Memoirs of a Geisha

Sayuri’s father is a fisherman, and the dominant element of his personality is wood. Accordingly, he has a simple and methodical nature. He differs from Sayuri, who is lively and alert, and is aligned more closely with Satsu. He had been married once before, but his wife and children from this previous relationship are deceased. 

Sayuri’s father sells both daughters to Mr. Tanaka early in the novel, but Sayuri notices him crying and overhears him saying that he cannot picture his daughters living anywhere but at home. He is therefore shown to be upset by the situation, but he yields to Mr. Tanaka’s assurance that it is for the best.

Sayuri’s mother, meanwhile, is suffering with cancer at the beginning of the novel and her condition is deteriorating. Sayuri is perturbed by the idea of a life without her mother, feeling a greater affinity with her than with her father. She has also inherited her striking grey eyes from her mother and shares the same dominant personality element: water. Though she is weak, Sayuri’s mother cries out when her children are escorted away to begin their new life. 

Through a letter from Mr. Tanaka, Sayuri learns that her mother died six weeks after she left for Gion and her father died several weeks later. She is rocked by grief at first, but this diminishes gradually over time, as she becomes occupied with life in Gion. Still, there are moments when Sayuri remembers living by the sea with her parents, and her sadness returns.

Satsu is Sayuri’s older sister, but, whereas Sayuri has a connection with their mother, Satsu is more like their father. She is not as beautiful as Sayuri, nor is she as alert, and she looks to her sister to provide reassurance when they are taken from their home. 

After their initial separation, Sayuri manages to find Satsu working at a brothel. Satsu is resolved to escape, and she and Sayuri plan to run away together. However, only Satsu is successful; Sayuri later discovers that Satsu had had the foresight to check her almanac for that day. So, while Sayuri is depicted as being more intelligent, Satsu shows greater foresight in this instance.

From Mr. Tanaka’s letter, Sayuri later learns that Satsu returned to Yoroido only to find that her parents were dead. He adds that Satsu then ran away with the son of Mr. Sugi, Mr. Tanaka’s assistant, and this is the last that Sayuri ever hears of her sister.

These are the three senior women at the okiya, and, as Sayuri soon learns, they insist on a strict regime. Granny, who adopted Mother and Auntie, is depicted as a bitter, hard-hearted individual, though Sayuri feels a note of sympathy for her when considering whether she had a difficult life. Granny dies relatively early in the novel due to an accident involving her electric heater. 

Auntie is a failed geisha and is the most sympathetic of the three characters. She explains that she was not unattractive when Granny first bought her, but she did not turn out well and Granny always resented her for it—one time, she even beat her so badly that it left her with a broken hip. This forced Auntie to stop being a geisha, and she thus tries to ensure that Sayuri does not suffer the same fate. 

Mother is the head of the okiya and is focused squarely on money. She favors Hatsumomo as long as she is a successful geisha, but, when Sayuri overtakes her, she quickly switches her allegiance. She is shrewd and grasping when she negotiates the terms of her bet with Mameha, telling lies that she asks Sayuri to back up. It is only because Sayuri refuses to do so that Mother tells the truth. Indeed, lying is another of Mother’s personality traits, as she pretends she never said that she would adopt Pumpkin; even though everyone concerned knows this is untrue. 

When the Chairman becomes Sayuri’s danna, his accountants make sure that Sayuri receives all the money to which she is entitled. Mother tries to fix it so that Sayuri’s business in New York is an extension of the okiya, but the Chairman refuses to consider such an arrangement. Sayuri therefore cuts all ties with Mother, who dies a few years prior to the narration of this story.

Hatsumomo is a beautiful but cruel geisha whom Sayuri compares to a snake. She lives in the same okiya as Sayuri and, as a result of envy and spite, sets out to make her life miserable. Not only does she accuse Sayuri of stealing, she starts following her to various teahouses where she spreads fake stories intended to embarrass her younger rival. Sayuri initially sees Hatsumomo as beautiful, despite her cruelty, but she comes to see this cruelty as negating Hatsumomo’s physical attractiveness. 

