Memoirs Of A Geisha Interview With A Character

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
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“This is a rare and utterly engaging story. It tells the extraordinary
tale of a geisha- summoning up a quarter century, from 1929 to the
post-war years of Japan’s dramatic history, and opening a window
onto a half-hidden world of enchantment, exploitation and
degradation.
Q: It is thought that a geisha must
not reveal her life...
Sayuri: Geisha may not take any
formal vow of silence, but their
existence is predicated on the
singularly Japanese conviction that
what goes on during the morning in
the office and what goes on during the
evening behind closed doors bear no
relationship to one another. Geisha
simply do not talk for the record
about their experiences. The world of
the geisha, the "flower and willow"
world, are very separate societies that
are shrouded in mystery. There are
many myths created by outsiders
about the lifestyle of the geisha world.
It is a very private, elite world, and
most people would be uncomfortable
speaking about it.
Q: What made you want your story
to be told then?
Sayuri: My circumstances were
unusual, for I moved to New York
after the war. No one in Japan had
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
Hatsumomo
power over me any longer. My ties
with my native country were
already severed, and that is why I
feel I am no longer constrained to
silence. If I had continued to live in
Japan, or continued to live out my
life as a geisha, a story like mine
would never have been told.
Q: What exactly does the word
“geisha” mean?
Sayuri: A geisha is judged as a
moving work of art. We are not
courtesans, we are not wives. We
only entertain. We are judged by
our skills. There are many
misconceptions about what a
geisha truly is, especially to
foreigners. Many prostitutes styled
themselves as geisha in order to
attract the attention of the
occupying soldiers in Japan after
World War II. When true geisha
were able to work, the prostitutes
have already usurped the meaning
of the word “geisha” to many
foreigners.
Q: You were destined to live out
your life as a common chamber
maid. What made your life turn
around?
Sayuri: I had all these debts that
Hatsumomo piled on top of me, but
what really made Mrs. Nitta give
up on me was the fact that I tried
to run away once with my sister
Satsu from Gion, from Kyoto. I
have already shamed the okiya, and
my running away would make
Mrs. Nitta look bad. I was destined
to scrubbing floors until Mameha
and the Chairman came into my
life. Mameha helped me in ways
that no other geisha could ever
help their “little sister”, the
apprentices. When I met the
Chairman, I made up my mind to
work as hard as I possibly could to
become a geisha. This would be a
stepping-stone for me into his
world. The Chairman, who later
became my danna, was what made
me truly want to become a geisha.
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
Q: Where did you meet the
Chairman for the first time?
Sayuri: As a little girl called
Sakamoto Chiyo from Yoroido,
facing nothing but emptiness in
my life, I first met the
Chairman on the banks of
Shirakawa Stream. I was
crying, and he said that it was
too lovely a day to be upset. He
was the first person to show me
true kindness in this cruel
world. He bought me a cup of
sweet ice, a handkerchief, and
money enough to buy fish and
rice for a whole month. But I
gave the money back in prayer
at the temple, and announced to
the gods that I would do
whatever it takes to bring the
Chairman back into my life
again. As Sayuri, a new maiko
(apprentice geisha), I first met
the Chairman at a sumo match
hosted by Iwamura Electric,
which was the company that
the Chairman ran. Everything
about my life changed on that
day, for the better and also for
the worse. If only I knew that
the Chairman recognized me as
the little girl he helped one day
years and years ago... I would
have never made the same
mistakes!
Q: But the Chairman still
became your danna in the
very end, and visited you
often in New York until his
death.
Sayuri: Not without
experiencing many obstacles
and the dark moments of my
life. A geisha does not choose
her danna. It is unfortunately
the very opposite. But I
consider myself fortunate, for I
loved the Chairman, and he
loves me in return. Hatsumomo
was certainly one of the
greatest challenges of my life,
for she could not tolerate
competition, especially from
me, a little chamber maid living
in the same okiya as herself.
But Mameha outwitted her, and
she was finally out of my life a
few years after I became a fullfledged geisha. The war, and of
course, Nobu-san, also
presented themselves as
obstacles between me and the
Chairman. I had to sacrifice the
friendship between Nobu and
myself to let the Chairman
become my danna in the end,
but I would pray that Nobu has
forgiven me, for I know I have
violated his trust in me.
Q: How is life for you in New
York?
Sayuri: I can’t pretend I didn’t
feel afraid so many years ago
when I first moved to New
York. I now run a little
teahouse on the second floor of
an old club off Fifth Avenue
that is modestly successful. A
number of geisha have come
from Gion to work with me
there, and even Mameha
sometimes visits. I regard New
York as my life now that I am
no longer a geisha.