Liza Dalby

The author, an American anthropologist, describes her experiences during the year she spent as a Japanese geisha, and looks at the role of women, and geishas, in modern Japan.

25th Anniversary Edition, Updated with a New Preface

Geisha

Srijita Sarkar 

For the Japanese male of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, sex with wives was for procreation, sex with yujo (prostitute) for recreation.

Suffering in the name of art is  not quite so fashionable these days.

Geisha must first be rescued from those who exploit them. Is there no Hitler for the karyukai?"—is there no savior who will sweep away the social injustice perpetrated by exploiters of the weak?

art is life, then it is also true that life must become art

Liza Crihfield Dalby

The author, an American anthropologist, describes her experiences during the year she spent as a Japanese geisha, and looks at the role of women, and geishas, in modern Japan

Shelby Doherty

Likes:
- Really got into a morning routine with this one and I enjoyed this aspect of things a lot. (Waking up every morning and reading one chapter out of the book)
- I really enjoyed the parts of the book that were focused on Japanese history and culture (i.e. part one, the part about kimono and the differences between the kimono of geisha and modern Japanese women, comparisons to bar hostess, etc.)
- I learned a lot of new things that I previously would not have known about (i.e. Portugal's relation to Japan, how the geisha has changed over the years).
- Felt that from this explanation of modern and historical geisha are women who are quite free and empowered. While this may no longer be as true as Japan has further modernized, I am curious to learn more about Japanese societal expectations and geisha as it pertains to the 21st century.
- Reading this has made me more curious about geisha and has also made me more eager to read history books in general.
- would love to compare this account to one written by a Japanese author or "expert".

Dislikes:
- In general, I enjoyed the more personal, memoir-y parts of the book far less and felt that there was less for me to gain from reading these.
- While I now have a much better understanding of geisha and their role in society, I still have a hard time making sense of some things (i.e. how a Japanese wife would not be concerned if her husband frequented geisha parties, the relaxed sexual expectations, etc.). I don't think that this is necessarily a fault of the author's, but instead is more likely due to their not being a direct comparison in North American culture and me not being familiar with Japanese culture.

Discusses the geisha--practioners of music and dance and unmarried companions to the Japanese male elite.

Anyaconda

Liza Dalby, as the only foreigner ever to have become an actual geisha, knows more about the subject than I'll ever know, and she writes about it with grace and eloquence. -- back cover.

Geisha 25th Anniversary Edition, Updated with a New Preface