1. Many people in the West think of geisha simply as prostitutes.

After reading Memoirs of a

Geisha, do you see the geisha of Gion as prostitutes? What are the similarities, and what
are the differences? What is the difference between being a prostitute and being a "kept
woman," as Sayuri puts it [p. 291]?
No, I don’t think the geisha of Gion are the same as prostitutes. I think that the basic
difference between the two are that men are ready and willing to pay geisha to keep them
company, without expecting an sexual favors in return. If a man wanted sex from a geisha,
he would have to go through a lengthy process in order to do so. Whereas prostitutes are
essentially paid for sexual favors—I doubt a man would pay a prostitute simply for their
company. Golden sort of backs this theory up. Pumpkin was a geisha before WWII, but
Golden mentions that she became a prostitute during the hardships during/after the war. Why
would he make the distinction of Pumpkin being both a geisha and a prostitute at different
times if his research didn’t indicate that the two roles were different. A “kept woman”, such as
a geisha is when she has a danna, is expected to have sex with that male partner, but she
may still entertain others. As a prostitute can become a “kept woman” (we’d call her a
mistress here), they would be the same. A geisha is not a prostitute. But a “kept woman” in
either culture is essentially the same. (Although a geisha with a danna doesn’t receive all of
what he pays—the okiya receives some of her income. I’m not sure how this would be in a
more “Western” sense. I don’t know if a mistress has a pimp (for lack of a better word).)

2. "The afternoon when I met Mr. Tanaka Ichiro," says Sayuri, "really was the best and the
worst of my life" [p. 7]. Is Mr. Tanaka purely motivated by the money he will make from
selling Chiyo to Mrs. Nitta, or is he also thinking of Chiyo's future? Is he, as he implies in
his letter, her friend?
Because Mr. Tanaka isn’t in the story for long, it’s really hard to understand his motivations
behind selling Chiyo and Satsu. Yes, he would make money. But, is it beyond believing that
maybe their father asked Mr. Tanaka to sell them and took some of the profit? He could’ve
done so to try to save his wife—buying more medical expertise. I think that Chiyo being sold
to Mrs. Nitta was probably a good thing for Chiyo. Whoever was behind the selling of Chiyo
and Satsu knew the girls would have no future in the seaside village. Their mother was about
to die. And they were not well-off. The girls, as they got older, would just be more of a
financial burden on their father. So, instead of having no real future, selling them to become
geisha, if they were lucky, was much better for them. At least there was the opportunity for
advancement there, and with some distinction even. If a geisha didn’t work out, they could
become prostitutes. While that may not be desirable, they would have a larger market for
that in Gion than in a seaside village.

3. In his letter to Chiyo, Mr. Tanaka says "The training of a geisha is an arduous path.
However, this humble person is filled with admiration for those who are able to recast
their suffering and become great artists" [p. 103]. The word "geisha" in fact derives
from the Japanese word for art. In what does the geisha's art consist? How many
different types of art does she practice?
The arts Chiyo/Sayuri describes as learning at school and from her big sister include: the
shamisen, a guitar-like string instrument; nagauta, singing; dance; the tea ceremony;
tsutsumi and other various drums; and the fue, a flute-like instrument.

Of course, the geisha need to accomplish other feats, such as how to apply their makeup,
how to not disrupt their hairstyles (as it’s expensive and time consuming to go to the
hairdresser more than necessary), how to walk in the high okobo shoes with grace and
balance, how to master portraying certain emotions with their movements, and, especially,
how to please the company they are in. While these aren’t arts, necessarily, the geisha must
master these, mostly from experience.
4. Does Sayuri have a better life as a geisha than one assumes she would have had in her
village? How does one define a "better" life? Pumpkin, when offered the opportunity to
run away, declines [p. 53]; she feels she will be safer in Gion. Is her decision wise?
I think Sayuri had a better life as a geisha than she probably would’ve had in the seaside
village from which she came. She had no idea she would be such a successful geisha and
have a danna which she truly loved and even have a son with him. But even as a maid she
would have food and shelter (even if she had to work for it forever). There were just more
opportunities to her in a city the size of Kyoto than in her seaside village.

