| Memoirs of a Geisha | |
|---|---|
 First edition cover |
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| Author | Arthur Golden |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Publication date | September 23, 1997 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 448 pp (hardcover edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-375-40011-7 (hardcover edition) |
| OCLC Number | 37689141 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.54 21 |
| LC Classification | PS3557.O35926 M45 1997 |
Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel by Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the fictional story of a geisha working in Kyoto, Japan, before and after World War II.
Contents |
Plot summary
The novel is told from the point of view of Sayuri Nitta, a retired geisha in her 70s, living in the Waldorf Towers in New York City. She is interviewed by Jakob Haarhuis, a professor at New York University, who is credited as the story's translator, although he is a fictional character himself. This is apparently a reference to Golden's interviewing of a retired geisha as part of his research for the novel. The story is told in a flashback format, with continuous references to the time between Sayuri's career and the time she is being interviewed. She also periodically explains different aspects of geisha life.
Sayuri recalls her early childhood as Chiyo Sakamoto, a young girl who, along with her sister Satsu, is sold into a life of servitude by her elderly father and dying mother when she is nine years old. Chiyo is taken in by the unsympathetic proprietress of the Nitta geisha house, whom she addresses as "Mother". She befriends Mother's sister ("Auntie") and another young girl in the house, Pumpkin, but also earns the jealous ire of the head geisha of the house, Hatsumomo. Chiyo spends most of her remaining childhood working as a maid to pay off several large debts: her purchase price; the soiling of a kimono owned by a well-known geisha, which Chiyo was blackmailed into defacing by Hatsumomo; an expensive brooch, which Hatsumomo had hidden and claimed that Chiyo had stolen it; and her medical bill, incurred after she injures herself while trying to escape. Her sister is sold to a brothel, but she eventually succeeds in escaping, never to be seen by Chiyo again.
One day while crying in the street, the young Chiyo is noticed by a passerby, Chairman Ken Iwamura, who buys her an iced snow-cone and gives her his handkerchief with some money. Inspired by his act of kindness, Chiyo resolves to become a geisha so that she may one day become a part of the Chairman's life. Early in her teenage years, Chiyo is taken under the wing of Mameha, one of the top geisha in Kyoto at the time. Under Mameha's tutelage, the girl Chiyo becomes Sayuri, the most famous geisha in all of Gion. Her growing success impacts on the careers and lives of Hatsumomo and Pumpkin. Hatsumomo tries to destroy Sayuri's career, but ends up destroying her own when she bites one of her clients in a jealous fit. Sayuri is selected over Pumpkin as the heir of the okiya, earning the name Nitta Sayuri , and causing Pumpkin to despair.
Through her work as a geisha, Sayuri is reunited with the Chairman, whom she has secretly loved since she was a girl. But her intentions of spending time with the Chairman are curtailed several times when she inadvertently attracts other clients seeking to become her patron, including the Chairman's business partner of Iwamura Electric and close friend, Toshikazu Nobu. Her successful career is cut short by the outbreak of World War II, but Sayuri's safety is ensured by Nobu, who sends her to a different town to live with his friend's family. Nonetheless, Sayuri and those close to her must endure a life of hard labor. After the end of the war, Nobu visits Sayuri and asks that she return to Gion to help entertain Deputy Minister Sato, who can help to restart the Chairman and Nobu's company that was all but destroyed during the war. Nobu also tells Sayuri that once Iwamura Electric's future is ensured, he will become Sayuri's Danna. This distresses Sayuri, but she agrees to help due to her feeling of debt toward Nobu.
Once returned to Gion, Sayuri seeks the help of Mameha and Pumpkin to entertain the Deputy Minister. The three women become geishas once more, and Sayuri reunites with the Chairman through these entertainment gatherings. Eventually, Nobu tells Sayuri that the time has come for him to become her patron and Sayuri is in despair. On a weekend trip to Amami Islands with Iwamura Electric, Sayuri devises a plan to humiliate herself with the Deputy Minister in front of Nobu, thereby ending any affections Nobu has for her and freeing herself to be with the Chairman. Instead, Sayuri is humiliated in front of the Chairman by Pumpkin, who still harbors resentment toward her. Sayuri despairs that her dream of being with the Chairman is lost.
Three days after her return from Amami, Sayuri receives a call to meet with Iwamura Electric. She is saddened as she anticipates meeting Nobu and discussing his patronage, but is surprised when the Chairman shows up rather than Nobu. The Chairman finally reveals to her that he knows she is Chiyo, and that he was responsible for sending Mameha to her so that she may become a geisha. The Chairman also states that he knows Sayuri humiliated herself with the intention of hurting Nobu, and thinks that she may have a purpose for the scheme. Sayuri admits to having personal reasons for hurting Nobu. The Chairman continues to explain his feeling of debt toward and friendship with Nobu, and how he was not able to take away the woman his friend so cherished. Sayuri confesses her love for the Chairman, which she has been harboring for more than 15 years. The Chairman kisses Sayuri, to her surprise since he had explained his loyalty to Nobu just moments ago, and the Chairman explains that Nobu has given up on Sayuri when he learned of her intentions at Amami.
The story ends with Sayuri recounting her subsequent life as the Chairman's mistress, including her time in Gion as a retired geisha, a mention of a son she had with the Chairman, her and her son's relocation to New York City so as not to disrupt possible inheritance issues of Iwamura Electric, and reflections of all the people in her life.
References to actual locations
Much of the novel is set in the popular geisha district of Gion in Kyoto, and contains references to actual places frequented by geisha and their patrons, such as the Ichiriki Ochaya.
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, due to the traditional code of silence about their clients, if she told him about her life as a geisha. However, Golden listed Iwasaki as a source in his acknowledgments for the novel, causing her to face a serious backlash. She even received death threats.[1] In his behalf, Arthur Golden countered that he had tapes of his conversations with Iwasaki.[2] Eventually, 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, which shows a very different picture of twentieth-century geisha than the one shown in Golden's novel. The book was published as Geisha, a Life in the U.S. and Geisha of Gion in the UK.
Notes on facts
Mizuage today is not, as the novel portrays it, the auctioning off of an apprentice geisha's virginity. It is simply a ceremony involving a haircut and a dinner party that signifies the coming of age of a geisha, completing her transition from apprentice geisha (maiko) to a full-fledged one (geiko). The financial arrangement was done until the 1950s, but it is no longer done so today.[3]
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Barry, Richard Lloyd (2006-03-30). "The Queen and the Geisha". Times Online. http://timesonline.typepad.com/times_tokyo_weblog/2006/03/the_queen_and_t_1.html. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
- ^ A Geisha Scorned The Rough Guide to Japan: The Rough Guide, by Jan Dodd, Simon Richmond. Published by Rough Guides, 2001. ISBN 1858286999. Page 889.
- ^ Reynolds, Wayne; Gallagher, John (2003). Geisha : A Unique World of Tradition, Elegance and Art. PRC Publishing. ISBN 1-85648-697-4. page 135
References
- McAlpin, Heller. "Night Butterflies; Memoirs of a Geisha". Los Angeles Times, 30 November 1997. Pg. 8.
- Dalby, Liza. "Geisha". 1983. Pp. 54-64 (prostitution); pp. 109-112 ("deflowering" and mizu-age).
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