Memoirs of a Geisha
Chapter Summaries
Chapters 1-4
The book starts with Chiyo as the main character. Chiyo lives with her sister Satsu, her father, and her dying mother. They all live in a little town named Yoroido. Chiyo is unlike her whole family in which she is a gorgeous girl. Her eyes are a beautiful blue-gray. Chiyo is said to have more water in her.
Mr. Tanaka takes both of the girls to his house to meet his family. On the way to his house, he takes the girls to a fortuneteller. The next day, Mr. Tanaka’s daughter takes Chiyo to go spy on her dad. They see him going into a teahouse, which is where a geisha would entertain him. Chiyo is intrigued by the looks of one of the geishas. Chiyo really likes Mr. Tanaka and his family and hopes he adopts her when her mother passes away.
Mr. Tanaka tells Chiyo and Satsu to …show more content…
meet him in town. They all go into Gion where Chiyo goes to an “okiya” and Satsu is taken somewhere else. Chiyo will live in this geisha house with Granny, Mother, Aunty, Hatsumomo, and Pumpkin, who is a girl her age.
Chiyo is to become a geisha if she works very hard the next couple of months. In only about a month, Chiyo starts schooling and Pumpkin takes her to her school to introduce the teachers. Chiyo hopes to see Satsu, but unfortunately does not. Chiyo goes to the address given and finds Satsu. She learns that Satsu is
Chapters 5-8
Hatsumomo brings Chiyo to the registry office where she finds out that Satsu is probably not in Gion. Hatsumomo smiles at the fact that she knows where Satsu is. A tradition of a geisha in training is to watch the head geisha get dressed in the morning her first day of school.
Chiyo’s responsible for staying awake and waiting for Hatsumomo to come home from her job at night. Chiyo finds that Hatsumomo brings back a boy about once a week and goes into the maid’s room. One night, Hatsumomo brings back a friend and demands Chiyo writes all over kimono they brought home. Hatsumomo said she would give Chiyo information on her sister if she did so. Chiyo has to pay for the damages through working and gets a beating. Hatsumomo does tell her the address where Satsu lives. She learns that Satsu is one of the girls who wear their bows in the front (prostitute). They plan on running away in a couple of days, but she fails to do so and receives a beating for trying. Chiyo receives a letter from Mr. Tanaka saying that both of her parents have passed away and that Satsu has escaped Gion.
Chapters 9-11
Chiyo was sent on an errand to return hair accessories to a geisha. This is where Chiyo met Chairman who gave her money to go get shaved ice. This specific moment is when Chiyo knew she wanted to be a geisha. Granny was found dead by Chiyo in her room. A heater killed her, which was in her room. Everyone came to say sorry but one person in particular took everyone’s attention. It was Mameha, the girl that had the kimono Chiyo ruined. Mameha was also Hatsumomo’s rival in Gion. A couple of days later, Mameha’s maid came to the okiya and asked Chiyo to come meet her in the town to talk. Chiyo went and found that she would be talking directly to Mameha. Mameha showed up at the okiya’s door one day to explain to Mother that she wanted Chiyo to come apprentice as a geisha for her. After a long thought, they came to a conclusion where Pumpkin would be an apprentice for Hatsumomo and Chiyo would apprentice for Mameha. This way both girls would be able to become successful geishas.
Chapters 12-14
Right after Chiyo goes to Mameha’s home to talk about her decision, she begins schooling again.
Chiyo still will be practicing with Pumpkin at school. Pumpkin is informed by Hatsumomo to not talk to Chiyo at any expense. Mameha is quickly to be told what Hatsusmomo has said. In order to be better than Hatsumomo, she will have to achieve a wealthy supporter. She will also have to take becoming a geisha really seriously and work hard at studying dance and music.
After a while, Pumpkin becomes an apprentice geisha. Chiyo is taken out by
Mameha, frequently, to be taught lessons on how to be an overall good geisha. She teaches Chiyo how to walk with poise and make every man glance at her. Chiyo is a real natural at being a geisha. Chiyo,now has the name of Sayuri. Mameha will soon have Chiyo as her apprentice and she will teach her how to sleep differently to not damage her hair, pour tea correctly, and meet clients. In a few days, Chiyo will have to put her talents to the test in her first ceremony where she will become a “sister” to Mameha.
Chapters
15-18
Mahema and Sayuri go to the first ceremony where Hatsumomo comes unexpectedly. She comes to see what Sayuri looks like. Hatsumomo tries to make up an embarrassing story to humiliate Sayuri, but it is turned around and Hatsumomo ends up looking like a fool. After the ceremony, Sayuri goes back to the okiya and gets slapped by Hatsumomo. In order for Hatsumomo not to ruin Sayuri’s reputation, Mameha and Sayuri will have to leave every party right when Hatsumomo drops by. Mameha finds a party where Hatsumomo will not be found. This is where they will find a man that will be very important in Sayuri’s life. Sayuri could not stop thinking about Chairman, who gave her the money to buy the ice cone. They reconnect at a sumo-tournament and Sayuri is also introduced to Nobu, the important man that will be coming into her life. At the wrestling even, Mameha comes up with a plan to throw Hatsumomo out of Gion. Sayuri becomes aware of who Chairman and Nobu really are and how important they are. Mameha also introduces Sayuri to Dr. Crab by cutting her leg and bringing her to the hospital and also she meets an artist friend of Mameha.