I think Pumpkin was wise. We saw what happened to Chiyo when she ran away. She was
caught and Mrs. Nitta decided she wasn’t a stable investment—so she wouldn’t become a
geisha. Pumpkin, however, was wise and knew that her circumstances could really only
improve from the life she had as a 10-year-old girl waiting for her geisha training. Chiyo only
hurt herself. If it hadn’t been for Mameha and the Chairman, she would’ve been a maid in the
okiya, like Auntie, forever.

5. How does Sayuri's status at the Nitta okiya resemble, or differ from, that of a slave? Is
she in fact a slave?
I think the only difference between Sayuri’s status as a shikomi (“Prior to becoming an
apprentice geisha, a young woman helps the maiko and geisha in her okiya and does chores
around the house to earn her keep.”) and a slave seems to be a difference in investment. A
slave is unpaid and never receives wages, whereas a shikomi is unpaid at first, but eventually
receives wages. A slave-owner would have to treat their slave with some sort of compassion
so that they physically are able to do their work, whereas a shikomi can be treated any way
and if she is hurt, she will just have to pay the head of an okiya back for the initial investment
through working as a maid forever (because she also needs to pay for her keep, so there’s
really no way to get out of an okiya if one doesn’t become a geisha). Auntie is the example of
the shikomi who was hurt during her training and became a maid in the okiya forever.

In theory, Sayuri does have free will and choices she can make: “Chiyo knows she has to do
what I [Hatsumomo] tell her” (p83) “I suppose I could have dashed out the door at any time,
if I’d wanted to, but I knew better than to do something so foolish” (p90). Sayuri would have
become a second Auntie if it hadn’t been for Mameha.

6. Are Mother and Granny cruel by nature, or has the relentless life of Gion made them
what they are? If so, why is Auntie somewhat more human? Does Auntie feel real
affection for Sayuri and Pumpkin, or does she see them simply as chattel?
Mother and Granny weren’t cruel by nature. But the life of a geisha can sometimes require
schemes and trickery. As in many other service-oriented jobs, there is a great deal of
“survival of the fittest”. I think that Mother and Granny were probably not the most popular
geisha in their day, and because they weren’t the best, they had to develop that harder shell
that makes them seem mean. And because they know the life of a geisha isn’t easy, they help
the girls understand that from an early age. Being a geisha isn’t always easy—they must
learn that they won’t always be treated well.

I think Auntie is more human because she was never a geisha. When Chiyo was a maid—after
she tried running away—I think Auntie felt a little real affection for her. I mean, Auntie was
hurt when she was young and never really became a geisha. She was forced to work as a
maid at the okiya to pay for her room and board and other expenses, plus what the okiya
spent to buy her. Essentially, she had to work to stay there. And Auntie knew Chiyo was
about to have the same life she had—which wasn’t a great one. As far as Pumpkin goes, I
don’t think Auntie felt the same towards her. But Pumpkin was more “simple-minded”, so it
was easier for Auntie to make Pumpkin do more work when she was going through her
training and apprenticeship.

7. "We must use whatever methods we can to understand the movement of the universe
around us and time our actions so that we are not fighting the currents, but moving with
them" [p. 127]. How does this attitude differ from the Western notion of seizing control
 of one's destiny? Which is the more valid? What are Sayuri's feelings and beliefs about
"free will"?
I thought this idea of destiny was really interesting throughout the book. It’s quite obvious
that Sayuri believed the Chairman was somehow involved in her destiny—maybe even
destined to be with him—even though she had nothing to back it up. Sayuri said, “If you keep
your destiny in mind, every moment in life becomes an opportunity for moving closer to it.”
(p368). But this quote confuses me, because Sayuri doesn’t know exactly what her destiny is.
How can you move towards something in your life when you have no idea what what that
something is? Sayuri continually referenced her life was like a river and she floated along it,
not knowing where it would take her. So how does she know what actions will take one or the
other of a fork in the river?

