Memoirs of a Geisha

Brief Summary Set in 1929 9 year old Chiyo lives with her ailing mother, father, and older sister Satsu in a small fishing village Chiyo’s mother dies and her father sells Chiyo and Satsu to an okiya (boarding house for Geisha) Chiyo and her sister are separated upon arriving to this okiya The story follows Chiyo’s transformation from a young girl to a Geisha

What is a Geisha? A Geisha is a woman highly trained in the arts of music, dance, and entertaining. Geisha is Japanese for “person of art.” Train for many years learning to play various musical instruments, sing, dance, and be the perfect hostess in a party of men. Illusion of female perfection Makeup, hair, clothing and mannerisms are calculated to indulge a man’s fantasy of the perfect woman – men pay large sums of money to have geishas attend to them.

Prostitute or Artist? Geishas, whilst iconic for their beauty, elegance, and performance skills, also carry with them the stigmatization of being prostitutes Popular views on geishas are informed by stereotypes. Confucian ideology preached the good mother and the faithful, modest wife but men were not constrained to be faithful in return. Men would look to their wives as protectors of the home and mothers to their children; love and sex were not essential to this and often came second. To satisfy this disconnection between marriage and sex, courtesans/Geishas came into being

Hierarchy in the Geisha World It is important to remember also that there is a hierarchy within the geisha profession, as there are in most professions. They are able to move up the professional ladder with age and experience

WWII & Japan The decline of the geisha dramatically increased during World War 2. Girls and women had to perform other jobs to aid Japan’s war effort. Many prostitutes began to refer to themselves as ‘geisha girls’ to American military soldiers and thus, the term geisha for males lost popularity and the traditional geishas reputation was lost. The geisha profession lives on today working still as entertainers as well as being icons for tourists.

Guide Background on the author The writing Related historical events List of characters Major Themes