Geisha
A Life
Introduction
In the country of Japan, an island nation in East Asia, there are special districts, known askaryukai, that are
dedicated to the enjoyment of aesthetic pleasure. These are the communities where the professionally trained female
artists known as geisha live and work.
Karyukai means "the flower and willow world." Each geisha is like a flower, beautiful in her own way, and like a willow
tree, gracious, flexible, and strong.
No woman in the three hundred-year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story. We have
been constrained by unwritten rules not to do so, by the robes of tradition, and by the sanctity of our exclusive
calling.
But I feel it is time to speak out. I want you to know what it is really like to live the life of a geisha, a life
filled with extraordinary professional demands and richly glorious rewards. Many say I was the best geisha of my
generation; I was certainly the most successful. And yet, it was a life that I found too constricting to continue. And
one that I ultimately had to leave.
It is a story that I h ... read full excerpt from: Geisha, A Life ebook
