Memoirs of a Geisha

'Gei' means 'arts' while 'sha' means 'artist' or 'artisan'. However, I'm told that geisha are prostitutes in Japanese. There is a certain degree of truth in it, just that geisha aren't those low class prostitutes who are despised by the society. In fact, geisha are also known as 'arts prostitutes' who dress extravagantly and are respected by people. Their job is to entertain men by dancing or pouring sake, but not involve in flesh trading. This novel, "Memoirs of a Geisha (pix)" is extremely well-written by Arthur Golden (pix).
The story focused on a little girl named Chiyo, a fisherman's daughter from a small town, Yoroido. Her father, whose name was Sakamoto Muniro, had married before marrying Chiyo's mother. However, his previous wife Natsu had passed away years ago along with their two children, Jinichiro and Masoa. Chiyo had an elder sister called Satsu. Since their mother was very ill, both of them had to take care of all the house chores while their father was away at the sea.
The meeting with Mr. Tanaka changed Chiyo's as well as her sister's life forever. Mr. Tanaka claimed that he suffered the same state of poverty as Chiyo when he was young. His father died when he was about Chiyo's age. The very next year after that his mother died. Then, his brother ran away to Osaka, leaving him alone. His actual name was Moribashi. Later on, he was taken in by Tanaka family and was fortunate enough to marry the daughter. Now, he helped run the family's seafood company. Mr. Tanaka lured them by inviting them to stay in his opulent house and play with his daughter. Thinking that Mr. Tanaka wanted to adopt them, they followed him to an unknown place only to find out later that they were being sold into slavery. Chiyo was sold to an okiya while her sister to a brothel.
Life was hard at the okiya for she had to please everyone at the same time, which was impossible to do. A month after that, she was sent to school to learn to become a geisha with Pumpkin. Also living in the okiya was a popular geisha called Hatsumomo. Each and every day, Chiyo grew more and more fascinated marveling at how Hatsumomo dressed and applied her make-up before going out to entertain men. Hatsumomo was jealous with another more successful geisha named Mameha. She managed to steal one of her kimono and then threatened Chiyo into marring it with black ink. Of course, Chiyo took all the blame but in return Hatsumomo told her where her sister was. Auntie, one of the senior residents in the okiya requested to carry out the punishment on Chiyo so that she could prevent the latter from receiving a harsher punishment from Granny.
One night, Chiyo was sent by Yoku (the okiya's operator) to fetch a shamisen for Hatsumomo at a teahouse. After that, she took the opportunity to find her sister. They planned to run away. Later that night, Hatsumomo was caught sleeping with her boyfriend in the okiya.
The day arrived and Chiyo was prepared to run away from the okiya when everyone was asleep. As she was climbing the roof, she lost her grip and fell. It caused her a broken arm and resentment from everyone in the okiya. She then received a letter from Mr. Tanaka, informing her that both her parents had passed away. He also told her that Satsu had succeeded in returning to Yoroidobut had later on run way with the Sugi boy. Since the day she tried to escape, she was stopped from going to school anymore because Mother didn't want to waste money on an insecure commodity. This meant Chiyo wouldn't be a geisha in future, but remained a slave in the okiya in order to pay all the debts she had incurred.
While running an errand for Mother she met a kind-hearted person, whom his executives called him the Chairman, as she sat weeping by the roadside. This encounter inspired her to become a geisha so that she would be able to meet the Chairman again. About three years later, Granny was found dead as aresult of being electrocuted by her malfunctioning heater. When Mameha came to pay her last respect to Granny, she discovered how pretty Chiyo was and decided to nurture her into becoming a geisha. Eventually, Mameha took Chiyo as her younger sister after making a deal with Mother. So once again, Chiyo began taking on learning musical instruments as well as singing and dancing. Meanwhile, Pumpkin had Hatsumomo as her older sister. Soon, both Pumpkin and Chiyo became apprentice geisha. Pumpkin adopted the name of Hatsumiyo for her geisha name while for Chiyo, Sayuri. Hatsumomo did anything possible in order to make Pumpkin a more successful geisha than Sayuri. She made this happen by embarrassing Sayuri in front of every important people she came across. Mameha figured out ways and means to avoid Hatsumomo so that Sayuri's reputation could be preserved.
