Autobiography of a Geisha

Sayo Masuda died in 2008. G. G. Rowley teaches English and Japanese literature at Waseda University in Tokyo. She is the author of Yosano Akiko and The Tale of Genji.

• Part 1: A Little Dog, Abandoned and Terrified Little Crane the nursemaid The eyes of the oxen glow in the dark I, too, had a mother Part 2: The Sunburned Novice The dream palace Geisha school I want to be a geisha, right now My four "Elder Sisters" The death of Elder Sister Takemi The hot iron The scar I learn my name Cruel rules I devote myself to art Part 3: Miss Low Gets Wise Shallow river A secret place The new novice The sleep-with-anyone geisha How to be cute and sexy Part 4: Bird in a Cage My first customer The geisha temperament Miscarriage Thou shalt not love In the party business Tip taker Tsukiko's suicide Revenge Part 5: Awakening to Love Number Two and Number Three Tricks of the love trade The witcher bewitched True love Attempted suicide Part 6: Wanderings of a Castaway No place to call home A brother's love Tears of humiliation War's end The dumpling-soup diner Part 7: A Dream for My Little Brother Beautiful eyes Peddler Street stall Gang moll Little Foundling Seven funerary laths Part 8: The Depths of Despair My little brother's suicide Return to Suwa Reunion Happy days Farewell banquet Love's anguish Happiness and unhappiness Wandering between life and death Part 9: The Road Back to Life Innocent smile Piiko the fledgling hawk Vain dreams The Prostitution Prevention Act Cats' paws

This account shocked Japanese readers with its bitter taste of grinding poverty and its revelations about the geisha world's dark side. A comfortless portrait of the flip side of the geisha world, where one is more slave than courtesan. Kirkus Reviews At once intriguing and heartbreaking. Publishers Weekly [Masuda's] endurance of adversity is admirable, as is the down-to-earth way in which she relates her story. She is witty, realistic, and forthright about her life, and readers will admire her courage and determination. -- Marlene Y. Satter Foreword Magazine Courageously, Masuda refuses to put white makeup on the unsightly aspects of her tale, inviting readers to take a long, hard look at the unadulterated face of geisha living. Los Angeles Times Book Review As I read this autobiography I cried for the women who live their lives as geishas...Thank you, Sayo Masuda, for revealing your life to us. -- Judy Helman Woman's Day Masuda's memoir is a must-read for those interested in the lives of geishas. Booklist Originally published in Japan in the 1950's, Autobiography of a Geisha is a remarkably fresh and personal account of a life that is a far cry not only from the Eastern exoticism of [John Ball's Miss One Hundred Thousand Spring Blossoms], but also from the upscale and at least sometimes glamorous lives depicted in [Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha. Persimmon A much-needed corrective to the romantic myths spun around this profession... Superbly preserved and sensitively rendered... [Masuda's] gripping, heart-rending and humorous account is a gem, especially as it offers a view 'from below' of the untold social history of modern Japan. Times Literary Supplement Since the publication of Arthur Golden's bestselling novelMemoirs of a Geisha, there has been a spate of books that an unkind reviewer might label 'follow-ons'... While all of these speak to a greater or lesser extent of the hardships and occasional cruelties of the geisha's life, none provides as raw and unvarnished account as Sayo Masuda'sAutobiography. Monumenta Nipponica Autobiography of a Geisha is a compelling... gritty and at times bleak account, but one which is related with great pathos and humor throughout. Rowley is to be commended. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and AFrican Studies, University of London Her story is heartbreaking, but her indomitable spirit prevents it from becoming maudlin. -- Elizabeth Quinn Bust