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  Friends of IG        
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Whilst I enjoy and look forward to receiving emails from my readers, I am quite often inundated with many emails asking me the same questions in relation to both the Memoirs of a Geisha novel and the film. As much as I would love to be able to answer each and every mail individually, I am unable to. So as a result, I shall try to address the most frequently asked questions here.
 Have you read Memoirs of a Geisha? Yes I have. I first read Memoirs of a Geisha shortly after it was first published and released in Australia in 1998 and have read it a few other times over the past years.
Did you like and enjoy Memoirs of a Geisha, the novel? Yes I did enjoy reading Memoirs of a Geisha the first time, despite the fact there are numerous inaccuracies (which will be addressed in the near future). It was an entertaining story but I did feel that it was a rather Western approach to a Japanese "love" story. I believe Lesley Downer described it the best as a "Cinderella" story in Japanese guise. Do you use Memoirs of a Geisha in your researching? No I do not, nor do I suggest people use this
novel as a basis for serious factual researching. Where can I find information or pictures of the different geisha mentioned in Memoirs of a Geisha? Sayuri, Mameha, Pumpkin and Hatsumomo are all
fictional character created by Arthur Golden. Because of this, you
will not find any further information about them nor will you find
photographs or travel posters as none of them never truly existed. Is Memoirs of a Geisha a true story? No. Memoirs of a Geisha is a fictional novel written
by Arthur Golden. Was Memoirs of a Geisha inspired by any real life geisha? Whilst Memoirs of a Geisha is a fictional story, Arthur Golden did interview two ex-geisha during his researching phase. The first geisha he spoke with was Kiharu Nakamura, whom he spent an evening speaking with. Kiharu-san has her own biography out about her life as a Shimbashi Geisha. The second geisha he spoke with, and whom he gives a lot of credit to in helping him understand the geisha world is Mineko Iwasaki, who was a very famous maiko and geiko in Gion, Kyoto. Mineko-san released her own memoirs about her life recently, called "Geisha, A Life" (or "Geisha of Gion" in countries outside of the U.S.A.). No doubt, elements from these two geisha's lives helped inspired events in Memoirs of a Geisha. Why was Mineko Iwasaki suing Arthur Golden? Mineko-san felt betrayed by Arthur Golden, as according to her, he had promised not to mention her name in the book, as the geisha who spoke to him so candidly about her life and yet, at the back of the book, he mentions Mineko-san's name and also during numerous of interviews he undertook after the publication of the novel. This was the main basis for the lawsuit.
Mineko-san also believes that Arthur Golden has claimed that she told him that her mizuage cost a record amount, whilst she vehemently denies that she ever went through. In addition, she believes there are many inaccuracies in the book, and that the book has brought shame upon her, her family and the geisha world.
What books do you recommend reading after Memoirs of a Geisha? The first book I generally recommend is Mineko Iwasaki's biography due to her involvement with the creation of Memoirs of a Geisha and the lawsuit that followed. It is an interesting look into the life of one of the most famous geisha to emerge from Gion. |