By seizing one’s destiny, I think in a Westernized world, that means we choose our own
destinies. I decided I was destined to become a teacher, so I seized that destiny and took
certain steps to get closer to it, such as going to college and taking certain classes, much like
Sayuri’s quote I wrote above. Sayuri definitely seized her destiny when she tried to sabotage
her relationship with Nobu to get closer to the Chairman. But I think free will is involved in
seizing your destiny, which Sayuri did—even if she didn’t believe in free will…I don’t know if
Golden knew what he was doing when he started including all the destiny stuff.

8. Do you see Sayuri as victimized by Nobu's attentions, or do you feel pity for Nobu in his
hopeless passion for Sayuri? Do you feel that, in finally showing her physical scorn for
Nobu, Sayuri betrayed a friend, or that real friendship is impossible between a man and a
woman of their respective stations?
I think, in regards to Nobu, Sayuri became a big bitch, to put it in simple terms. She was so
selfish. I feel pity for Nobu because Sayuri, when she could have repaid him for all the
kindness he showed her, decided to make him as upset as possible to get at his best friend. I
don’t think that Sayuri had physical scorn for Nobu—after she first met him when she was
fourteen, she hardly ever really mentions his physical appearance. I think that, because he
was kind and even a friend of hers, she overlooked that aspect of his person. But I definitely
think Sayuri betrayed Nobu. He helped her survive the war by getting her work in a safe place
and was always kinder to her than anyone else. He continually made his affection for her
known—trying to get her mizuage, to be a danna originally. But he waited patiently until the
time was right. And she just blew him off. Didn’t want to repay him for anything he’d done for
him. I don’t think they had a real friendship. Sayuri kept up acquaintance with him because
he was close to the Chairman and he kept up acquaintance with her because he loved her and
wanted to be more than friends, and made sacrifices for her. But it would be possible for
people of their ages and stations to be real friends, I think.

9. How do Japanese ideas about eroticism and sexuality differ from Western ones? Does
the Japanese ideal of femininity differ from ours? Which parts of the female body are
fetishized in Japan, which in the West? The geisha's ritual of preparing herself for the
teahouse is a very elaborate affair; how essentially does it differ from a Western
women's preparation for a date?
Western men love boobs and butts. Oh sure, they might like other parts of the body too, like
legs or stomach or lips. But I don’t think Western men would find the underside of the
forearm or the nape of the neck to be very sexual parts of the body. “I must tell you
something about necks in Japan, if you don’t know it; namely, that Japanese men, as a rule,
feel about a woman’s neck and throat the same way that men in the West might feel about a
woman’s legs. This is why geisha wear the collars of their kimono so low in the back that the
first few bumps of the spine were visible…When a man sits beside her and sees her makeup
like a mask, he becomes that much more aware of the bare skin beneath.” (p71-72)

I think the major difference in the preparations of a geisha and a regular Western woman is
that of tradition. It takes a geisha longer, also. But the ritual of preparing for the teahouse
just has much more of a tradition. Japanese women might not have always had the same kind
of makeup, but the tradition of getting ready was deeply entrenched in the geisha culture.
And they wear more traditional clothes, whereas a Western woman’s style continually
 changes. I could look at women in clothes from 1900 to 1990 and place her in a decade,
based on her clothes. Not so with a geisha, at least to the Western eye.

10. Does the way in which the Kyoto men view geisha differ from the way they might view
other women, women whom they might marry? What are the differences? How, in turn,
do geisha view men? Is the geisha's view of men significantly different from that of
ordinary women?
I’m really not sure about this one. I don’t know what it is that makes a geisha a woman that a
man can’t marry. Yes, Sayuri mentioned knowing geisha who had long-term relationships with
their danna and even had children by them. But I don’t know what sort of social stigma is
placed on them to keep men from marrying geisha. I’m actually interested to know what the
wives felt towards the geisha. The wives weren’t really mentioned that often in the story—did
the story just take place a time and in a society where women just succumbed to the fact that
their husbands had mistresses? And spent lavish amounts of money on them?

