Memoirs of a Geisha

Though Sayuri is excited about the blossom viewing, she feels sorrow while waiting at the train station because it reminds her of her family. She had been focused on her life in Gion, but, at this moment, she realizes that life for many people has nothing to do with Gion. 

At the party, the Baron instructs Sayuri to walk around so that everyone can get a good look at her beauty. While doing so, Sayuri spots the Chairman and they get into conversation, though Sayuri feels self-conscious about spending time with the man she has “thought about more constantly than anyone” (292). Before departing, the Chairman advises Sayuri to be wary of the Baron, who has decided that there is something he wants to give to her.

Shortly afterwards, the Baron emerges wearing a dressing robe and instructs Sayuri to come to his quarters. She knows that it would be sensible to decline, but she is in such a state of shock that she cannot think straight. The Baron then gives her a kimono as a present, telling her to come with him and try it on. She wishes that there were a way out of the situation, but the Baron is a man of authority and has been kind to her since her debut. She therefore concludes that she had no choice.

Sayuri cannot bear to look at herself in the mirror as the Baron undresses her. Whenever she tries to stop him touching her, he pushes her hands away and insists that he only wants to have a look. Holding back her tears, she catches sight of herself and is struck by her nakedness—she has never felt so exposed before. The Baron’s hand then vanishes from view, and Sayuri does not want to think about what he is doing. At this point, she cannot stop herself from crying, and the mirror begins to blur.

Afterwards, the Baron helps Sayuri into her kimono without saying a word, and Sayuri feels that she has done something terribly wrong. She wipes her face before returning to the inn where she is staying, but, when Mr. Itchoda, Mameha’s dresser, sees her, he seems to know what has happened. He asks whether the Baron undressed her and looked at her, and she confirms that that is what happened. Mr. Itchoda concludes, “That’s fine, then” (302), and neither of them says anything more on the matter.

Returning to Kyoto train station the next morning, Sayuri is struck by the sight of posters for the Dances of the Old Capital featuring herself as drawn by Uchida. She expects to be congratulated often over the next few days, but she finds that many women are aloof and unpleasant to her. She also cannot help visualizing the girl in the image being undressed by an older man in front of a mirror. 

Sayuri imagines that Mr. Itchoda has told Mameha about what happened at the Baron’s party, but Mameha does not say anything. Both Mameha and Sayuri take part in the Dances of the Old Capital two weeks later, and Sayuri is entranced by Mameha’s dancing while performing her own role without any difficulty. 

After Mameha and Sayuri leave the theater one evening, Nobu emerges from a nearby car and gives Sayuri a gift. Once he leaves, she opens it and finds a ruby, which Mameha instructs her to give to Mother and to be especially sweet and fawning while doing so. Sayuri is sorry to bestow the jewel on such an unpleasant person, but she obeys Mameha’s orders. 

A few days later, Mameha informs Sayuri that bidding for her mizuage has begun, though Mameha will be away in Tokyo during this time. She says that this is unfortunate but that Sayuri will not need her anyway. Mameha is gone for three days, and, on the third day, Mother summons Sayuri to a room in the okiya. There, Mameha undergoes an examination by a young doctor, who confirms that her hymen is still intact. 

Once Sayuri has dressed, Mother grabs her and hisses that it is lucky that nothing has happened this time. She warns Sayuri that she should not try to cheat the okiya, but Sayuri insists that she has not done anything to warrant punishment. Mother agrees that she has not and that, if she is sensible, she never will. Subsequently, Mother informs her that her status at the okiya is about to change, as she is going to be adopted. Sayuri knows this will mark the end of Hatsumomo’s tyranny, and she now realizes that this has been Mameha’s plan all along.

Hatsumomo arrives and overhears this conversation and is shocked and angered to learn that Mother has decided to adopt Sayuri rather than Pumpkin. In fact, Mother denies having said that she would adopt Pumpkin. She claims that she has been planning to adopt Sayuri for at least a year, and she looks to Sayuri to verify this. However, as she does not want to end up like Mother, Sayuri cannot bring herself to confirm this claim. Instead, she says that she cannot remember. 

Hatsumomo storms out after this exchange, but Sayuri feels bad for Pumpkin. She asks Mother whether she could adopt them both, but Mother cautions her not to interfere.

Mameha claims to be happy about Sayuri’s adoption, but Sayuri notices that her response seemed muted; years later, Sayuri finds out that the final bidding war had been between Dr. Crab and the Baron, rather than Dr. Crab and Nobu. In the end, Dr. Crab had agreed to pay what was at the time the highest amount ever paid for a mizuage in Gion. Naturally, Mother is now especially keen to adopt Sayuri, and the ceremony takes place the following week. 

