Rating: 
Summary: karyukai
Review: "I want you to know what is really like to live the life of 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 to constricting to continue. And one that I ultimately had to leave."
The story of Mineko Iwasaki captures the glorification of the rich, aristocratic and burden behind all the fame and admiration. Reading this book has helped clears the myths and assumptions of what being a geisha is all about it. It's eloquently emphasizes that geishas are a work of art and the whole business is the exploitation of art and not bodies. Personally, I'm highly recommended this book for people who are interested in the Japanese lifestyle, culture and values. Though it also has a universal theme where one has to give up other's hopes dreams no matter how hard they work for and to live and pursue their own dreams and reclaim back their life from the people. Overall, I really couldn't put this book down, and was completely fascinated by the beautiful details of the different elements needed for a rising geisha, and a maturing woman.
Rating:
Summary: Superbly Done
Review: A wonderful story! I couldn't wait to read this book when I found out about it, because I was anxious to read this story through the eyes of a Native Japanese woman and geisha. Being extremely interested in Japanese culture and society of course influenced my reading the book, but I would recommend this book to anyone who would be interested in learning about these extraordinary women.
Ms. Iwasaki likens the geisha movement to operatic divas in the west. I found this quite an interesting analogy. I was also impressed by how she handled the common western idea that geisha are simply high-end prostitutes. Effectively, she noted that there was indeed a difference between courteseans and geisha, and that it was common for romantic or sexual relationships to exist between a geisha and her clientele, but that the geisha were never meant to be and neither are they now "call-girls".
Rande Brown is adept at the translation and makes good use of the language differences.
All in all, this book is educational, enjoyable, humorous and tear-jerking. Anyone who thinks they are getting an "education" from reading Arthur Golden's book 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is kidding themselves. It is fiction, not a biography (as Ms. Iwasaki's book).
I recommend it!!
Rating: 
Summary: Painful
Review: After reading "Memiors of a Geisha" and loving every minute of it, I was very excited to read "Geisha a Life" to get more of the truth behind what it is like to be a Geisha. Well sadly, I was very dissapointed. It was a very easy read but so boring that it ccould not hold my attention. I actaully read a few books inbetween. As far as writing styles goes, it felt like it was written by a child. Although she was an adult at the time of writing this book ,it still seems to be told through thte eyes of a 5 year old. All in all , I would not recomend this book to anyone. If you are under the age of 12 you may enjoy it. i think I will take the fictious verion over this one any day!
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Summary: The "flower and willow world" from the inside
Review: Excellent! At the age of five, Mineko Iwasaki was sent by her parent's to an okiya, a geisha house, as the house's atatori, that is, the intended successor. She studied dance, and became very well-known. This is a very interesting description of the life and training of geiko, as the Kyoto geisha are known.
At the age of twenty-nine, having inherited, she shut down the Iwasaki okiya. This was a rather disturbing action to me. The author describes her dissatisfaction with the way the "flower and willow world" was run, and her decision to close the house was intended to jolt the system. Of course, it did nothing of the kind. She does not say anything about what happened, following her action, to the people who were dependent on the house for their livelihood, and I found that omission disturbing.
Having also read Arthur Golden's extremely popular Memoirs of a Geisha, I was intrigued by the differences between the two descriptions. But I don't know whether the differences are attributable to the different eras about which the two were writing (Iwasaki was born in 1949, Golden's book covers the period from just before to just after WWII), or if Golden was exercising "artistic license".
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but somewhat incomplete
Review: I first got interested in geisha reading Arthur Golden's MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, then decided to go hunting for more information on geisha to see how accurate his account was. I started with Liza Dalby's GEISHA, and then came to read this.
Mineko delivers an absorbing account of her life and training as a very top geisha in Gion, the most exclusive of Kyoto's geisha districts. For those who are comparing her tale to Golden's, keep in mind that Golden is writing fiction, in fact, almost fairy-tale-esque fiction (complete with wicked stepsister, wicked stepmother, fairy god-mother, handsome prince, etc.) Mineko's tale is true, and archly told; Mineko herself comes across as a very strong, in some places almost domineering personality, as one would expect given her position in the family she was adopted into and her family's high-status position in Gion. The strength of her personality makes reading this book a wonderful pleasure.