Geisha I think view men as their security. Without men, the geisha would have no business. A
danna would be most desirable because they would be a secure/stable source of income for
the geisha. But ordinary women might not have felt the same way. If it was similar to the
United States, the 1940s-1950s where when women began to have their independence for
the first time—having their own jobs and the like. If ordinary women in Japan had the same
sense of independence, they wouldn’t need men to be successful. They didn’t have to be a
“housewife”, they could’ve lived without them—unlike a geisha.

11. Do you find that the relationship between a geisha and her danna is very different from
that between a Western man and his mistress? What has led Sayuri to think that "a
geisha who expects understanding from her danna is like a mouse expecting sympathy
from a snake" [p. 394]?
No, I don’t think there is a difference. Sayuri’s first danna, the General, did not understand
her. The Baron didn’t understand Mameha. A geisha was lucky to have a danna who was
understanding—Sayuri would’ve got this from Nobu, I think, and she did get it from the
Chairman. It was more or less her experience that led her to believe it was a rare thing.

12. As the older Sayuri narrates her story, it almost seems as though she presents Chiyo and
Sayuri as two different people. In what ways are Chiyo and Sayuri different? In what
ways are they recognizably the same person?
I didn’t really notice this at first, the way Chiyo and Sayuri are presented as two different
people. But then I began to look more at the differences in the story after she became Sayuri
and I think I have put my finger on the differences. Firstly, Sayuri hardly ever speaks of Satsu
or her life before she came to the okiya. And secondly, Sayuri hardly ever mentions what she
does in the okiya. As an apprentice, she had to have still been doing her normal chores and
had responsibilities in the okiya; but Sayuri mentions hardly anything other than her geisha
activities and what she does with Mameha. So the Chiyo/Sayuri of the Nitta okiya is dead, but
the Sayuri that is Mameha’s younger sister is alive.

13. Pumpkin believes that Sayuri betrayed her when she, rather than Pumpkin, was adopted
by the Nitta okiya. Do you believe that Sayuri was entirely blameless in this incident?
Might she have helped to make Pumpkin's life easier while they were in the okiya
together? Or has Pumpkin's character simply been corrupted by her years with
Hatsumomo and the entire cruel system that has exploited her?
Sayuri was in no way blameless. She was very much to blame. She could’ve refused, even if
it had been hard. Then again, Mother could’ve thrown her out for less than that so maybe she
was somewhat between a rock and a hard place. Sayuri could have helped Pumpkin out a
little. If nothing else, Sayuri could’ve been more sensitive to all the favors she asked of
Pumpkin. I can’t believe she was so oblivious to Pumpkin’s true resentment. Hatsumomo
certainly didn’t help Pumpkin—practically two peas in a pod, wronged by the same person.

14. Sayuri senses that she shares an en, a lifelong karmic bond, with Nobu [p. 295]. How
might a Western woman express this same idea?
 I can’t say for sure. I don’t exactly understand the lifelong karmic bond, so I can’t come up
with a Western parallel.

15. During Sayuri's life, Japan goes through a series of traumas and unprecedented cultural
change: the Great Depression, the War, the American Occupation. How do the
inhabitants of Gion view political events in the outside world? How much effect do such
events have upon their lives? How aware are they of mainstream Japanese culture and
life?
Gion was above and beyond the laws for “normal citizens”. It took a long time for the adverse
affects of things such as scarcity and rationing during the war to manifest. The geisha would
be less aware of mainstream Japanese culture because they tended to stay in Gion. Whereas
men like the Chairman and Nobu traveled throughout the country often, so they would be
aware of it. But, while the geisha had to be aware of current events to discuss with their
patrons if need be, much of what they did was rooted in tradition. So they are actually a
remnant of past cultures in a modernizing world.

