This is a really interesting book written by an American anthropologist who went to Japan and actually become a geisha. It's a really interesting insight not just into the geisha life but its cultural context as well - the history, politics, literature, class structure. The author, known as the geisha Ichigiku, really has a great love and fascination for her subject and it really shows in this book. I found it endlessly fascinating. And it's making me want to go and read Memoirs of a Geisha again.

Pretty amazing to see the transformation of a western woman into the hallowed halls of of the geisha. She recently gave a lecture at the Botanical Gardens in Saint Louis, Missouri on the life of the geisha in Japan. An illuminating and friendly woman.

AKA
~ SAKURA NO HANA, MA CON LE SPINE ~

Ho avuto la fortuna di andare in Giappone. Ho apprezzato un sacco di cose: la pulizia, la cortesia, il cibo, la cultura, i luoghi, i monumenti, le tradizioni e tanto altro. Detto questo, non ci vivrei.

Questo libro è un vero e proprio documentario sulla figura della geisha, attraverso l'esperienza di una ragazza americana che è diventata a tutti gli effetti "la prima geisha americana".
La geisha è un simbolo e un tipo di figura femminile difficilmente comprensibile per l'occhio occidentale. Qui vengono analizzate varie funzioni della geisha, il suo ruolo nella società e si approfondisce praticamente ogni aspetto della sua vita. Eppure, fatico a comprenderne appieno il valore più profondo.

Dal mio punto di vista infatti la società giapponese è piuttosto maschilista ed essere una donna in Giappone richiede una grande consapevolezza e una serie di sacrifici. Da quello che si evince, il prototipo della donna giapponese è pudica e devota prima al marito e poi ai figli. Questo è anche il suo ruolo principale nella società: prima di moglie e poi di madre. Se non sei sposata e non hai figli sei considerata insolita. E infatti la geisha è una donna diversa, che si contrappone prepotentemente alla tipica figura femminile, essendo decisa e in un certo modo sensuale. Questa distinzione netta costringe le giovani ragazze sostanzialmente a scegliere quale delle due figure incarnare e in entrambi casi l'uomo è avvantaggiato, primo perché non deve compiere alcun tipo di scelta, e secondo perché può possederle entrambe, la moglie e la geisha.

Ecco, per questi motivi, in quanto giovane e in quanto donna mi risulterebbe difficile accettare una simile realtà. Ma dopotutto è risaputo che il Giappone non si fonda sull'amore per far funzionare la società; il valore più importante è sempre il lavoro.

Geisha was quite the interesting book.

I'd had only heard of them in an anime a few years back but they are such an intresting concept (and of course individuals).

The book itself was informative and very comprehensible, although it strongly focused on Dalby's experience within the Japanese geisha communities. I do feel like it was educational enough about the topic but the feeling that I didn't get enough information about them keeps nagging at me.

The content was fascinating and geisha life sounds like a tale from another world to Western ears. I totally understand and agree on the fact that the social role of the Geishas would be impossible to implement the same way in the West.

I enjoyed this far more than 'Geisha of Gion', as it was much more insightful about the life of a modern geisha, and covers those outside the Kansai region. Dalby also touches on Kimono etiquette and what colours or patterns are appropriate in certain seasons. This has intruiged me so much that I've also bought her specialist book all about it!

If you want to know more about these mysterious figures, this is a fantastic read.

I read it a long time ago. An amazing book. I was very drawn to the ending by the fairytale-like story of the geisha O-Yuki from Gion and the American millionaire George Morgan. I even surfed the Internet then for photographs of this couple. It turned out to be very difficult to find them, probably because this story happened in 1902, but I found them. Either way, they are incredible and it was exciting.

So I've been wanting to read this book for ages and it most definitely did not disappoint!

This is the most accurate book on the karyukai I've ever read, free of the fetishisms and romanticisms that this topic is usually saturated with. Do not even get me started on Memoirs of a Geisha because tables will be flipped. It was refreshing to read such an invested and detailed account from someone so close and involved in this world. Dalby writes in a straight-forward way, critical, unclouded by her own affection for Pontocho. The book is almost like a textbook on the karyukai way of life, which actually does it credit. This world is veiled, secretive, and its own unwillingness to share its secrets have not helped to stem the tidal waves of confusion and misinformation (thanks again, Golden). Dalby sheds some light, dispells some myths, but ultimately does not shatter the intriguing allure of the subject matter.

My one criticism of the book is that it is incredibly dense. It is only 300 odd pages, but my god are parts of it a slog. The book being like a textbook is somewhat of a double-edged sword in this case. Still, I was so grateful for actual verified facts and solid truths that I was able to overlook the parts that were less interesting, and overall I enjoyed the read.

In conclusion, this book is like Gandalf the White riding majestically to the rescue through a dark sea of Nazgul, his staff bearing a bright light of factual accuracy.

This book was brilliant.
I loved how Liza wrote about the history of Geisha in Japan and every tiny detail of the things in their life - Kimono and how it is worn, why it is worn, the way it is worn, the colours that are worn and why.
Every detail is written about and it is definately one of the best books i've read about concerning geisha - and it was even written by a non-Japanese.
It has aspects of her time as a geisha, but it wasn't too autobiographical. It forcussed mainly on geisha arts and customs itself - without being too historical.
She put an intimate approach to the way she talked about the facts of geisha.

A very highly recommended read for anybody who is as fascinated by geisha as I am, or just Japan (or other cultures) in general.

I loved it.

I liked the author's approach to the culture and the people who agreed to help her learn more about the profession. I appreciated that she wrote not only about Kyoto. However, I found some of her conclusions too hastily drawn, for example her claim that being a wife and being a geisha is mutually exclusive. Geisha are not as homogenous as they might appear, there were and are many kinds of geisha, and STUFF HAPPENS and exceptions abound, especially in professions like this one. Japanese culture isn't really built on a set of inflexible rules, not much more than other cultures anyway.

This book was amazing! I learned so many new things, and I loved all of the pictures. Liza Dalby brings so much information and personal experience to this anthropological study of Geisha. It makes me wish that I could have also experienced what she was able to. Highly recommend if you are at all interested in this subject.

I found this book very interesting and far far FAR better than the book, "Memoires of a Geisha", which I found to be basically a white man's fantasy. Despite being Japanese, reading this book really enlightened me on many customs which I had never known. Written from the heart but not overly soppy, I think those of you interested in the Geisha culture will enjoy it.

My recent fascination with the topic made me pick this one up. Having read the fantastical Memoirs of a Geisha and the autobiographical Geisha by Mineko Iwasaki, this work by Liza Dalby fit right in. Both in terms of chronology and premise.
As the preface says, this book tries to put the Geisha in the context of Japanese society as a whole. As nice as it is to learn about the nuances of a new culture, it should be remembered at all times that this will most likely not be the same Japan that exists today.
Written in the 80s, this book does manage to capture the nostalgia of the past. The chapters are appropriately titled, short and disconnected. Liza Dalby, the anthropologist does a good enough job at staying objective and inquisitive. Liza Dalby as Ichigiku (her Geisha name), on the other hand is warm and fun.