However, Mineko's position within the geisha hierarchy was very atypical. She was at the very top of the heap, with all sorts of perks and privileges due to her station that many other geisha did not have (atotori so everyone respects her from day one; she gets personal access to the Big Mistress, tremendous financial and professional support in launching her career from her very-high-status okiya etc.), and it's not clear in the book that she understood this at the time, or indeed understands this now. For example, when talking about sexual matters (such as mizuage and whether a geisha's patron was entitled to sexual favors--Dalby and Golden say yes, Mineko says no), Mineko talks about her earnings, which were at the time she was working somewhere on the order of hundreds of thousands of yen a night in goshugi alone, and says something to the effect of "This is another reason why the idea of geisha selling sexual favors is so ridiculous. Given that geisha earn so much just by performing, why would they?" Well....most geisha, especially those who didn't have access to Mineko's advantages, probably *didn't* earn that much. Not that they necessarily sold sexual favors, you understand, it's just that Mineko doesn't seem to realize that her earning status was quite extraordinary and that there were probably a *great* many geisha who were a lot less fortunate.
(It may be worth pointing out here that Liza Dalby worked in Pontocho, a slightly-lower-status geisha district of Kyoto than Gion, where Mineko was located. Of course, Dalby also suggests that a great amount of the "sex" aspect of the concept of geisha may have come from the conflation of many different types of geisha and female entertainers.)
All in all, this is an entertaining book, well-written and highly readable, by turns sad and funny, as well as a great look inside the world of very-high-status geisha. In a way, this book is a tragedy as well, as by the end of it Mineko gives up her career and closes the okiya that had been entrusted to her by her adoptive family (an act that would have made Mineko look a lot less sympathetic if we hadn't seen just how hard she had been pushed as a child, even though her family cared for her.) Those reading it for information, however, should keep in mind that Mineko's account of geisha life is, while wonderfully detailed, also quite narrow in scope and that it may not be representative of all or even most geisha. For a look at a very different kind of geisha experience, I suggest AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A GEISHA, by Sayo Masuda, who was a hot-springs geisha around 1940 or so.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating glimse into the life of a Geiko
Review: I found this a fascinating book, filled with glimses into the culture and customs of Japan. I knew little of Japan before I read it, but Mineko filled in many gaps and clarified many misconceptions.She was the most successful geisha (actually "geiko") of her time--beautiful, graceful and determined. And yet, she grew tired of the life, and retired at the very early age of twenty-nine, ending the ancient Iwasaki line. She begins her book with her early childhood and her reasons for becoming a geiko. She takes the reader through training and all it's rigours through to her enormous success. She alludes to her disillusionment with the geiko life, and to her attempts to reform the educational traditions, but does not specify any of these. I was disappointed in that, for, having watched her mature in this book, I would like to have known more about her reform attempts, to have seen her in that role. Geisha, A Life is not the most well-written of books, which could be due to either author or translator. But then, that doesn't really matter. Let's face it. . . no one reads an autobiography for literary merit. Autobiographies are read in an attempt to KNOW the writer, and in that aspect, Mineko succeeded--I felt like I was ending a conversation with a good friend when I closed this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Read in conjunction with "Memoirs..."
