Video interview with Mineko Iwasaki, Memoirs of a Geisha
A video clip from an NBC spot that aired in 2002 - it has an interview with Mineko Iwasaki;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW_-d7-6W84
The problem with Memoirs Of A Geisha is that although the story is quite simply a made-up story and nothing more nothing less, many people will take it as fact and a real insight into the flower and willow world of the geisha or geiko- even more so with the release of the movie.
True, Mineko should have known better to keep her secrets after a life of doing so, but i do think it was quite harsh of Arthur Golden to betray her trust so badly in the book. Right from the start of the book he writes Sayuri's storys as if it is a real life story coming from a real geisha, even i thought i was reading a book about a real geisha until i got right to the end of it. Thus it is quite difficult then to swallow everything as just a fairy tale so to speak after you have finished reading the book.
Various things though noted in the interview though, i dont think the book did much at all to stop parents from letting their daughters become geisha- this is the way it has always been in the sense that many western familys will often go against their daughters trying to become actresses or models- its a similar situation in many senses.
The book was set in the pre-war and wartime years in japan- it is true that geisha would often sell their virginity back then to try and buy themselves out of their okiya agreements, and many would sleep with their dannas/patrons for large sums of money. This practice those became extinct/banned in the 1950's as all forms of prostitution was banned.
Mineko Iwasaki never sold her virginity, as Arthur Golden said otherwise- and either way though, wether she did or she didn't, i thought it was incredibly rude of Arthur Golden to say such incredibly personal things at all, about a geisha or not, or suggest it in his book. I would feel very upset if one of my best friends wrote down all my personal love life secrets in a book and then let everyone know it was me without my permission, i would be furious at the least.
By the way, if anyone is interested, Mineko Iwasaki wrote her own book about her life as a geisha shortly after the release of Memoirs of a Geisha to try and dispell any questions or rumors about her true life story, which is very different apparently.
What do you think about the whole Mineko Iwasaki/Arthur Golden thing 
..?
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