V’s Reviews > Geisha, a Life > Status Update

At this pace any reasonable person would have retired after 14 years too 😬

The SHAAAAAADE! This is a CLASSY classy read 🫰🏽🫰🏽🫰🏽

Like this is very much “I’m not saying no names, no free promotion” of Masako; I just know Arthur Golden read this and was fuming 🤣🤣

I do love how she’s intertwining her own personal history with the geisha’s and Japan’s cultures and histories, not only sharing who she is and who they are, but to fight I guess the libel against her and her culture.

I saw a review complaining about how this is a biography, but understanding the context of why this book was written + published would answer why this is both biography and history. 🙄

At the end of the day, Masako has the right to share about her life and her culture what she wants, but it does feel like there is context missing, maybe context that she wouldn’t have as the youngest of 11 but there’s more to this that needs to this then meets the eye…

But also, what the fuck is wrong with this family? There’s no reason that Yaeko or even Masako should act the way that they do if they were OK in the head. And if the youngest son of hers only came to live with them when he was 13 what was going on earlier at the parents/grandparents house?

I respect the fuck out of Mother Sakaguchi for the action she took, Madam Oiyma should have make Yaeko figure out something for herself. That’s incredibly crazy to allow her and that bastard of hers to stay or for Yaeko to defend him and blame her little sister for her other son’s death. I can see where Hatsumomo’s inspiration came from.

Stealing names is one of the most colonizer things you can do 🙄

I was right about Yaeko being given away during hard times, but when it came to their dad—there’s no way you should have let the same parents, who sucked you dry, BEAT YOUR WIFE + be the primary influence on your kids. They should have *been* moved out, parented their older kids, + let his parents figure out how they were going to pay their own bills. Why wouldn’t she disrespect them just like her grandmother?

this might be where the traumatic separation perspective comes from. Yaeko being older + born during rougher financial times, was likely coerced or forced to go the okiya to lessen the strain on the household. And that’s why only Kuniko, Tomiko, + Masako were warm to their parents during visits. And the fact that Masako was never knew Kuniko or even was told who Yaeko + her sons were when Yaeko crashed out😬

Also love the safety of the closet