Review: I have to admit I only bought this book because I loved "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Golden and heard of the controversy surrounding both authors. I really was suprised that Mineko (who was thanked by Golden)was unhappy with his novel and with identifying her as his inspiration. And that she had issues with accuracy even though it is a work of fiction. It becomes very apparent that Mineko argues these accuracy points from the beginning; detailing differences between courtesan (high end prostitutes)and geisha, customs and rituals, even pointing out stories where Golden may have taken too much liberty (for example Mineko describes her friend's history from fishing village to geisha house which seems more the basis of Memoir's character Sayuri than Mineko herself). Overall, great account of her particular life, much more like a journal than an actual biography. I liked learning what a Maiko and Geiko are. The only issues I had were that it was difficult reading, don't know if that is the style, interpretation, editing, but it didn't flow as well as Memoirs. But to compare is apples to oranges. I also felt Mineko was over justifying a lot of her circumstances and decisions. I wasn't put off too much by her arrogance as other reviewers as I understand her purpose of writing this book (trying to clear up misconceptions). Still, was not as "fun" to read. Informative but not as enjoyable. Anyway, read both books together. "Memoirs" for entertainment, "Geisha A Life" for information
Rating:
Summary: Informative
Review: I read this book out of sheer curiosity about the life of a geisha and finished it by picking up tidbits of the rich culture of the Japanese.
This is the first book on this topic that I have ever read so I can't compare it to anything else but I will say that I learned a lot and it sparked an interest to read more about this in the future.
I was blown away by the incredible memory of Mineko. She remembered the smallest of details of life with her parents (whom she resided with only until the age of 5) and she was able to retain so much information in her early childhood during her training. That determination fostered a workaholic approach to her career when she became a maiko, where she set out to become Number One.
One thing that stood out for me was when Mineko pointed out that no two kimonos are alike and that the patterns on them indicates what stage a woman is in in her career.
I also learned about the turning of the collar and the differences between a red and white collar (red symbolizing a child, white an adult). At the age of 21, a woman becomes a full-fledged geiko.
There was an antagonist in the book, Yaeko. Someone needed to teach this woman (and, apparently, her sister) something called manners. This woman dumped all over Mineko, making life miserable for her during her training and deliberately embarassing her in front of customers. (Nice to see her get it in the end proving that "what goes around comes around.")
Towards the end of the book, Mineko details how much the performers give to the profession but how the profession does not give back to the people who breathe life into it (not her words). She also sadly points out that the world of the geisha is dying out.
And despite her gripes with "the system" that she tried for so long to change and couldn't, she is truly sad about its bleak future.
Rating:
Summary: A tragedy that so many readers are so lost
Review: It's funny and sad how many reviewers are comparing this book to Golden's trite example, claiming it to be less beautifully written and not as exciting. I hate to break it to you, but Golden is a middle-aged man from New England writing about a teenaged Geisha during WWII. The only thing he's got going for him is his flowery language seeing as his accounts of the Geisha are completely INNACCURATE! His fluffy book offended me. "Geisha: A Life" is at least a first hand account, and it is not necessary to pump it up due to historical accuracy. These books are in two completely different categories. To compare them would be like measuring Danielle Steele against Stephen Hawking.
"Geisha: A Life" is appropriate retribution for the damage that Golden did with his mid-century soap opera trash. I enjoyed this book because the author tells it like it is, and apologizes for nothing. Now that is courage.
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Summary: She's so full of herself it's painful to read the book
Review: It's official - this geisha is the most arrogant person, fictional or non-fictional, I've ever heard of. The best geisha. Always wronged. Extremely soulful. Stunningly beautiful. Hard-working. An excellent dancer. Sincere and trusting. I doubt anyone can say all this about him/herself truthfully, or that they would if they could, and I bet you have no idea how painful it is to hear this from herself every single page of the whole book. At times she seems to have been a raving lunatic, attacking a man with a knife for unintentionally humiliating her, but even this is justified by her elevated sense of honour. She CAN'T have been a good geisha with this attitude.
In addition to her very pretentious self, this is not even a good autobiography. She concentrates on insignificant details all the time (five pages on an error she commited dancing!). About half of the book is about her childhood, before she had even started training to be a geisha.
Also, I assume most people read this book to learn more about geishas, not this particular person. Despite the title and the blurb, the story is without doubt about HER and her - mostly petty - feelings, not about geishas in general.
All in all, this is a painful book. Not recommended at all, especially for those who hope to get something as wonderfully readable and educational as Golden's "Memories of a Geisha".
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