Hatsumomo’s behavior is self-defeating, as it eventually means that she is unable to secure a danna. Mameha and Hatsumomo also have an ongoing rivalry, with Hatsumomo taking Pumpkin on as her younger sister and aiming to make her more successful than Sayuri. However, Mameha is confident that Hatsumomo will eventually experience a downfall, and she proves to be correct. 

Mother originally tolerates Hatsumomo’s behavior because Hatsumomo is a successful geisha and brings in considerable money. However, as Sayuri surpasses her, Mother no longer tolerates Hatsumomo’s behavior; Hatsumomo becomes impetuous and short-tempered as a result, drinking heavily and damaging her reputation. She continues to lie about Sayuri, but Mother has no reason to endure her any longer and forces her to leave the okiya. 

We do not find out what happens to Hatsumomo afterwards, but Sayuri hears rumors that she has become a prostitute.

Mameha is a successful geisha who acts as Sayuri’s mentor and older sister. She also helps bring about Hatsumomo’s downfall, and Sayuri wonders if this is her primary motivation. However, while Mameha does see Hatsumomo as an adversary, Sayuri later learns that she adopted the role of mentor at the Chairman’s request.

Mameha is a believer in fate and always consults her almanac and fortune-teller before making decisions. She is also a realistic and views her relationship with her danna as a business arrangement. When Sayuri voices her dreams about finding romantic love, Mameha advises her to put aside any such notions, as she herself has done. 

Unlike Hatsumomo, who is tempestuous and cruel, Mameha is depicted as wise and even-tempered. These characteristics have enabled her to secure a danna and apartment while Hatsumomo is still living in an okiya. Mameha also stands firm in her business dealings with Mother, refusing to be swayed by any lies or attempts to alter the financial terms of their bet regarding Sayuri.

Mameha remains friends with Sayuri in later years, even visiting her in New York on occasion, and Sayuri regards her as a kind-hearted teacher to whom she is indebted. 

Pumpkin is a girl around the same age as Sayuri who lives in the same okiya. She is well-meaning but appears clumsy and muddled compared with Sayuri. Her real name is not revealed, but Sayuri dubs her “Pumpkin” because of her tendency to curl her tongue out like a pumpkin stem. 

Pumpkin and Sayuri become good friends as they attend school and study together at the okiya. However, their relationship comes to an end when Hatsumomo takes Pumpkin on as a younger sister and insists that the two apprentices have nothing to do with each other. Hatsumomo tries to make Pumpkin a successful geisha and appears to be succeeding, Mother even plans to adopt her. However, as Sayuri becomes successful and Hatsumomo’s plans collapse, Mother decides to adopt Sayuri instead.

Sayuri hopes to rebuild this friendship yet is shocked to find that Pumpkin has betrayed her and sabotaged her plan. Here, Pumpkin’s simmering resentment comes to the fore, and she says that she has never forgiven Sayuri for taking her place as Mother’s adopted daughter. Sayuri consequently realizes that the relationship is beyond repair.

Mr. Tanaka runs a seafood company but, as Sayuri later realizes, he also procures girls for okiyas and brothels. Sayuri first meets him after having slipped and fallen on her way to the dry goods store. This proves to be a life-changing moment, as he subsequently arranges to buy her and her sister. 

When she visits Mr. Tanaka’s home, Sayuri becomes enthusiastic about the prospect of being part of his family and tells Satsu that they are going to be adopted. However, Mr. Tanaka appears aloof on the day they are taken away from their family, and Sayuri soon realizes the real nature of the arrangement. She is angry with Mr. Tanaka to begin with, but she credits him with opening up new doors for her. She also sees him as an astute, realistic person who is fully present in the world and sees life as it is, rather than as it should be.

When Mr. Tanaka informs Sayuri of her parents’ deaths, he writes that he is glad to know that she has a secure home at the okiya. As he explains, he visited Gion some years ago and the experience (which involved attending a party at a teahouse) left a strong impression on him. He had thus recognized that Sayuri was strikingly beautiful and likely to succeed in this environment. He expresses concern for Sayuri’s wellbeing and sympathy for her loss, but he advises her that “those who are beautiful and talented bear the burden of finding their own way in the world” (113).