16. What personal qualities do Sayuri and Mameha have that make them able to survive and
even prosper in spite of the many cruelties they have suffered? Why is Hatsumomo, for
example, ultimately unable to survive in Gion?
First of all, I don’t think Sayuri would have survived if it hadn’t been for Mameha. I mean, she
wouldn’t have even been a geisha if not for Mameha. But also, Mameha taught her many
things during her apprentice years, such as how to avoid a direct attack from Hatsumomo and
also how to provoke Hatsumomo at the right time. I can’t say, though, what particular
personal qualities Sayuri and Mameha have that allowed them to prosper. Hatsumomo was
cruel at heart and everyone knew it—this may have been responsible for her downfall. The
last straw for Hatsumomo was the jewel she blamed Sayuri for taking (when she was still
Chiyo) being found in Hatsumomo’s safe and also blaming Sayuri for disliking Mother. The
consistent taking-down of other people had come back to bite Hatsumomo in the butt.

17. Is Sayuri the victim of a cruel and repressive system, a woman who can only survive by
submitting to men? Or is she a tough, resourceful person who has not only survived but
built a good life for herself with independence and even a certain amount of power?
I’m not sure that Sayuri is necessarily a victim. There were other options available to her,
even if being a geisha truly seemed like the best one. The system, however, was repressive—
women totally dependent on men is, at least in this day and age, backward. I think Sayuri
made the best of a not-always-the-best situation. She was certainly lucky—she could have
had a danna that was less desirable than the General or the Chairman. And, as far as the
General as a danna goes, Sayuri was very resourceful. She used her connection with him as a
way to get goods that the rest of Gion was unable to get because of scarcity. Eventually she
lost this perk, but using it while they could, the okiya had prospered.

In the end, I think Sayuri definitely built a good life for herself and gained independence and
power. She used the Chairman to move to New York and set up a teahouse. While I think she
truly loved him, and she appeared to have moved to New York to get their son out of the way
so his daughter could marry a good man and not worry about a later usurpation, it seems a
little cold the way Golden wrote her move to New York. Did the Chairman continue to visit her
after she moved there? Or did they never see each other again?

18. Why might Golden have chosen to begin his narrative with a "Translator's Note"? What
does this device accomplish for him?
I think Golden chose to being this story with a “Translator’s Note” because it gave the novel
an air of authenticity of true events. This book is, even if based on true events, a work of
historical fiction. But, a Translator’s Note makes the book appear to be a work of non-fiction,
a memoir, which reads like a story of fiction. The narrator, an old lady who was once
Chiyo/Sayuri, explains things throughout the story. By doing this, Golden essentially targeted
the market of the book to Western readers—some explanations would not be needed if the
audience was meant to be Japanese, for example. And, at some points these explanations
don’t necessarily read as recollections from an old lady—sometimes they do seem to be more
 dictionary/encyclopedia explanations of certain things. Almost like a “How-To” book for
geisha.

19. In Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden has done a very daring thing: he, an American
man, has written in the voice of a Japanese woman. How successfully does he disguise
his own voice? While reading the novel, did you feel that you were hearing the genuine
voice of a woman?
I think Golden easily disguises his own voice. At times there were passages that felt a little
like a lecture or reading an encyclopedia. For example, the passage where Chiyo watches
Hatsumomo dress and put her makeup on for the first time sounded a little like a “How To”
guide. Because he was supposed to be an elderly lady recounting her past, he could’ve used
more tools to make it sound like a narrative. Including more things like, “I was in awe
when…” could’ve broken up the monotony of simply describing it as a third-person encounter.

But I did often feel like the narrator was a woman and hardly ever a man. He must have
taken particular care to listen to Mineko Iwasaki when he interviewed her and not only what
she said, but how she said things. While this isn’t a story of Mineko Iwasaki, she was a geisha
and a woman, so the way she put things could easily transfer into a more general narration,
such as Golden used.