Sayuri’s mizuage occurs when she is fifteen years old, and it begins with a ceremony in which she and Dr. Crab drink sake. Sayuri is then taken to a room in an inn, and Dr. Crab tells her to remove her clothing and lie down on a futon while he spreads out a towel to absorb her blood. He informs her that this is the second time that he will take a specimen of her blood, as he kept the cotton swab from the time she cut her leg. Sayuri notices other vials labeled with the name of various geisha; including Mameha.

As the Doctor lowers himself onto her, Sayuri feels no pleasure and tries to put up a mental barrier. Once he has finished, he cuts off a piece of the towel and puts it in a vial before going to take a bath. Now that it is over, Sayuri’s relief prompts her to smile and think of the absurdity of the situation—that the course of her future had been altered by this.

The world looks different to Sayuri after her mizuage; she now feels more mature and worldly in contrast to girls who have not gone through this process. We learn that an apprentice’s status is signaled by her hairstyle, and that an apprentice wears a red silk band after mizuage. Not only does Sayuri see the world differently, Mother now treats her with more respect and prevents Hatsumomo from making trouble. 

Dr. Crab disappears almost completely now that the mizuage is over, but one man Sayuri is keen to see again is the Chairman. Happily, Iwamura Electric calls to request her company and she spends an evening with him and Nobu. 

A month or so later, Sayuri is poised to attend a large party that Iwamura Electric has planned. However, shortly before the party, she receives a message stating that she will not be needed. She is under the impression that the party has been cancelled but, when she goes to the Ichiriki teahouse that night, she hears the sound of the Chairman’s laughter emanating from a banquet room. She asks a nearby geisha if she has just come from the party given by Iwamura Electric, and the geisha says that she has; however, she says that Nobu was not present, as he had gone home sick that morning.

Sayuri had previously imagined that the Chairman valued her company, but now she wonders if it is only Nobu who cares. 

Though Mameha has won her bet with Mother, she still has a stake in Sayuri’s future and thus strives to make her familiar to her own best customers and other geisha. The average party is quite dull, however, and Sayuri points out that being raised to be a geisha does not ensure that a girl will be clever or have something interesting to say. Likewise, there is no guarantee that the men will be interesting.

Sayuri makes the transition to full geisha when she is eighteen years old, in a process known as “turning the collar”, because it involves exchanging the red collar of an apprentice for the white collar of a geisha. The day of this transition seems to be one of the happiest of Mother’s life, though this is merely because she anticipates more money; fully qualified geisha are available to men for functions other than serving tea, provided the terms are suitable.

After moving to New York years later, Sayuri has come to realize that western women often view geisha as prostitutes. However, she observes that some of the women who take this stance are themselves reliant upon wealthy, older men.

A geisha may spend her time going from one party to another, but, to be a star, she must take on a danna. Accordingly, Mother tells Sayuri that Nobu is poised to become her danna next month. Sayuri supposes that this is an obvious turn of affairs and she likes Nobu well enough, but she did not want mere kindness. She tries to ask Mameha whether she has ever wished for real love, but Mameha emphasizes that it is futile to cling to such hopes and that women do not become geishas for their own satisfaction—they do so because they have no choice. 

Sayuri feels despondent as she attends numerous parties where she is surrounded by a sea of older men. The only parties that have any sense of purpose are military ones, as they make Sayuri realize how insignificant her own suffering is in comparison to that caused by war.

Because Sayuri’s earnings will increase after she takes on a danna and because Mother will be protective of that money, Mameha decides that it is time to collect what she is owed as part of the earlier bet. Mother tries to lie about Sayuri’s earnings and the specifics of the bet, turning to Sayuri to back her up. Sayuri finds this an extremely awkward situation but cannot take Mother’s side against Mameha. She therefore repeats the terms of the bet as it had been established. As a result of Sayuri’s statement, and the figures kept by Mameha’s accountant, Mother is forced to concede these terms and the business is concluded for the time being. 

When talk turns to the subject of Nobu becoming Sayuri’s danna, Mameha says that she had been under the impression that another man has shown interest in Sayuri. Sayuri now begins to realize that, for some reason, Mameha is trying to rescue her from Nobu. This other proposed danna is General Tottori Junnosuke, who, as Mameha relates, has recently been put in charge of military procurement—a role that could be useful to the okiya. Mother is dismissive at first, but Mameha says that no one would be in a better position to provide them with everything they could need; especially should they suffer shortages during wartime.

Mameha’s comment prompts Mother to consider this prospect and to make numerous inquiries. Mameha continues seeing Nobu in the meantime, but negotiations seem to be going nowhere and Nobu is becoming annoyed.