Mineko Iwasaki Libros

Tras demandar a Arthur Golden —autor de Memorias de una geisha— por difamación, incumplimiento de contrato y violación de los derechos intelectuales por revelar su identidad en las páginas del mencionado libro, Mineko Iwasaki, una importante geisha del distrito de Gion Kobe, en Kioto, decide contar en primera persona su verdadera historia y la de estas elegantes damas dedicadas a las artes de la música, la danza y la conversación, desvelando así los entresijos de una comunidad protegida durante más de trescientos años por un antiguo código de silencio y famosa por su secretismo. «Existe un gran misterio acerca de lo que significa ser una geisha y no son pocos los equívocos que suscita nuestra profesión. Espero que este relato contribuya a esclarecerlos.»

"Celebrated as the most successful geisha of her generation, Mineko Iwasaki was only five years old when she left her parents' home for the world of the geisha. For the next twenty-five years, she would live a life filled with extraordinary professional demands and rich rewards. She would learn the formal customs and language of the geisha and study the ancient arts of Japanese dance and music. She would enchant kings and princes, captains of industry and titans of the entertainment world, some of whom would become her dearest friends. Through great pride and determination, she would be hailed as one of the most prized geishas in Japan's history, and one of the last great practitioners of this now fading art form." "In Geisha, a Life, Mineko Iwasaki tells her story, from her warm early childhood, to her intense yet privileged upbringing in the Iwasaki okiya (household), to her years as a renowned geisha, and finally, to her decision at the age of twenty-nine to retire and marry, a move that would mirror the demise of geisha culture."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

'I can identify the exact moment when things began to change. It was a cold winter afternoon. I had just turned three.'Emerging from her hiding place, Mineko encounters Madam Oima, the formidable proprietress of a prolific geisha house in Gion. Madam Oima is mesmerized by the child's black hair and black eyes: she has found her successor. And so Mineko is gently, but firmly, prised away from her parents to embark on an extraordinary profession, of which she will become the best. But even if you are exquisitely beautiful and the darling of the okiya, the life of a geisha is one of gruelling professional demands. And Mineko must first contend with her bitterly jealous sister who is determined to sabotage her success...Captivating and poignant, Geisha of Gion tells of Mineko's ascendancy to fame and her ultimate decision to leave the profession she found so constricting. After centuries of mystery Mineko is the only geisha to speak out. This is the true story she has long wanted to tell and the one that the West has long wanted to hear.