Sayuri's dream came true when Mameha brought her to the Exhibition Hall to watch sumo with the Chairman and his right-hand man Nobu Toshikazu. For Sayuri to be a successful geisha, Mameha introduced her to another man, Dr Crab. These two men played important roles in determining the future of Sayuri. Mameha's real purpose of introducing them to Sayuri was to create a bidding war between them for Sayuri's mizuage (virginity). Time finally came for Sayuri to present ekobu to Nobu and Dr Crab. When a geisha gave ekobu to a man, it meant that she was ready to offer her mizuage to him. Meanwhile, Sayuri managed to secure a dancing role (which was extremely difficult to come by) in the Dances of the Old Capital, the biggest annual event in Gion.
Sayuri got to know Baron who was Mameha's danna at that time. He invited Sayuri to his party at his estate at Hakone. There, she was forcefully being undressed by the Baron. In the Dances of the Old Capital, Sayuri performed excellently. When the bidding of her mizuage had begun, Mother just realised that Sayuri was indeed a valuable commodity. She quickly adopted her as her daughter as a result. This infuriated Hatsumomo and upset Pumpkin. Finally, Sayuri's mizuage was sold to the highest bidder -- Dr Crab, for 11,500 yen. Later that day, Sayuri was surprised to find that Dr Crab kept several geisha's blood (including Mameha's) in vials for collection.
It came the time when Sayuri turned from an apprentice to a real geisha. She was 18 years old then and was about to take a danna as well (General Tottori instead of Nobu). This made Nobu angry. Sayuri hadn't been able to see him for a long time in Gion as a result.
Soon, Sayuri became the principal source of income in the okiya. Mother decided that she should exchange room with Hatsumomo and Pumpkin. At the same time, the war had worsened. The Japanese ordered to the effect that all geisha districts be closed down. This sent every geisha panicky for they would have to suffer working in factories. To avoid that, they searched and begged to every influential men they knew for help. Sayuri was lucky to be able to meet Nobu again after four long years. With his help, she was able to secure a job sewing parachutes at a kimono maker's family. Sayuri still thought of the Chairman from time to time but she knew well enough that chances of meeting him again were slim.
When the war had finally come to an end, Nobu came to visit Sayuri to persuaded her into going back to Gion to become a geisha again. She was certainly happy with the idea as she would probably be able to meet the Chairman again. Gion district had been taken over by American soldiers. Now instead of shoes, boots were seen strewn everywhere at the entryway of every teahouse. Finally, Nobu became Sayuri's danna. This was of course a good news for Mother as she would be able to keep money flowing in to the okiya. But it was a bad news for Sayuri as her hope to reveal her feeling for the Chairman was dazed. So, Sayuri decided to seduce the Minister in order to enrage Nobe so that he would put off his intention to be her danna. Unfortunately, it was the Chairman who witnessed the affair going on between Sayuri and the Minister.
One day, the Chairman made a surprise visit to a teahouse where Sayuri was awaiting Nobu's arrival. The Chairman revealed to Sayuri that he was captivated by the beauty of her gray eyes while he found her weeping by the roadside when she was a little girl. Then he told her it was him who had persuaded Mameha into becoming her older sister. In respond, Sayuri expressed her long-buried feelings for the Chairman there and then. It was then that they discovered how much they loved each other.
It is indeed a dramatic novel. When you've finished reading it, you can't believe that it is all fictitious for the author writes everything into the minutest detail. You can picture every sentence vividly as if you are the one who is going through all the ups and downs faced by the characters in it. There is a quote that leaves a great impression on me. When asked how he was able to keep up with his winning streak in gambling, the Admiral responded, "I never seek to defeat the man I'm fighting. I seek to defeat his confidence."
This book is highly recommended to everyone. You'll surely enjoy the author's piece of descriptive writing.