Mineko Iwasaki > Quotes

“Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime.”
― Mineko Iwasaki

“Cleaning is considered a vital part of the training process in all traditional Japanese disciplines and is a required practice for any novice. It is accorded spiritual significance. Purifying an unclean place is believed to purify the mind.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha, a Life

“And we are not mountaintop sages who can live by consuming mist.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha, a Life

“They begged me not to quit. But they didn’t offer to change anything.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“So we support the dance but it does not support us.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha of Gion: The True Story of Japan's Foremost Geisha

“A star geiko is never, ever alone and I always wanted to be by myself.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“Kimono, the. Costumes of our profession, are sacred to us. They are the emblems of our calling. Kimono embody beautyas we understand!!!”
― Mineko Iwasaki and Rande Brown, Geisha, a Life

“How come we kept celebrating things that made me feel bad?”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“Whom did I belong to?”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“Dance and the other art forms can be taught, but how to make an ozashiki sparkle can not.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“No, Mineko, beauty is universal. There is an absolute principle in this world that underlies the appearance and disappearance of all phenomena. That is what we call karma. It is constant and immutable, and gives rise to universal values like beauty and morality.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha, a Life

“I had a serious conversation with the flowers and they told me where they came from. I was right. They were from the man who was secreted away in my heart. I missed him so much. I couldn’t wait to see him again. But, at the same time, I was scared of him. Whenever I thought of him a little door in my heart banged shut and I felt like crying. I had no idea what was going on.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“Ricordo ancora dei momenti magnifici, in cui la famiglia era al completo...non immaginavo neppure lontanamente che da lì a breve quegli idilliaci intermezzi sarebbero finiti.
Eppure presto accadde.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha, a Life

“I took the obi from my father’s chest and took it with me. I kept it until I met my husband. I gave it to him. He still wears it.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“This transparent system of accounting means that we know which geiko did the most business on any given day. It is always clear who is Number One.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“I am afraid that the traditional culture of Gion Kobu and the other karyukai will cease to exist in the near future. The thought that little will remain of the glorious tradition beyond its external forms fills me with sorrow.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“I didn’t feel any guilt over my decision to close the okiya. I had given the Gion Kobu everything I had and it was no longer giving me what I needed. I had no regrets.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“The transmission was done. I was free. The dance was mine.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“El traje de maiko lleva un cuello característico, que se cose a mano al nagajuban cada vez que una se viste esta prenda. Estos cuellos rojos tienen su propia historia. Están hechos de seda bordada con exquisitez en hilo blanco, plateado y dorado, de modo que cuanto más joven sea la maiko, menos tupido es el bordado y más visible el rojo de la seda. Conforme una va creciendo, el aplique se vuelve más abigarrado, hasta que casi no se ve el color rojo, símbolo de la infancia. El proceso continúa hasta que un día una "cambia el cuello" de maiko por el de geiko y comienza a usar uno blanco en lugar del rojo.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha, a Life

“That one painting entirely changed my future.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“Even though I knew little about money, I knew that I was the main support of the household.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“Auntie Oima told me that the reason our hair ornaments have pointed ends is so that we can use them to defend our customers from attack.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“I had found what I was looking for. I was madly in love, and the intensity of our passion made a profound difference in my life. More than anything else, it affected my dancing, which attained the expressiveness I had been seeking for so long.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“It is said that a person who has the eyes to see can penetrate to the core of a person’s character, no matter how old that person might be.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“En realidad, mi verdadero problema era que nunca había estado enamorada y, por tal motivo, mi forma de bailar carecía del profundo sentimiento que sólo se consigue después de experimentar una pasión amorosa.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha, a Life

“—¿De verdad le quedan dudas todavía? —le pregunté—. ¿A pesar de tener noventa años?
—Hay ciertas cosas de las que nunca podemos estar seguros —aseveró—, aunque vivamos cien años. Eso demuestra que somos humanos.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha, a Life

“It was a test. Would I come back stronger? Or would I give up and quit? I don’t think this is a particularly enlightened educational philosophy, but, in my case at least, it always had the desired effect.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“Colocar el abanico entre una y la maestra es un acto ritual, y significa que la alumna está dispuesta a dejar atrás el mundo cotidiano y a entrar en el ámbito de los conocimientos de la profesora. Al hacer una reverencia, declaramos que estamos preparadas para recibir lo que la maestra está a punto de inculcarnos.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha, a Life

“I felt powerless, like a carp on the cutting board ready to be sliced into sashimi.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha: A Life

“You have only to see what you see and feel what you feel.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, Geisha, a Life