Memoirs of a Geisha

The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the story of a fictional geisha working in Kyoto, Japan,

before, during and after World War II and ends with her being relocated to New York City. In fact, love

is what motives Sayuri to eventually become a geisha. However, considering Sayuri’s status as a geisha,

loving someone is not profitable and usually the relationships that geishas have with their danna’s is

seen as simply a business contract that doesn’t involve the geisha to be in love with her protector. Even

if a geisha falls in love with someone, she is still bound to her danna and has to relay on his money and

status to survive. In most of the times, destiny in the book is confused with the limitations imposed by

the society they lived in. For Sayuri, destiny seemed to dictate that she had no other choice than

becoming a geisha which is partially true considering that during those times, the only way a woman

could make money without getting married was either to be a prostitute or work as a servant.

Chiyo Sakamoto '’Sayuri’’

Chyo is the main character in the book, the story being told from her perspective. She is taken from her

family and separated from her sister at a young age and is sold to a geisha house where Mother hops that

she will become a successful geisha.

Hatsumomo

She is the only geisha in the Nitta okyia when Chyo arrives there. She is extremely beautiful and quite

successful but is proud and hateful towards those who have more success than her.

Pumpkin

Pumpkin is a girl the same age as Chyo brought to the okyia in order to become a geisha. Even if she is

not exceptionally beautiful or talented, she succeeds for a short period of time with Hatsumomo’s help.

Mameha
Mameha is a very respectable geisha in the Gion district. She is considered as being a successful geisha

because of her independence and because she had a danna who paid all her expenses instead of an okiya

Iwamura Ken ''The Chairman’’

The Chariman is the one who meets Chyo one day on a bridge and who is the reason behind her desire

to become a geisha. He is the founder of Iwamura Electric and a close friend of Mameha’s.Yoroida

Yoroida is a small fishing village on the Sea of Japan, so small that it has only one road. It is the town

where Chiyo was born.

Japan Coastal Seafood Company

The most prominent business in Yoroida, run by Mr. Tanaka Ichiro.

Tipsy House

What Chiyo calls their home in Yoroida because it leans to the side, as though drunk. The house sits on

the cliff.

Amida

The Buddha of the Western Paradise.

Okada House

The place in the village of Yoroida that sells dried goods. It is where Chiyo heads to buy incense.

Senzuru

The town that Tanaka lives in, Senzuru is a dirty town, larger than Yoroido. It smells of rotted fish. The

town is situated around an inlet where train tracks scar the landscape.

Kyoto

Where Satsu and Chiyo are taken after Mr. Tanaka takes them from Yoroida.
Gion

The name of the district that...

Throughout the novel, this theme is seen through the evolution of Chiyo’s life; from a small girl in a

poor fishing village, a servant, and then to a Geisha. For example, Chiyo and her sister were sold by her

parents so that her parents could survive. “Then suddenly I realized we weren’t headed towards the

direction of Mr. Tanaka’s home at all…Mr. Tanaka led us back up the platform to where the farmers and

old women were gathering up their things.