When we hear the name Geisha, we think of Japan. Do we know anything about the lives of those who entertain the men who feed them with their charms and play songs? To say the least. Geisha means a woman who is like a prostitute. In fact, her life is in the middle. After reading this novel called Memoirs of a Geisha, we will go to Nitta Okia in Kyoto area of Japan. After that we know a lot about many cultural and social issues. This 428 page novel is written by an American writer named Arthur Golden. This work, which was published in 1997, became the subject of many controversies.
Ok...and who is a geisha..? She studies arts such as music, literature, dance and painting. She knows how to speak and behave politely, especially the inside of men. And who will teach her all this...? To teach these, there are special schools where there are geishas. There are experienced instructors. And the seniors in the geisha schools teach them all the necessary things. Before an apprentice geisha can become a full-fledged geisha, she must be apprenticed to a senior geisha. She must be accepted as her sister. After becoming a full geisha, the red collar on her kimono is changed to a white collar.
And shall we go into the theme of the novel..? It is a village in Japan, there are fishing families. Its name is Yoroida. A small house by the sea. The owner of the house is Sakamoto Minoru, who lives by fishing. The wife is bedridden, with some incurable disease... there is no need for great treatment. The local doctor is doing the treatment that comes to him. He worries as the doctor says that she will not live long. He is also getting old. His strength is waning. He has two daughters. The elder child's name is Satsu and the child's name is Chio Chan Aya. But her name will be changed to Sayori. That will come later, then we will see.
He makes his current wife as his second relationship, after his first wife died... There is a company that buys and sells fish near that village. Its chairman's name is Tanaka Ichiro, he hears the story of this family and does a job. He hands over the two girls to Okiya through an intermediary in Kyoto. He does this so that their mother and father are nearing their death days, so that they will live somewhere rather than become orphans. Chiochan likes this chairman very much. He speaks well. In the end, the nine-year-old Chiochan goes to Kyoto with his older sister Satsu, who is taken by a man named Bekko.
On the day of the visit, the old woman (called mother in the novel) saw both of them and saw that the child was beautiful, with good eyes and other charms. She held the body and saw that the water level was good. The percentage is high, Brothal tells them to sell. The nine-year-old girl's name changes from Chiochan to Sayori. Sayori is assigned a room. She is sent to the school for the education needed to become a geisha. There, the girl learns the shamisen, an instrument, among other things. There is a Toji temple near there. The deity inside is Lord Buddha. He visits that place from time to time.
This girl is about nine years old, so she sweeps the house where she lives, goes to the market and brings things etc. All the room expenses, food expenses and other expenses incurred by her are written in a book so that the mother doesn't lose the money. That means after this girl becomes a geisha, that money All will be charged. Not only that, the girl will get a large amount of money from the person who first looks at her. One thing must be said here. In Japanese there is a word called Mizuage. The meaning of this in our language is the same as Kannerikam. A contract is made with a guardian before a girl can enter the profession of a geisha.
Whoever pays the highest price and gets the girl for the first night is called "Danna". As long as the geisha is alive, he must regularly pay the money required for her food and necessities. However, he does not have any full rights over the geisha. A geisha can be with whomever she likes, marry, or even leave the profession. Danna has no control over the money she earns. In the house where Sayori lives, there is a full-fledged geisha named Hatsumomo.
She is very jealous when she sees this girl. Because when Sayori grows up, she will be blonder than her. Hatsumomo complains that she will be famous and earn money as a geisha, but Mameha, another famous geisha, supports Sayori. No one will approach her. Once when Sumo wrestling was held, Sayori went with Mameha, where she met a big businessman named Nobu. He is a very important partner of Iwamura Electric Company. If it comes to this, the company is Tanaka Ichiro. He is the chairman. That means he will come here from Yorodaina village and do business and reach that stage. She keeps the handkerchief he left when she met him in a drama program as a memory. She dreams of entertaining the chairman after she becomes a geisha.
But after Sayori turns sixteen, there is a program for the first night with a doctor. The mother gives the money to her for the expenses she has spent these days. Agadala gets annoyed and Mother sends her out too. Sayori has a military officer as Danna. Nobu gets angry that he can't be chosen.
World War II begins. The government orders the closure of all geisha houses because the government uses every large building to increase the production of various products needed by the soldiers. Sayori passes years. When she comes back to Kyoto, her appearance changes. American soldiers appear. She worries that they have turned geisha tea shops into cabarets. He meets Nobu again, his company eats well during the war. There is no point in meeting a minister to help him, finally Sayori entertains him so much that when he goes to a resort called Amami, he makes him physically comfortable and helps Nobu's company. With that it takes a groove.
A few more twists and turns. In the end, Iwamura tells his mind to the chairman of Iwamura Electric, Tanaka Ichiro. Then the chairman tells some secrets. It turns out that he was the one who helped Sayori through Mameha when she was in trouble. The chairman is her guardian. When the chairman goes to America as part of his business, Sayori goes with him. They are setting up a branch of your company here anyway, so help me build a small hotel. I will stay here in New York. That way, Sayori starts a small hotel that provides geisha services. It provides its services to the Japanese officials and ambassadors who come there. That's how the story ends.
The entire novel takes place in Uttam Purusha. Sayori tells the story from her apartment in New York as memories. By then the chairman also closes his eyes. At the end it says this. I cannot tell you what it is that guides us in this life; but for me, I fell towards the Charman just as a stone must fall towards the earth. When I cut my lip and met Mr. Tanaka, when my mother died and I was cruelly sold, it was all like a stream that falls over rocky cliffs before it can reach the ocean. Even now that he is gone I have him still, in the richness of my memories. I've lived my life again just telling it to you.
There is not much about Sayori's sister Satsu in this novel. The author says that she ran away from the brothel house and married another man. Sayori tries to run away with her sister but it fails. When the person in the place of Danna who plays Mameha comes to her house, the poem of Matsudaira Koichi is hanging on the wall. We understand the Japanese people's love of poetry when they ask what is not seen. Sumo wrestlers are not amused by jokes.
A geisha named Mineko Iwasaki went to court against the author of this book, and the author Arthur Golden gave her some money privately and got out of the case. She alleged that her name was not kept secret after giving a lot of information and also some names were not kept secret. She also wrote a book called Geisha-A Life adding some information to the whole. In the year 2005, a movie was made based on this book written by Arthur Golden. The government of China and Japan expressed objections to the casting of Chinese actors in the main roles. This movie won three Academy Awards. Also received other awards. Although the author Arthur Golden is an American, he himself is proficient in Japanese language. He did post graduation in Japanese history from Columbia University. Also worked for a while in a magazine in Tokyo.
----- Murthy KVVS
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