City News

There once was a young girl named Chiyo with beautiful gray-blue eyes distinct from the

girls around her, who lived in a raggedy little fishing village in Japan. Yet her life as a

fisherman’s daughter swerved when her mom died of bone cancer and her father

couldn’t afford to keep two daughters. He sold Chiyo and her sister to Mr. Tanaka, a

local businessman, who transfers her to a family of geisha in Kyoto.

Geishas are Japanese hostesses trained to entertain men with conversation, dance, and

song. They weren’t prostitutes per say, for they don’t sell their bodies to just anyone, but

their income depended on pleasing men in the upper heights of society.

Until Chiyo met the Chairman, a kind gentleman who comforted her on the streets of

Kyoto, she never wanted to be a geisha. It was only then when Chiyo set her sights on

becoming the geisha of men’s dreams, for only then could she possibly meet the Chairman again. She trained under the mentorship of Mameha, the most popular geisha

at the time. There she begins the path she was dragged into, only for her to realize that

as she treads down her only road to her love, he seemed to be drifting further and

further away…

Can't you see? Every step I have taken, since I was that child on the bridge, has been to bring myself closer to you.

Why are you not drawing near?

I rate this tale a 10/10. As a Chinese America, I have read novels regarding Chinese

history which included teahouses with geishas and how life was like in ancient

patriarchal societies, but I’ve never stepped into the life of a girl forced into becoming a

geisha. Only then did I realize the sorrow behind their gorgeous facades, for their beauty

will die and fade with time. Behind their flirty smiles laid tired girls longing for a place

to call home. A geisha may be adored by men, but could any man say that he truly loves

her?

It’s hard to imagine that this book was written by an American Harvard-graduated male

who had no familial relations or ties to Japan. It’s crazy to think how he embodied the

spirit of a fierce young lady like Chiyo and stepped into the world of geisha. I have to

commend Arthur Golden for his penmanship and his understanding of Asian culture.

I recommend Memoirs of a Geisha for teens ranging from wacky weeaboos to feisty

feminists. It’s a unique view of the ancient Japan’s patriarchal society that would be sure

to excite anime fans as well as dedicated scholars for women’s rights. Young girls turn to

becoming geishas for reasons such as fame, wealth, and survival. Many, like Chiyo, were

sold into okiyas to train before their families abandoned them. It’s refreshing to realize

how far we have come. Nowadays, in the city of Kyoto, the number of geishas

diminished to the tens.