Book Review: Memoirs of a Geisha

As I began my Japanese appreciation phase, I had two popular books in mind to fully emerge into the culture; Shogun and Memoirs of a Geisha written by Arthur Golden. Shogun provides a great glimpse into the feudal days of Japan while Memoirs of a Geisha provides more of a modern look (albeit it takes place during the 1930s-1940s). But my real familiarity with this story came from the critically acclaimed 2005 film directed by Rob Marshall. The film was a work of art, receiving a total of 6 Oscar nominations and 3 wins. And honestly the film kept pretty true to the book. To be fair though I was probably more interested in the setting then the actual story as I watched this film. I remember my sister-in-law Shawnna always raved about this book, so I decided now was the perfect time to give it a go. 

Book Synopsis

As the title suggests this is semi-biographical story of a woman's life as a geisha. Set in 1929 a young girl named Sakamoto Chiyo lives in a rural fishing village known as Yoroido. Her parents are both unhealthy and in poverty, so a family friend named Mr. Tanaka convinces the parents to sell the children. Chiyo is sold to an okiya (geisha house) while her sister, Satsu is sold to a brothel in Gion, Kyoto. Chiyo is introduced to the okiya family which includes the patrons known as mother, auntie, and grannie all of which are very strict businesswomen. The house also has various maids, apprentices, and their star geisha Hatsumomo (who takes an immediate disliking to Chiyo). Chiyo is of course very sad the first few months at her new house, missing her parents and her sister. She even tries to run away at one point, however the plan goes wrong and her mother patron decides she can not be trusted as a geisha investment. 

After several years as a maid, Chiyo meets a friendly stranger in the streets, known as the Chairman who offers her a handkerchief and some money to buy a treat. It is the first act of kindness she has felt in a very long time, and suddenly changes her perspective on the geisha life. The only problem however is her patron mother has decided she does not wish to invest in Chiyo's training. This changes however when another popular geisha named Mameha (an enemy of Hatsumomo) decides to take Chiyo on as an apprentice. Mother makes a deal with Mameha to invest in her training in return for a share of the profits. Chiyo thus becomes an apprentice geisha to Mameha, with the new given name of Sayuri.

Sayuri's early training is very difficult due to sabotage from her okiya sisters Hatsumomo and her apprentice Pumpkin. Hatsumomo finds a way to attend every event that Sayuri and Mameha are at, in an effort to humiliate Sayuri. Hastumomo is no doubt jealous of Sayuri's natural beauty, but also wishes to strengthen her position in the okiya as well as see her own apprentice Pumpkin become her heir. Mameha however coordinates some brilliant strategy by introducing Sayuri to several prominent business men, including Dr. Crab, the Baron, and Nobu (a friend of the Chariman). Eventually Dr. Crab wins the bid to take Sayuri's virginity (a ceremony known as mizuage) for a record price. This enables Sayuri to pay off her debts and win favor with her patron mother who later adopts Sayuri in favor of Pumpkin. This eventually drives Hastumomo mad, he descends into alcoholism is eventually thrown out of the okiya. 

Sayuri's success is somewhat short-lived however due to the ongoing crisis of WWII which eventually leads to the closure of all geisha houses in 1944. Sayuri finds salvation from a previous customer Nobu, who sends her to the countryside to avoid any factory work. After the war ends, Sayuri returns to work with a closer relationship to Nobu, who intends to be her danna. However Sayuri does not wish to be sworn to Nobu and instead still has longing feelings for the Chariman. She develops a scheme to dissuade Nobu from being her danna, by having him discover her with another man. Sayuri asks her old friend Pumpkin to guide Nobu into a room, where she will be making love with another man. Sayuri is able to coordinate her part of the plan, but she is shocked when Pumpkin brings in the chairman instead of Nobu. Pumpkin declares it was payback for Sayuri taking away Pumpkin's chance to be adopted. 

