Memoirs of a Geisha, published in 1977, is a historical novel written by Arthur Golden. He had received a degree in art history, specializing in Japanese art. Therefore, he was capable of producing a beautifully written novel about a geisha in Japan during the times of before and after World War II. A geisha is basically a Japanese woman who has been trained to become a professional singer and or dancer to entertain men at parties, banquets, or festivals. These women would be known as "artists," as that is where the term derived from "gei," meaning "arts" and "sha" meaning "person." The novel is narrated from the point of view of Sayuri Nitta, a retired geisha, whom the author had interviewed. Furthermore, as for the purpose of this book, the author states that, "There may well be no better record of the strange life of a geisha than the one Sayuri offers" (2). The setting of the novel was in a popular geisha district of Gion in Kyoto, and we are given in great detail throughout the story of what a geisha's life was like.
Sayuri recalls her early childhood by the name of Sakamoto Chiyo. She wasn't born to be a Kyoto geisha. She was only a fisherman's daughter from a little town called Yoroido. She got sold into an okiya in Kyoto when she was only nine years old, and it was because of her dying mother that her father sent her and her sister away. Chiyo was taken in by an okiya to train to become a geisha, while her sister was sent to a rather more unfortunate place, being forced to work as a prostitute. Chiyo soon meets a successful, but hateful and cold-blooded, geisha in her okiya, by the name of Hatsumomo. She treated Chiyo horribly, and got her into trouble many times even when she was entirely innocent. Several months had passed, and then one day, Chairman Iwamura notices Chiyo crying in the streets, and gave her his handkerchief and some money to her to buy some shaved ice with syrup to cheer her up.