destiny to be together and gives up on Sayuri.
Korin - Hatsumomo's geisha friend, who Chiyo first meets the night Hatsumomo brings Mameha's kimono to the okiya. During WW2, she is reduced to a factory worker, and the conditions take their toll on her.
Satsu - Chiyo's older sister by six years. She is not sold to an okiya, but to a brothel. The two sisters once meet in the brothel to arrange plans of running away, but only Satsu escapes. The last Chiyo hears of her is that she has run away with Mr. Tanaka's assistant's son.
Mr. Tanaka - Born Ichiro Morihashi. A rich man, owning a seafood company, who makes his decision to sell Chiyo and Satsu from their family because Mrs. Sakamoto is dying. At first, the two sisters like him, but eventually hate him when they are not happy with what they landed in. He is adopted.
Mrs. Fidget - A fortune teller of Mr. Tanaka's. She plays an important role in where Chiyo and Satsu go.
Dr. Crab - Sayuri's mizuage patron, which means he has won the auction of Sayuri's virginity. After the mizuage, we rarely hear from him.
Baron - Mameha's danna, a powerful man who acts as her patron. He becomes interested in Sayuri before she has her mizuage and is one of the top bidders for it.
Sakamoto Minoru - Sayuri's father, a fisherman from Yoroido. He is much older than Sayuri's mother, and has already lost a wife and two children. He dies shortly after Mr Tanaka takes the girls to Kyoto.
Mrs Sakamoto - Sayuri's mother who dies of bone cancer.
Mr Bekku - The man who collects Sayuri and Satsu from Mr Tanaka and takes them to Kyoto. Is a 'dresser' who helps geisha with kimonos.
The Arashino family - Kimono makers, friends of Nobu and the Baron. Nobu uses his influence and persuades them to take Sayuri into their home during the war.
General Tottori Sayuri's first danna, an army general. His role is peripheral, and he vanishes after the war.
The Minister An important man who has helped Nobu and the Chairman keep Iwamura Electric intact following the war. He infuriates Nobu and repels Sayuri, but they are both obligated to please him.

Controversy

After the Japanese edition of Memoirs of a Geisha was published, Arthur Golden was sued for breach of contract and defamation of character by Mineko Iwasaki, a retired geisha he had interviewed for background information while writing the novel. The plaintiff asserted that Golden had agreed to protect her anonymity, if she told him about her life as a geisha due to the traditional code of silence about their clients. However, Golden listed Iwasaki as a source in his acknowledgements for the novel.

In 2003, Golden's publisher settled with Iwasaki out of court for an undisclosed sum of money.

Iwasaki later went on to write her own autobiography, published as Geisha, A Life in the US and Geisha of Gion in the UK.

The Book

Golden, Arthur, Memoirs of a Geisha, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1997 ISBN 0375400117 (Hardcover)
Golden, Arthur, Memoirs of a Geisha, London & New York, Vintage, 2005 ISBN 0099498189 (Paperback)

References

McAlpin, Heller. Night Butterflies; Memoirs of a Geisha. Arthur Golden. Los Angeles Times 30 November 1997. Pg. 8.
["Memoirs of a Geisha"] Movie review by Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, December 16, 2005.

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