The MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

Memoirs of a Geisha - Trailer - Click here for more amazing videosMemoirs of a Geisha is a novel by Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first-person view, tells the fictional story of a geisha working in Kyoto, Japan, before and after World War ll. The novel is told from the point of view of Sayuri Nitta, a retired geisha in her 70s, living in the Waldorf Towers in New York. She is interviewed by Jacob Haarhuis, a professor at New York University, who is credited as the story's translator, although he is fictional character himself. The story is told in a flashback format, with continuous references to the time between Sayuri's career and the time she is being interviewed. The word "geisha" summons images of beautiful women dressed in exquisite kimono, serving sake to businessman in paper-paneled rooms. These charming figures embodying the Japanese ideal of beauty, politeness and perfection have long captivated people, only to be wrongly labeled as high-class prostitutes. The casting of the film caused much controversy due to the fact that the three main roles were given to Chinese actresses. Many Chinese were outraged as the Chinese characters often use for the word "geisha" can easily be misspelled to mean "prostitute". At a time when relations between Japan and China are at an all-time low, the idea of Chinese women portraying what many Chinese mistakenly believed to be Japanese prostitutes is the ultimate insult! Much of the movie was shot on location in Japan, utilizing locations rarely seen in films. However, the back streets of Kyoto were too modern to be used, so sections of the city were re-created on three sound stages in Los Angeles.