Geisha

Living only for the moment, giving all our time to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, cherry blossoms and maple leaves. Singing songs, drinking sake, caressing each other, just drifting, drifting. Never giving a care if we have no money, never sad in our hearts. Only like a plant moving on the river's current; that is what is called ukiyo : The Floating World - Tales of the Floating World, Ryoi Asai

Eversince I read Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, I have been wanting to read more about geisha. Their secretive and mysterious life captivated me. The flower and willow world is almost vanished. Though there are still geisha in Japan, they are not the 'real-one'. A geisha started learning their art when they are young and went through a dod-eat-dog world. The modern geisha did not go through the arduos path the olden geisha did last time.

Almost all the geisha books I read says this "Many people in the West think of geisha simply as prostitutes". Geisha is also known as an artisan. The word geisha is derived from Japanese word for art. After reading books of Geisha, all I can say is there are geisha who really work as a performer and there are those who hrmmn... work as a prostitute. Geisha are sometimes being kept by man - as mistress. So, what's the difference between being a prostitute and being a 'kept woman'? Both sell their body for money. No doubt, some for love.

I am more surprised to learn that, Japanese wife would feel uneasy if her husband were having an affair with a bar hostess or a secretary at work, but she would probably not feel so threatened by a geisha. Hrmmn, I guess this will only happen if the geisha is aware not to throws away her professional code and being the latter. But do our modern society think of the same? I can't and I won't.

I am not going through details here. I think the book is a good read and the movie will be out (sometime next year I think).

Other books on Geisha:-
1) Geisha by Lesley Downer : more like a dictionary to the geisha world
2) Geisha by Liza Dalby: the first Westerner to become a geisha
3) Geisha of Gion by Mineko Iwasaki: a real geisha. It is believed, Memoirs of a Geisha is based on her life. This book is kind of a counter attack against Memoirs of a Geisha. According to her, Arthur Golden promised to keep her identity a secret and whatever written in Arthur Golden's book is not what being desribed by her.