Essay on Sayo Masuda’s Autobiography of a Geisha

The Japanese term geisha literally means “person of art” as they were known as entertainers from the 16th century. The Japanese view geisha as professional entertainers. They are also known as geigi or geiko. However, the majority of the world perceive them as white faced, red-lipped prostitutes that wear their hair in a bun. Geisha are much more than women with too much makeup, they are an important part of the traditional Japanese social life. Even today, they are the definition of beauty and grace. Geisha are not prostitutes reflected in their history, appearance, skills and role.

In The Diary of Lady Murasaki, translated and introduced by Richard Bowring, the author of the diary, Lady Murasaki, writes about her daily life as a lady-in-waiting for Japanese royalty. It is set in the Heian Period, which is a relatively stable and peaceful time in Japanese history. She uses various poetry and fashion throughout her stories to demonstrate how this was the only way for women at that time to express themselves.

The author could have done to make her work stronger if she could have added letters that belonged to the Japanese people also I will have to learn about the people who……….

Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Ruined takes place at Mama Nadi’s brothel in the Congo where a civil war is being waged and coltan is the new gold being mined from the earth. Mama Nadi reluctantly takes Sophie and Salima into her establishment to work alongside Josephine as entertainment for miners and soldiers. Before coming to Mama Nadi’s, Sophie, Josephine, Salima all experienced rape. The word rape is so common in our society that it has lost its intensity and heinousness to a person who has not experienced it. Rape is a general term to describe what the women experienced but it does not give any hint to the struggle that comes after the event. For example, what it does to a person’s mind, the lasting scars on someone’s body, and how it can change a person’s personality. Many critics assume that rape is the tragedy in the play, but Nottage’s use of the word “ruined” emphasizes that the real tragedy is the consequences of those soldier’s actions on these women 's lives and how it affected their interactions with society.

One thousand years ago, when art, poetry, and literature were flourishing at the height of the Heian court, a noble Japanese lady-in-waiting named Murasaki Shikibu wrote a story that was not entirely fiction but also not non-fiction. The Tale of Genji, a story about an impressively handsome “shining” young man named Genji, was intended to be read by a small elite group of aristocrats, those whom the story itself depicts. Consumed by their rank that separated them from the common people considered inferior and subhuman, the high-ranking class was keenly aware of the beauty of nature, music, poetry, calligraphy,

become a true Geisha. Some earlier Geisha’s have a danna who takes care of all their expenses and needs. There are several explanations that defines Geisha’s as prostitutes, but great difference can be seen between Geisha’s and prostitutes simply by their way of dressing.

In the novel Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden displays the mobility of a geisha between classes through Sayuri Nitta, who is transformed from a poor orphan to one of the most famous geishas in Japan, and into a different, stronger woman.

Relatively calm and collect at all times, Masashi still know's how to have a good time. Being a geisha means that he must be able to adapt his personality to the person/ guest that he is attending. He can personify the most flirtatious girl or the most reserved, When he is in his everyday clothes and not around the watchful eye of his mother and the other geisha's he can be quite the sassy lad. He's quick to pass judgement on others and can be a bit of a smartass, saying rude statements about others to their faces. But when he's in a sticky situation that he will inevitably get into due to his foul mouth, he uses his practices as a geisha to work his way out of it. One of his favorite pastimes is manipulating people, as a geisha and out of

The story of the “Comfort Women”, the jugun ianfu, and how these women were forcibly seized against their will, to provide sexual services for the Japanese Imperial Army. In the “comfort station” I was systematically beaten and raped day and night. Even the Japanese doctor raped me each time he visited the brothel to examine us for venereal disease.

The loss of World War II was a catalyst for cultural change within Japan. Occupation and the subsequent influx of American ideals and culture influenced the changes that occurred in Japanese women’s lives. John Dower, a retired MIT professor of Japanese history, reflects on these cultural changes in his work “Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II”. Throughout his book in chapters such

“The bondage of women in Araki’s photographs is a metaphor for the rigid, constricting code of behavior that governs the Japanese in general and Japanese women in particular”. Araki’s determination to stay committed to his visionary work of art that was highly criticized by the Japanese public speaks volume for how great of an artist

Jugun ianfu was a term used by Japanese people to describe prostitute women during the Asian Pacific War. Another name to describe it was “comfort women”. Unlike geisha who worked as courtesan and/or artist, the practice of jugun ianfu was a planned and brutal sexual enslavement and was considered

Power, prestige, personality, and a pleasing face: Chairman Ken Iwamura of the Iwamura Electric Company has it all. Undoubtedly, such a man would attract the great admiration of many. However, the Kyoto geisha, Sayuri Nitta, stands as an exception. She does not admire the Chairman. Instead, she is obsessed with him, so utterly entranced by his charm as to devote her entire life to having him become her danna. This intense love is the primary reason she transforms from a scared, reluctant young girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, into a manipulative and seductive full-fledged geisha. Analyzing Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha through a psychoanalytical lens reveals that Sayuri Nitta’s fixation upon Chairman Iwamura emerges ultimately due to her

In literature, the exploration of gender is a common trope. Gender roles and their implications on a character and their development can shape a novel and how it is received, and ultimately read, by the reader. The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi immediately opens by subtly influencing the reader in regards to its main character. The reader is swiftly introduced to the conflict between the character of Tomo and the cultural conventions, and thus, expectations of her gender. Enchi skillfully brings the reader’s attention to this conflict by contrasting Tomo’s untroubled outward appearance and the turbulence within that is recognized by Toshi when Tomo is visiting with them in Tokyo. Thus, the main conflict in this novel – Tomo and her struggles with keeping cultural and societal binaries that were expected of her as a woman in late nineteenth century Japan – is introduced implicitly by Enchi to the reader within this single sentence.

The concept of geisha originated in Japan in the 1600s. The initial geisha culture was constructed as female entertainers, who act as hostesses to serve, entertain and perform for male clients, usually by traditional Japanese dance and instruments. According to Barkers (2006), our first class readings on Questions of Culture and Ideology, “the everyday lived character of culture is a whole way of life”. This is apparent in the Japanese culture, and the Japanese’s ideologies of geishas are refined, well-mannered and respected professions (Akita, 2009). As Akita mentions in her study, “Japanese girls and women admire geisha for—in addition to their multifaceted and excellent artistry—their feminine demeanor and sophistication”.