The Chairman is a successful businessman who spots Sayuri crying while on his way to the theater one day. He speaks to Sayuri in a compassionate manner and gives her a coin wrapped in a handkerchief. This may seem like a trivial encounter, but Sayuri is struck by the Chairman’s kindness and, from then on, believes that her destiny lies with him.

Sayuri sees the Chairman again in her capacity as a geisha, but they make no mention of their earlier meeting. It is only after Sayuri’s desperate attempt to prevent Nobu from becoming her danna that they admit their feelings for one another. Here, it is revealed that the Chairman knew that Sayuri was the girl he had encountered years ago, but he had been reluctant to pursue a relationship because of his loyalty to Nobu. Still, he continued to take an interest in her welfare, instructing Mameha to oversee her training and covering any expenses. 

The Chairman becomes Sayuri’s danna, but, as he already has a wife and two grown-up daughters, they cannot marry. According to Sayuri, the relationship is nevertheless marked by enduring passion, and she lives a happy life with the Chairman until the day of his death. 

Sayuri depicts the Chairman as caring and loyal, but, since her view of him is highly idealized, one cannot be sure how accurate this portrayal is. Ultimately, Sayuri spends so much time dreaming of him and their destiny that he is more like a cipher than a full-fledged character. 

Nobu is one of the Chairman’s colleagues, and it is his goal to become Sayuri’s danna. He was substantially injured during his time in the military, and his face is covered with burn scars. Hatsumomo finds him a comical figure, and, for this reason, she enjoys watching him interact with Sayuri. Sayuri, meanwhile, is fond of Nobu and sees him as a decent man, but she does not love him. She flirts with him in an attempt to stop Hatsumomo from antagonizing her, and it has the desired effect.

In contrast to Mameha, Nobu believes in self-determination and insists that Sayuri has some degree of control over her life. He is annoyed by her claim that she is powerless, and he holds her to a high standard. When he feels that she is consorting with men he considers to be second-rate, he sees this as a poor reflection on her character. 

Though he seeks to be Sayuri’s danna, Nobu can be harsh. He can also be caring, however, as shown when he steps in to rescue Sayuri from an awkward encounter with the Baron, and, most notably, when he finds her a safe place to live during the war.

Nobu gives up his pursuit of Sayuri when the Chairman reveals that he saw her in an embrace with Deputy Minister Sato, a man who Nobu dislikes and views in a derisory manner.  

The Baron is Mameha’s wealthy danna, but Sayuri is forced to attend one of his parties unaccompanied when Mameha has to undergo an abortion. 

The Baron is a drunken, lecherous character, and, when he is alone with Sayuri after the party, he insists on seeing her naked. As he undresses her and runs his hands over her body, she can barely conceal her distress, and she later infers that Mameha knows about what happened but does not wish to discuss it. In Mameha’s eyes, the Baron serves a practical, financial function—she makes no pretence of being in love with him. The Baron also bids for Sayuri’s mizuage but loses out to Dr. Crab. 

Through her narration, Sayuri reveals that the relationship between Mameha and the Baron ended a few months prior to the onset of the war, and that the Baron drowned himself in the early years of the Allied Occupation. In Sayuri’s opinion, “I don't think he could face a world in which he was no longer free to act on his every whim” (396).

We do not find out the real name of this character, but Sayuri calls him “Dr. Crab” on account of his posture. Mameha takes Sayuri to him on the pretence that she has accidentally cut her leg, but, really, Mameha knows that the doctor has a predilection for young virgins and hopes that he will bid a high price for her mizuage. 

Dr. Crab is reluctant to begin with, as Hatsumomo has been spreading lies about Sayuri’s sexual exploits. However, Mameha convinces him not to pay heed to these lies, and he wins the bidding by paying a record amount.

Dr. Crab subsequently takes Sayuri’s virginity, keeping the blood-soaked towel as a souvenir. He also reveals that he collects samples of this nature, having kept the cotton swab that he had used to tend to her leg during her earlier visit. The experience itself is a cold, formal affair, but the money that Sayuri receives allows her to repay the debts that she has accumulated. This, in turn, motivates Mother to adopt her.