KYOTO, Japan In 1992 Mineko Iwasaki was
a retired geisha living quietly with her husband and daughter in the hills of
Kyoto when a young American author named Arthur Golden called upon her with an
unusual request. He was researching a book on geishas and wanted her help.
Convinced that Mr. Golden
would write an accurate account of her profession, Ms. Iwasaki said, she
invited him to stay at her home for two weeks while she disclosed the intimate
details of her geisha life. Mr. Golden's 1997 best-selling book, "Memoirs
of a Geisha," is based in part on what Ms. Iwasaki told him. The novel, an
account of a young girl sold into the geisha world who overcomes the animosity
of a rival geisha and becomes one of Kyoto's most luminous geishas, has sold
four million copies in English and has been translated into 32 languages.
In the English version Mr.
Golden acknowledged at the end that he was "indebted to one individual
above all others, Mineko Iwasaki." He wrote that "she patiently
answered all my questions about the ritual of a geisha's life in intimate
detail."
Now, however, Ms. Iwasaki has
said that she regrets divulging her history to Mr. Golden. In a recent
interview here and in a lawsuit she filed in federal court in Manhattan, she
said that by using her name, despite what she claims was an agreement to keep
her identity secret, Mr. Golden disparaged her reputation in the geisha
community, which has for centuries maintained a tradition of discretion. She is
now suing him for a portion of the book's profits.
"If I had any inkling
that Arthur Golden was going to use my name, I would have never allowed him
inside my home," she said. "This book has brought shame upon my
profession."
In a telephone interview Mr.
Golden said he had never agreed not to use her name nor had he ever been asked
to keep Ms. Iwasaki's identity a secret. He said that she was "initially
delighted in being associated with the book" and had even asked him to set
up a publicity tour for her in the United States.
"Following Mineko's
wishes was a bit like chasing a leaf," he said. At her request, Mr. Golden
removed Ms. Iwasaki's name from the Japanese version of the book. Ms. Iwasaki
has said that she plans to publish her autobiography in Japanese this summer.
Ms. Iwasaki claims that 90 percent of the novel is based on her life story as
told to Mr. Golden. The author maintains that the book is not based on Ms.
Iwasaki's life alone and that the main character is a composite of many geishas
he interviewed. He pointed out that the book was set primarily in the period
before World War II, when the geisha industry was far different from what it is
now.
What seems to have angered Ms.
Iwasaki most is that Mr. Golden, during publicity tours for his book, spoke
openly of her "mizuage," a Japanese rite of passage in which wealthy
patrons bid for the right to end the virginity of an apprentice who is about to
become a full geisha. Mr. Golden said that because she spoke so openly about
it, he viewed Ms. Iwasaki's mizuage as part of her professional history and not
her personal life. "I certainly wouldn't have talked about it if she had
given me any reason to think it might upset her," he said.
He referred a reporter to a
documentary filmmaker who said that Ms. Iwasaki had also spoken to her of her
mizuage several years after Mr. Golden's interview. The filmmaker, who did not
want her name used for fear that she too might be sued by Ms. Iwasaki, said
that some of what Ms. Iwasaki told her was said in confidence but that she
could not remember exactly what.
The novel has caused dismay in
the rarefied world of the geisha, where discretion is the tradition. Within
geisha circles there is growing concern that the dispute over the book, particularly
passages that deal with sexual liaisons between clients and geishas, will
tarnish the industry's reputation and bolster Western notions that geishas are
little more than highly cultured prostitutes.
Not since Prime Minister
Sousuke Uno resigned in 1989, after his affair with a geisha was disclosed, has
there been such consternation in the geisha world, particularly in Gion,
Kyoto's most exclusive entertainment district, where Ms. Iwasaki was popular in
the 1960's and 70's.
Peter MacIntosh, a Canadian
photographer who is married to a former Kyoto geisha, said that the geisha
community is trying to project the impression that they do not care about the
novel. But, he said, "the truth is they are worried because this book,
rightly or wrongly, is shaping what the world thinks about them."
Geishas are hostesses skilled
in the arts of music, dance, games and conversation. They serve as companions
to customers of exclusive restaurants and tea houses patronized by rich and
powerful men. Clients often develop long-term relationships that may, but not
necessarily, lead to sex. There has been an unwritten rule among geishas that
what takes place inside their entertainment establishments remains there.
"In my day, a customer
could go play in Gion and nobody would ever know about it, but it seems those
days are ending," said Kimiko Kitano, 56, a retired geisha who runs a bar.
Few geishas or their clients
would agree to speak with reporters. But several former Kyoto geishas who
consented to be interviewed said they were unhappy with the negative attention
the novel had aroused. Some expressed anger that Ms. Iwasaki had spoken so
freely with Mr. Golden.
Although Mr. Golden's book is
fiction and does not reveal any significant new information, many in the geisha
community said they found the novel troubling because it is written so
convincingly in the first person that many readers have come to regard it as
fact.
Many in the Gion district have
sought to distance their industry from Ms. Iwasaki, whom some former geishas
have branded a maverick and an outsider. Of greatest concern in the geisha
community is the novel's exploration of the geisha's sexual relationships,
particularly the tradition of mizuage.
In the novel, the protagonist,
a young woman named Sayuri, commands an unprecedented sum for her mizuage. Mr.
Golden declined to say exactly what Ms. Iwasaki told him about her mizuage. But
Mr. Golden has said in past interviews with other publications that Ms. Iwasaki
told him that her mizuage in 1970 set a bidding record, a contention she
strongly denies.
Talk of deflowering ceremonies
makes the geishas very nervous, and several former geishas said that mizuage is
practiced now only on a limited basis.
"I'm afraid that when
tourists come to Japan and see geishas on the street, they will think that we
have a price tag," said Teruko, 63, a former geisha who met President
Gerald R. Ford during a state visit in 1974.
Teruko, who uses only one
name, said that she was invited by Columbia University to give a short lecture
about geisha life in 1998. All the questions from the students were about this
book," she said. "They wanted to know when I had my mizuage, how much
was paid and what the sex was like."
Ms. Iwasaki said that she
spoke with Mr. Golden only because he was a member of the family that controls
The New York Times Company
Ms. Iwasaki filed suit in
United States District Court in Manhattan against Mr. Golden and the publisher,
Alfred A. Knopf , for defamation, breach of contract and copyright violations.
The author and publisher have asserted that the suit is groundless and that
they will fight it.
Mr. Golden said he believed
the geisha world was treating Ms. Iwasaki unfairly. "She did not provide
me with any inappropriate information," he said. "I'm flattered that
the book is being treated like an exposé
but it's not. It's a novel."