Chapters 19-21
Sayuri is invited to perform at a famous teahouse for guests like Chairman and Nobu. After that night, Chiyo was very frequently asked to entertain for them. All these men were interested in Sayuri’s beauty, especially because of her unique eyes. Now Sayuri was 15, and she was ready to have her virginity bided on. The main bidders would probably be Nobu and Dr. Crab. Sayuri was informed that Dr. Crab liked to ‘play around’ and that’s why he would be a high bidder. Pumpkin and Sayuri found a wuick time to catch up on things. Pumpkin told Sayuri that Hatsumomo told Dr. Crab that she had a boyfriend and that Hatsumomo was helping her sneak around with him. Sayuri and Mameha had to explain to Dr. Crab that that is all a lie and that Sayuri is completely pure. Nobu could start bidding for Sayuri’s virginity. Sayuri was also given a very important dance solo for one of the most important shows. Everyone was invited to Mameha’s “boyfriend’s” party he held for one of his friends. At the end of the night, the only people left were Sayuri, Baron (Mameha’s boyfriend”, Nobu, Dr. Crab, and Mr. Arashino. Baron announced another party at this time. Mameha could not go because of an abortion appointment.
Chapter 22-25
Sayuri went to Baron’s next party hoping to see the Chairman there. Fortunately, she did find him and chatted with him for a long time. Baron then told Sayuri to go in his room with him because he had a gift for her. He then undressed her and took a look at her.
Sayuri was very upset on what just happened. She knew that Baron was Mameha’s man and she felt violated. Sayuri saw a picture of her on the way home from the party, but she was so overwhelmed she couldn’t feel happy. Time passed and Mameha came to the okiyo to inform Sayuri that her bidding has begun for her virginity. Mother made sure that Sayuri was still a virgin by having a gynecologist look at her. Mother then decided to officially adopt Sayuri. Sayuri’s final bidders were not who everyone thought, it was actually Baron and Dr. Crab. In the end Dr. Crab had the highest bid. Sayuri really wanted the Chairman and at her next performance, he was the only one there. At the age of 18, Sayuri finally became a geisha. Her “danna” or supporter would become Nobu. Mameha wanted that to change to General Tottori because he would protect her during the war.
Chapters 26-28
Sayuri performed a type of ceremony for General Tottori for the final bond between her and him. He was finally her “danna”. Her responsibility was to please him intimately. She would rather be doing this for Chairman. Nobu was avoiding Sayuri for a while because she rejected his offer of being her “danna”. Sayuri has been becoming more and more successful. She was actually more successful than Hatsumomo and Pumpkin combined. Hatsumomo’s drinking problem became out of control. Sayuri walked in on her reading Sayuri’s diary, which is unheard of. Years passed, and Mameha finally ended Hatsumomo’s career. She forced Hatsumomo out of being a geisha and ended up becoming a low-end prostitute with a drinking problem. Sayuri and her okiya are lucky to have General Tottori take care of them during the Depression and World War II. But all of Japan was getting hit hard. Every geisha house had to be shut down. Now General could help no one and Sayuri was looking toward Chairman for help. He said once his business gets back up and running, he would become her danna, which would be after the war.
Chapter 29- 32
A lot of things happened during this time period. Sayuri had to make a living by selling kimonos. Mameha became a nurse assistant at the hospital and General Tottori died of old age. Also, Baron drowned himself after he lost everything he owned. Sayuri lived with Mr. Arashino during this time. Sayuri became very unhealthy and thin. The war ended in 1945 but the country was still in turmoil. She worked hard with the Arashinos to get back on her feet. Auntie had to go get Sayuri to come back to Gion. Sayuri would make her first appearance back as a geisha by entertaining the Minister of Finances. He was a very important person for Nobu and Chairman. Sayuri invited Pumpkin to come to this event with her. The party was Chairman and Sayuri at first. But after a while it turned out to be a very good party with lots of friends attending. The Minister turned out to be a loyal client of Mameha’s and Sayuri’s. The
Minister was very interested in becoming Sayuri’s danna but was turned down. It was
Nobu who was pronounced her official danna.
Chapters 33-35
Sayuri and company including Chairman and Nobu, took a weekend trip to a beautiful island. Sayuri was very upset about the realization that Chairman will never be her danna. Sayuri and Pumpkin made a plan to get Nobu to catch Sayuri sleeping with the
Minister. Pumpkin “accidentally” brought Chairman instead of Nobu. When Sayuri confronted her about his mistake, Pumpkin’s response was it was payback for everything she had done to her in the past years. Pumpkin knew that Sayuri really loved Chairman and she was upset that Mother adopted Sayuri and not her. A private party was then held for both Sayuri and Nobu to celebrate their official connection of him being her danna.
He did not show up but it was Chairman who did. They had a very serious conversation in which they found out they had the same feelings towards each other. Forty years later, and Sayuri and Chairman move to New York to open up a teahouse with their son. Chairman eventually dies peacefully. Sayuri explains that she only talked about her story after certain people died.