Mineko Iwasaki is the highest paid geisha in Japan

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

Geisha is a profession. It is about her that Mineko Iwasaki talks about in her books. Having stayed in this role until the age of 29, when her career as a geisha is considered unfinished, she interrupted her studies, and later decided to tell readers around the world that her occupation had nothing to do with debauchery. This profession is the oldest in Japan. "Real Memoirs of a Geisha" is a book that tells about what the concept of "geisha" means, what role women of this profession play in Japanese culture. And the literary work "Journey of a Geisha" tells about the life of Mineko Iwasaki herself from childhood to old age.

How it all started

She was born on November 2, 1949 in Kyoto. For her, the path to fame began when she was sent to be raised in a traditional geisha house in Kyoto at the age of five. Her family was poor. Although the father was of noble blood. Shinezo Tanaka of the Minamoto clan was a bankrupt aristocrat who lost his title. He made a living by painting kimonos and selling them in his shop. It was a family business, but still there was not enough money to adequatelysupport a large family consisting of a husband, wife and eleven children. Giving children up for upbringing was in the order of things at that time. Thus, the family improved their financial situation and gave the offspring a chance for a good life. So did Mineko Iwasaki. Her four sisters - Yaeko, Kikuko, Kuniko, Tomiko - suffered the same fate. They all went to study at the Iwasaki okiya geisha house.

Rejection of the past

The first thing little girls were taught was the traditional Japanese dance. Mineko Iwasaki surpassed the other girls in this activity. At 21, she was considered the best Japanese dancer. Classes took away a lot of physical strength from her, but her efforts were rewarded. Mineko Iwasaki is a geisha who danced for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. Few have received such an honor. But also, as a little girl, Mineko Iwasaki got into a privileged position. She was noticed by the owner of the educational institution, Madame Oimoi, and made her an atotorichi, that is, an heiress. That is, after some time, the Gionese geisha house would belong to her. To make this possible, she had to give up her parents at the age of 10 so that Oimoi could adopt her and take the name Iwasaki, although she was named Masako Tanaka at birth.

What was taught

Studying for many years, at the age of 15 girls became only students, and at 21 they became real geishas who can work independently. Mineko Iwasaki has always been drawn to dancing. But taughtgirls and many other items. To become successful, they had to be able to sing, play traditional musical instruments, know the rules of etiquette, the tea ceremony, speak several languages, take care of their appearance, dress properly and carry on a conversation. One of the subjects was calligraphy. In order to communicate with clients, and these were always people from the upper strata of society, the girls had to be aware of world events, scientific discoveries, and business news. This was necessary in order to competently maintain a conversation. The girls were connected with the geisha house by a 5-7 year contract, and although they worked independently, they gave money for their services to its owner. After all, they spent a lot of money on their education. Take at least expensive suits. And in this way, the students repaid their debt for free education.

Pay for popularity

"Real Memoirs of a Geisha" is a book in which Iwasaki does not hesitate to reveal the whole truth about his life in a geisha house. Therefore, she does not hide the fact that during her career the girls had to sacrifice their beauty. For example, daily tight hairstyles with styling products led to hair damage, and sometimes baldness. In addition, Iwasaki had to listen to clients and be something like a psychologist to them. And what they said, trying to relieve the soul, was often so unpleasant that she compared herself to a garbage can into which sewage was poured. Among other things, popularity brought not only pleasant results. Numerous fans aroused the envy of the women around her. Sometimes sheexperienced physical abuse, such as when men tried to force her to have sex against her will.

End of the road

Perhaps this was the impetus for the fact that Iwasaki decided to end her career as a geisha, although she was very popular and highly paid. She earned $500,000 a year for 6 years, which no other geisha could achieve. Iwasaki explained the reason for her departure by saying that she wants to start a family and stop playing the role of a geisha. However, her departure caused a public outcry. As Mineko later admitted, she wanted society to pay attention to the imperfection in the geisha education system, but achieved the opposite effect. More than 70 girls of the same kind of activity with her also interrupted their occupation. Iwasaki considers herself in some way involved in the fact that these days her profession is very rare. There are only a few real geishas and their services are so expensive that only very rich people can pay for them.

Life after dancing

After leaving the Geisha world, Mineko Iwasaki married an artist named Jimchiro. At first, she acquired several beauty salons and hairdressers, but over time she decided to devote herself to art. Her husband taught her how to restore paintings, and this is her main occupation today. In addition, she studied at the University of Kyoto in the departments of history and philosophy. Iwasaki has a daughter who is now 31 years old. Former geisha lives in the suburbs with her husbandKyoto.

Who betrayed her?

However, the writer Arthur Golden needed memories of the previous lesson. She agreed to give him an interview on the condition of confidentiality. But for some reason, the author of the book "Memoirs of a Geisha" violated it and indicated the name Iwasaki in the list of thanks, which he published in his work. Because of this, Mineko got into an unpleasant situation. After all, geisha are required to keep a secret about how they are trained and not to give out the secrets of their work in the future. Iwasaki was even threatened with physical harm for breaking this law. All this forced her to sue, which she won and even received monetary compensation.

It's all a lie

The reason for filing a lawsuit was not only the disclosure of confidential information, but also the fact that the writer in his book, as it were, draws a parallel with the life of Iwasaki herself, while distorting the facts. Of course, he strove for popularity and enrichment. The work turned out to be so interesting that a famous film of the same name was shot on its basis, which also added fame and we alth to the writer. But Iwasaki's feelings were offended. The reader gets the impression that geisha and girls of easy virtue are one and the same. In addition, Iwasaki resents the scene of the sale of virginity at the auction. She claims that this has never happened in reality. Although he does not deny that there were intimate relationships between geisha and clients, it was all for love and geisha have nothing to do with sex for money.

True story

In order to cleanse the profession of dirt, Iwasaki wrote two books that detail how geisha actually train and work. The book - co-authored by Mineko Iwasaki, Rand Brown - "Real Memoirs of a Geisha" is an autobiography. In it, Mineko talks about her whole life. She also published another of her literary works. Mineko Iwasaki's book "Journey of a Geisha" is a collection of notes about her life in the geisha quarter, funny and instructive cases from her practice. Rand Brown co-authored her books for a reason. She is the president of a company created to improve understanding between America and Japan. In addition, she is a renowned Japanese translator.

Life spoiled this woman. She lived in love in her parents' house, was in a special position in the house of geishas, became a happy wife and mother. Perhaps her purpose was to tell the whole world the truth about sophisticated and beautiful women, whose profession has been shrouded in mystery for so many years.