Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who Bewitched the West

Rating:
Summary: A bewitching look at the classic Geisha
Review: I picked up Lesley's Downer's "Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who Bewitched the West" with great apprehension. Earlier in the month, I had read another geisha biography which failed to bring the geisha culture alive for me. A close look at the author's name should have erased any doubts in my mind.

Much like her "Women of the Pleasure Quarters", Lesley Downer's lastest effort is well-written and a wonderful read. I kept turning from the text to the photos to gaze at the creature who was so enchanting.

With each change of her name, Madame Sadayakko morphed into another creature who managed to survive the blows and upsets life sent her. Her pre-geisha and geisha life is fascinating but what truly captured my attention was her and the troupe's struggles to stay afloat once Japan was far behind.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting addition to the 'Geisha book' phenomenon
Review: Sada became a trainee Geisha as a very young girl, soon rising to the highest echelons available to her - her Danna (patron) was one of the most important men in the country, and she was as renowned as a woman could be in Japan at the time. She married an actor, and eventually travelled to the West, where she began acting as part of a Japanese acting troupe, touring their mish-mash version of Japanese dance and theatre through America and Europe. Sadayakko was always the star of the show, and was one of the highlights of the Paris Exposition. Sada returned to Japan and founded an acting school for girls.

This is a well-written book, the author being most famous for her book on Geishas. Many readers will probably come to this book searching for another read on Geishas, and if this is the case, they may be a little disappointed - Downer does not write in too much details about this time in Sada's life, choosing to concentrate on her overseas travels. However, this does not detract from the overall story. What does is the fact that Downer states some things as fact when they must be supposition: "He stood watching until she disappeared from view. He could not help noticing her sweetness and pride and the skill with which she handled her horse." I can almost guarantee that there is no written record anywhere that on the exact occasion in question the man who saw Sadayakko was thinking those exact thought. This is a fault of many biographers, and it will probably be overlooked by all but the nitpickers like this reader.

This is a book I would recommend to the growing number of readers interested in Japanese history and culture, and also to anyone interested in the cultural currents of the late 19th Century, as Madame Saddayakko had a far reaching influence in the realms of drama, dance and fashion for the Japan-crazed period.

Rating:
Summary: interesting history of japan's women
Review: This book was interesting in the fact that it reveals how women were treated in Japan before up-to-date times. infidelity on a husband's part was tolerated and women were not valued in any way. artists and actors were even lower on the scale. sadayakko is, in a way, the first japanese feminist. the author gives excellent explanations of history and thoroughly maps out sada's life without any holes. the language is descriptive and the text is very clear in its use of japanese phrases and words. a good book for those who love the history of the arts from around the world!