The controversial story Memoirs of a Geisha reviewed
Few literary works become a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Memoirs of a Geisha is one such novel. Both the book and the movie have gained tremendous popularity in America, as well as much scrutiny in Japan and China.
This article reviews the book in detail to let you know what to expect.
About the author
Arthur Golden is a Tennessee-born writer. Educated at Harvard College in art history, he specialized in Japanese art. Golden obtained an MA in Japanese history and has visited and lived in Japan and China. Today, he lives in Massachusetts with his wife and two children.
Golden is a member of the Ochs-Sulzberger family who own The New York Times.
His work on Memoirs of a Geisha was scrutinized following the book’s translation into Japanese. The woman whose account served as one of the main resources for the book sued Golden for defamation. He promised he wouldn’t reveal any names and secrets, which, as it turns out, he did. Still, the book brought the author tremendous success.
Surprisingly or unsurprisingly depending on your view, Golden has not published any books following Memoirs of a Geisha.
A review of Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs of a Geisha is a story about Japan’s most celebrated geisha. As mentioned earlier, Mineko Iwasaki, a real-life geisha, introduced Arthur Golden to the topic and offered him guidance, given that the author had no previous knowledge of geisha culture.
A nine-year-old girl named Chiyo Sakamoto (Suzuka Ohgo) and her older sister are taken from their home in Yoroido, a fishing village. They are sold by their father to a geisha house (okiya) in the geisha district of Gion, Kyoto.
Chiyo adapts to the new surroundings and soon meets the proprietress Kayoko Nitta, the Auntie, and the other women who run the house. She is also introduced to a young girl called Pumpkin and a geisha named Hatsumomo.
The protagonist, Chiyo, receives intense training for years in traditional Japanese dance, music, and tea ceremony practices. She becomes Sayuri Nitta, a stunning geisha of extraordinary influence and beauty.
Sayuri receives help from the Chairman, Ken Iwamura. His affection helps Sayuri stay on the geisha path. With the additional help of her trainer named Mameha, Sayuri continues her training and attracts the attention of the Chairman’s business partner, Tishikazu Nobu. She also comes to the attention of Baron, Mameha’s danna (financial supporter).
Sayuri has a good life until World War II breaks out and she has to move to the countryside to work for a kimono maker. Nobu wants Sayuri to help her get funding for a new business by impressing an American Colonel. The group travels to the Amami islands with American soldiers, where numerous love scenes take place.
At the end of the novel, Sayuri retires as a geisha and the Chairman becomes her danna. She later moves to New York and opens a tea house business.
Memoirs of a Geisha tells the story of a world where a young girl’s virginity goes to the highest bidder in a process called mizuage, where love is an illusion, and where women are trained to enchant powerful men.
Due to the hardships a woman has to endure on her path to recognition, many critics consider Memoirs of a Geisha to be an Oriental Cinderella. Becoming a geisha for Chiyo was a long and painful experience, something akin to what Cinderella experienced in life.
Book vs. movie
The Memoirs of a Geisha movie was released in 2005 by Sony Pictures. The stars include Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Youki Kudoh, Michelle Yeoh, Samantha Futerman, and Suzuka Ohgo. Produced by Steven Spielberg and Douglas Wick and directed by Rob Marhsall, the film was shot at numerous locations in California and Kyoto.
Only a few small differences exist between the book and the movie:
- The movie is more sympathetic to Hatsumomo than the books.
- In the movie, Pumpkin is Hatsumomo’s sister before Chiyo becomes Sayuri.
- The novel is more detailed.
The movie’s success at the U.S. box office was fully justified as the movie won three out of six Oscar nominations for Costume Design, Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.
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FAQ
What was the controversy of Memoirs of a Geisha?
The author of the novel was sued for defamation by Mineko Iwasaki, a Japanese geisha he interviewed for the book. The geisha claimed the author manipulated the truth and used many events from her life and added the prostitution narrative. The author had to pay Iwasaki an undisclosed sum of money.
Was Memoirs of a Geisha a true story?
The book isn’t based on a true story. However, the author interviewed a former geisha, Mineko Iwasaki, who offered him details about her life that were included in some of the chapters.
Why was Memoirs of a Geisha banned in China?
The Chinese government found it unacceptable for a Chinese actress (Ziyi Zhang) to play a Japanese woman. The official reason for the ban also includes Zhang Ziyi’s scene where she takes a bath with a Japanese man. The PRC banned Memoirs of a Geisha for fear it could further aggravate the anti-Japanese feelings in the country.
How does Memoirs of a Geisha compare to other books about geisha?
The abundance of geisha books makes it difficult to provide an ultimate answer to this question. Memoirs of a Geisha is a fiction novel, and there are many non-fiction books about geisha.
How did Memoirs of a Geisha become a bestseller?
Memoirs of a Geisha became a bestseller quickly after its release in 1997. It was translated into more than 20 languages, making it available to readers around the world.
