title: Memoirs of a Geisha by: Golden, Arthur published: 1997 read: 2022-10 preview

It’s a biography of something like the last Geisha from Kyoto.  I happen to have visited the area where she lived, so could picture the houses, the environment, the streets where she walked before and after the second world war.  Just to make sure: no, a Geisha is not a whore, she is a person who accompanies the wealthier men or groups of people and entertains them with stories, singing, or other cultural gems.  At the same time, it was common for a Geisha to have one steady lover for a prolonged time, who of course pays considerable sums for his privileges.  Geishas were owned by their houses, until they “paid their debts” related to training, housing, etc. – something that could last many, many years.  After that, it was not uncommon for a top Geisha to take over the ownership of that house.

This book is based on what Golden learned from this particular geisha.  The truth of the stories is disputed but certainly seem to be either true or highly plausible.  At the same time, there is a strange level of naiveté in this book.  Many of the characters are described rather shallowly, and that gives the feeling that the main character is shallow, gullible.  Hard to imagine for a woman of such high social standing, so why did Golden do that?  To make clear that a geisha, as a perfect mirror of Japanese society, never shows her real thoughts?  If so, he did well.  But if not, it’s sometimes somewhat superficial.

Nice book.  Read if you want to know more about this particular part of history. And then, of course, also try to get your hands on Sayo Masuda, G G Rowley, Autobiography of a Geisha.