This is Iwasaki's response to Memoirs of a Geisha. I picked this up because I thought it'd be great to get the truth behind the story. This fell flat.

The book couldn't decide if it was a memoir or a history of geisha in post-war Kyoto. If a history, it lacked description, and the author inserted too much of her annoying self (more on this later) into the story. If a memoir, the author didn't talk enough about her emotions. For example, she tries to kill herself as a young girl, and the description plus the emotional turmoil she was feeling took up all of three sentences. Yes, three sentences. Iwasaki tried to make this part memoir and part history, and she ended up with poor excuses for either.

There was also something a little off with the description. I don't know if this was the fault of the translation or Iwasaki herself. Here's a passage: "The shamisen is a three-stringed instrument that is played like a viola." I play shamisen. Besides the fact that is has strings and is vaguely shaped like a viola, it's nothing like a viola. You pick it rather than bow it, and it's held like a guitar rather than a viola. I have no idea where this description came from.

But what really, really bugged me about this book is the author's ridiculous arrogance. The bulk of the novel is spent discussing how beautiful, talented, and loved she is. She's everyone's favorite except for the people who are just jealous of how wonderful she is. She's gifted at everything she tries: from dance to basketball. She takes this to such a ridiculous level that, at one point, she insists that she doesn't fart. Yes, you read that right. Here's the passage:

The consultant came to examine me and asked if I had passed gas.
"Gas?" I asked.
"Yes, gas. Has any come out yet?"
"Come out? From where?"
"What I mean is, have you broken wind? Have you farted?"
"Excuse me," I replied indignantly. "I don't do things like that."

Apparently, biological rules do not apply to Iwasaki.

This took me forever to finish but I finally did and am now even more excited to travel to Kyoto later this year! Mineko Iwasaki told her story after Memoirs of a Geisha since she felt it didn't do the profession of geiko justice (she was one of the geiko interviewed for Memoirs). This book was an interesting read and probably historically more correct than Memoirs but it rotated a bit too much around how easy and lovely Iwasaki's life was (a striking contrast to that of fictional Sayuri Nitta of Memoirs). Having an easy life doesn't sadly tell as good story as a harder life and this memoir is an example of that. It's a collection of memories and stories and facts about the lifes of maiko and geiko but in the end it wasn't very interesting. Three stars because Iwasaki was a bad ass who didn't let men treat her badly and she more or less always did what she wanted.

This woman wrote her book in a response to Memoirs of a Geisha because she felt that the book gave the wrong impression. Unfortunately for readers, this book is story after story about how great and important the author was / is. It doesn't represent life as a geisha, it represents life seeking fame.