Sayuri is devastated at the way this scheme played out, horrified that the Chairman (the man she loved), saw her with another man. However in a shocking twist it is revealed that the Chairman helped orchestrate Sayuri's raise to the top ever since he saw her in the streets. He gave Mameha the idea to adopt Sayuri as her younger sister, and he stood back while his business partner Nobu favored Sayuri. Seeing Sayuri with another man was difficult for the Chairman to see, however he realized Sayuri was doing it to scare off the Nobu, and thus confessed the truth to Nobu. This led to Nobu withdrawing his desire to be Sayuri's danna and opening the door for the Chairman to do so. Thus it was something that both Sayuri and the Chairman wanted. Years later Sayuri would move to New York City to start her own teahouse with the financial and emotional support of the Chairman. 

The Characters

Chiyo (Sayuri): She is a very softspoken humble girl who has no doubt endured hardships by being separated from her parents and sister and brought into a life of servitude. Her perseverance however is a testament to her strength and it's encouraging to watch her raise to the top and get everything she wants in the end. 

Hatsumomo: She is the favorite geisha of the house Sayuri stays at, and quickly becomes Sayuri's sworn rival. Throughout most the story Hatsumomo is bent on sabotaging Sayuri's career, mostly due to jealousy of Sayuri's beauty. Hatsumomo eventually gets what she deserves when Sayuri is able to become the new favorite of the okiya. 

The Chairman: He is wealthy business director of an electric company and is the first man to show sincere kindness to Sayuri. This act of kindness inspires Sayuri to become a geisha with hopes of one day being his mistress. We later discover that the chairman helped orchestrate Sayuri's raise to success.

Mameha: She is another popular geisha in the Gion district who decides to take Sayuri as her apprentice. Mameha is a very clever geisha who uses her powerful connections to help Sayuri rise the social ladder throughout the geisha industry. 

Mother (Mrs. Nitta): She is the cold-hearted head of the okiya house that Sayuri stays at. She is a stern business woman who puts money above any emotional connections.

Nobu: He is a business partner of the Chairman, who also develops a fondness of Sayuri. He has battle scars however including a missing arm due to previous wars. He still becomes one of Sayuri's most loyal customers helping her achieve her rise to success. 

Pumpkin: She is a maid and early friend during Sayuri's first couple years in the okiya. However she later becomes Hatsumomo's apprentice and thus also a rival to Sayuri. She is depicted as somewhat insecure and dimwitted. However she achieves her ultimate revenge by exposing Sayuri's shameful act in front of the Chairman. 

Book Review

Although this book comes across as a biographical account it is actually a historical fiction. The author Arthur Golden however did use exclusive material from an interview he had with a real geisha named Mineko Iwasaki. Golden used many snippets and examples from her life to fully portray the story from a geisha's perspective. I believe this inner perspective into the geisha's struggling life is what makes this book so unique. It truly gives a sympathetic account to a career or lifestyle that might be frowned upon by most. However it also provides great insight into this once thriving industry that truly is a staple of Japan's cultural identity.   

I found this book was actually quite easy to comprehend and follow along with (which was a nice break after reading the lengthy Shogun). The protagonist Sayuri is no doubt someone you want to root for, who has such an unfair childhood to lose her parents and be sold almost into slavery. She has no friends when she begins her life in the okiya, including her cruel housemasters and her enemy Hatsumomo. But she somehow manages to endure all these early hardships to become a success in her own right. Even though she can only be the chairman's mistress, he represents the light in her very grim world. She also achieves her own success free of any confinement when she starts her own teahouse in New York City at the end of the story. This makes for a wonderful rags-to-riches story with a powerful arc that leads to a great happy ending.

What I especially enjoyed about the writing style in this book was the amazing use of metaphors and allegories. For starters the author frequently uses the imagery of water to demonstrate the appealing quality of a geisha. It is noted early on that Sayuri has lots of water in her personality which is a reference to her graceful quality (as opposed to wooden stiff characters). Other poetic metaphors that I really enjoyed was when Sayuri thought of herself as a puddle compared to an ocean when thinking of Hatsumomo as a rival. Or the humorous line during WWII, where the geishas believe that "nothing can be bleaker than the future, except maybe the past". The book is loaded with poetic allegories such as this which further enhance Sayuri's likability as the narrator.