Product Description

'I want you to know what it is really like to live the life of a geisha, a life filled with extraordinary professional demands and richly glorious rewards. It is a life in which I was a pre-eminent success; many say the best of my generation. And yet, it was a life that I found too constricting to continue. And one that I ultimately had to leave. It is a story that I have long wanted to tell. My name is Mineko.' For more than four decades, Mineko Iwasaki has lived within the confines of powerful but invisible constraints. Bound by an ancient, unwritten code - 'by the robes of tradition and the sanctity of our exclusive calling' - she and thousands of other women over the course of three centuries of Japanese history have shielded their extraordinary lives from public view. In Geisha of Gion, Mineko is the first Japanese geisha to shed light on the fascinating and arcane geisha tradition. Captivating and poignant, Mineko's book captures her earliest memories, beginning with her move to the geisha house at the tender age of four and her initiation into the profession that she would perfect. As we follow Mineko's gradual blossoming over the years from 'Little Princess' to the brightest of stars, we learn all about the intricate training and rigid education system by which girls become geishas, the specific duties and performances required of the women and the extraordinarily vast foundation of wealth upon which geisha culture rests. Filled with moments of great strength and delicate beauty, Geisha of Gion is a brave and luminous revelation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40578 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
It's impossible to bring up the subject of geishas without mentioning Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, but fascinating and beautifully written though that book is it would be a shame if its success was at the expense of this marvellous factual memoir, written by the very woman who inspired Golden. Mineko Iwasaki is, by her own admission, probably the most famous geisha - or geiko, to use the correct designation - of her generation. What makes her account so different from Golden's book is the fact that she is so aware of the conflict between the highly secretive, traditional world of the karyukai and the modern society that was developing around her in the 1960s and 1970s. One of the most truly fascinating aspects of this autobiography is not so much the astonishing detail of the rigorous aesthetic and physical demands made upon these young artists (the prurient should note once and for all that 'geisha' does not in any way equate to 'courtesan'!), as much of that is now known to us through other accounts, but the conflicting emotional demands placed on Iwasaki by her calling, her family, and, ultimately, her desire for freedom. An exceptionally beautiful young child, she was selected early to become the successor - the head of the family - of a particular geisha house (okiya) in Kyoto, and was legally adopted by the owner. (To understand how she was able to bear to leave her family in such circumstances, one has to be aware of the debt of honour owed by her family to the okiya after an elder sister left under a cloud.) The interiors, the dances, the theatre, the kimono: all are described in such loving and beautiful detail that you are truly transported into a different world. Yet, when Iwasaki describes her decision not just to leave the profession (she became an art dealer, married and had a child) but to close down the okiya when she was just 30 years old, one begins to understand her frustration with the archaic system and its failure to respond to the demands of late 20th-century society. A must-read. (Kirkus UK)

Daily Mail
'A glimpse into the exotic, mysterious, tinged-with-eroticism world of the almost mythical geisha'

Company Magazine
'This beautifully written book gives a truly fascinating insight into a secretive world'

Customer Reviews

amazing insight!
After reading "Memoirs of a Geisha" i was really hungry for more literature about this fascinating world and i picked the right book. Ms Iwasaki's story is truly interesting and offers an amazing inisght into the REAL world of the geisha. The details are so fine and exquisite that you really dont want to tear yourself away from this world. It also cleared up a lot of misconceptions that "Memoirs of a Geisha" presented. The latter text relates of a practice called the "mizauge" in which a young geisha offers her virginity to a patron (who has paid for the privilege). Ms Iwasaki clears this up and points out that it was NOT a part of her experience as a Geisha and that the practice belongs to another group. The only criticism i would have is that Ms Iwasaki tends to come accross as a little arrogant and presumtious sometimes (e.g the time she believes she caused the Queen and Prince Phillip to sleep in separate beds!). But other than that, this book is truly MARVELLOUS!

A Geisha's Life
I've read the reviews below and think some people have missed the point a little; yes, it's true Mineko can come across as being up herself but in reality she's just very factual, as is the style in Japan. She could easily be discussing someone else's life rather than her own. It's a fasinating book which reveals tons about the kind of life Geisha's have and how much hard work it is. I would highly recommend it - more so than Memoirs of a Geisha.

Read it and be your own judge.

Fasinating
I am fasinated by the Chinese and Japanese cultures and picked this book up after reading 'Memoirs of a Geisha'.

I must say I enjoyed reading both Geisha of Gion and Memoirs of a giesha. The books are comparatively very similar and when reading you are able to see how the story of Memoirs of a Geisha has been highly influenced by giesha of Gion.

This story is about Mineko Iwasaki (childhood name is Masaka Tanaka). This is her story of her life as a Geisha.
The art of the 'Geiko' or 'Maiko' is very interesting and complex. If she wants to be successful she needs to put alot of effort into practicing the dancing and wake up early and sleep late. The story evolves in the Gion Kobu area of Kyoto the most popular Giesha district. Mineko decided to retire at the age of 29 at the hieght of her success. She became a great dancer and jthe most popular Gieko in the district in the era. Before becoming a Geiko she was a Maiko (dancer) and when she turned her colar she became a Geiko. There is specialised traininig given to Geiko which starts when she is very young. They are trained to dance, pore sake, learn tea cermony and performing. The maiko or Geiko are artists that perform specialised skills in tea houses.

Mineko decided to join the Iwasaki family at the age of five and was adopted at 10. She left her parents to try and improve things for them and to be able to support her parents.
Mineko was hated by one Iwasaki family member whom she learn't afterwards was her own blood sister. Her sister was increasingly becoming jelous of Mineko's success and the love her adoptive mother had for her.

When Mineko was younger she found solace and comfort in a cupboard and was continuing this when she joined the Iwasaki family. She slowly started to find her conifidence and eventually stopped for her own benefit. She was hard working and dedicated to her family and profession.

I do recommend this book to you all. It is worth it and very interesting.
I find the Japanese have a fantastic culture.