Geisha: A Life

No woman in the three-hundred-year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story--until now.

Many say I was the best geisha of my generation, writes Mineko Iwasaki. And yet, it was a life that I found too constricting to continue. And one that I ultimately had to leave. Trained to become a geisha from the age of five, Iwasaki would live among the other women of art in Kyoto's Gion Kobu district and practice the ancient customs of Japanese entertainment. She was loved by kings, princes, military heroes, and wealthy statesmen alike. But even though she became one of the most prized geishas in Japan's history, Iwasaki wanted more: her own life. And by the time she retired at age twenty-nine, Iwasaki was finally on her way toward a new beginning.

Geisha, a Life is her story -- at times heartbreaking, always awe-inspiring, and totally true.

Author: Mineko Iwasaki
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Published: 09/01/2003
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.67lbs
Size: 8.24h x 5.30w x 0.85d
ISBN13: 9780743444293
ISBN10: 0743444299
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Entertainment & Performing Arts
- Biography & Autobiography | Women
- Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs

About the Author
Born in 1949, Mineko Iwasaki was Japan's star geisha until she retired at the age of twenty-nine. She now lives in a Kyoto suburb, with her family.