Geisha a Life

i just finished Geisha a Life by Mineko Iwasaki, all around I liked it. I know it was made partially because the author was fucked over by the author of Memoirs of a Geisha but I've never read the book or watched the movie before I just know that it was a misrepresentation of what being a geisha entails. Getting to hear what being a Geisha is actually like first was a joy and if i ever watch the movie or read the book I don't know if ill be able to finish it before I have to stop because of the inaccuracies lol. 

While over all I did like the book I do wish it went more in-depth on her friendships and school life. I know that she didn't have a ton of friends for a time but showing her friends in school would have made the story a little more well rounded, i understand this book is about being a geisha but I feel like I missed out of some aspects of her  (ᵕ—ᗜ—). I guess I can't say to much about that though since most of her time was spent on being training to be a maiko then geisha. 

A little ways through the book I read some reviews on Goodreads and was confused on some negative ones. The couple I read had the same theme about the author being arrogant and unlikeable and i'm not going to lie I was a little shocked. Do you really believe a woman born in 1949 trained to be a geisha at 5(I believe that was the age but it could've a year younger or older) and even before her debut as a maiko at 15-16 would not be? The author is a little bit arrogant and stupid but that should've been expected. She wasn't raised the same as other baby boomers during that era, she was raised to be a geisha. She didn't understand the value of money or how home appliances worked because she was to busy and that kind of thing was taken care for her, she lived in a society that took care of that stuff for her, she's on a different level. Some reviews also said that everyone liked her and no shit? I do believe some stuff was embellished but besides that not being true(her older sister, multiple geisha and maiko did NOT like her) she was again trained as a geisha she's supposed to be liked, that's part of being a geisha.

Sadly a main theme in this book is sexual assault. Starting from a young age the author was sporadically sexually assaulted by different men and boys. I know there is a major sexual assault problem in Japan but It's never easy hearing another woman's account of her own assault. Thankfully the author decided to fight back on these assaults, It was nice hearing that part ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ ). However I know it was explained but how did she fall in love with a man who forcefully kissed her? I know she ended up loving him but in the big 2026 hearing that story made me just cringe, he was a gross older man who had an obsession with a younger(18-early 20s) woman. His obsession went so far as to agree to and successfully go to the oikya for 3 years straight. It was just weird and creepy.

Overall I did like the book it was very enjoyable and informative. I knew a lot of work went into becoming a geisha but I never knew how much work. In 2026 it's not surprising that the numbers of geisha have gone down, it's something that's decided for you at the beginning. It's also expensive on both sides and with people having different priorities when it comes into money and with people not having as much money seeing that attendance is declining makes sense sadly. That and when this book was written there were a complaints and not that many changes, factoring in both geisha's being mad and customer's dissapearing becuase of money issue's it's no suprise being a geisha is a dying art.