90 Day Geisha


Book Description

An introspective journey into the glamorous world—and temptations—of Japanese nightlife, by former model Chelsea Haywood. The hard-drinking, drug-taking, all-night culture that dominates Tokyo’s Roppongi district can be a surreal place. Overworked Japanese business men will pay handsomely for the services of a hostess—someone to talk to, someone to provide hot towels and drinks, and sometimes just a companion with whom to sing karaoke with all night. Intrigued by rumors of this strange subculture and armed with her 90-day work visa and new husband, Matt, Chelsea throws herself into the lion’s den. Yet what she discovers about herself and about the inhabitants of this nocturnal life far exceeds her expectations. Hostessing, she comes to find, has “very little to do with sex, quite a lot to do with psychology, and nothing to do with prostitution.” Her personality and conversation skills are her top commodity, and Chelsea quickly finds herself charmed by these billionaire men, many of whom are funny, intelligent, even kind, and often, very lonely. But as she becomes more and more attached to her clients, Chelsea soon finds herself getting burned at her own game, as the endless presents, compliments, and destructive atmosphere of alcohol and drugs threaten to take both her marriage, and her sanity, to the edge.




Geisha & Maiko of Kyoto


Book Description

This exquisite collection of photographs and interviews focuses on four of Kyoto's most beautiful geisha and maiko (apprentice geisha). First, the geisha and maiko were photographed at Kyoto's largest geisha dance performances and other important dances. Next, portrait sessions were held with each woman to capture the kata (forms or poses) of her favorite dances. The geisha and maiko were then interviewed about their photographs, giving the reader a rare insight into their artistic training. Finally, images follow one maiko from her last few days as an apprentice through her first few days as a geisha. Never before has the change from maiko to geisha been documented so completely. The result is a collection of 149 gorgeous photographs that shed light on these exquisitely beautiful women like no other book before.




Geisha, Harlot, Strangler, Star


Book Description

In 1936, Abe Sada committed the most notorious crime in twentieth-century Japan--the murder and emasculation of her lover. This detailed account of Sada's personal history, the events leading up to the crime, and its aftermath steps beyond the simplistic view of Abe Sada as a sexual deviate or hysterical woman to reveal a survivor.




Geisha


Book Description

A Kyoto geisha describes her initiation into an okiya at the age of four, the intricate training that made up most of her education, her successful career, and the traditions surrounding the geisha culture.




Memoirs of a Geisha


Book Description

"Captivating, minutely imagined . . . a novel that refuses to stay shut" ("Newsweek"), "Memoirs of a Geisha" is now released in a movie tie-in edition.




Autobiography of a Geisha


Book Description

The glamorous world of Kyoto's geisha is familiar to many readers but Sayo Masuda's tale tells a different story, one that bears little resemblance to the elegant geisha quarters frequented by illustrious patrons. Masuda was a geisha at a rural hot-spring




Geisha of Gion


Book Description

'A glimpse into the exotic, mysterious, tinged-with-eroticism world of the almost mythical geisha' Val Hennessy, Daily Mail '[An] eloquent and innovative memoir' The Times The extraordinary, bestselling memoir from Japan's foremost geisha. 'I can identify the exact moment when things began to change. It was a cold winter afternoon. I had just turned three.' Emerging shyly from her hiding place, Mineko encounters Madam Oima, the formidable proprietress of a prolific geisha house in Gion. Madam Oima is mesmerised 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 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.




Dangerous Women


Book Description

Grannies, geishas, warriors, mystics, recluses, and predators--these are the dangerous women of traditional China. In a culture that is resoundingly patriarchal, these women are a vivid counterpoint. Violating state-sponsored orthodoxies, the granny mocks and mimics, the geisha charms with her intellect, the warrior rules in icy superiority. Using new and freshly interpreted sources, the author leads us confidently into this surprising world, bolstering her text with color and black and white art of the period.




The Asian Mystique


Book Description

Uses interviews, media, reportage, and secondary sources to explore the historical and pop cultural roots of Western images of Asian women.




Everyday Life in Traditional Japan


Book Description

Everyday Life in Traditional Japan paints a vivid portrait of Tokugawa Japan, a time when contact with the outside world was deliberately avoided, and the daily life of the different classes consolidated the traditions that shaped modern Japan. With detailed descriptions and over 100 illustrations, authentic samurai, farmers, craftsmen, merchants, courtiers, priests, entertainers and outcasts come to life in this magnificently illustrated portrait of a colorful society. Most works of Japanese history fail to provide enough details about the lives of the people who lived during the time. The level of detail in Everyday Life in Traditional Japan allows for a nearly complete picture of the history of Japan. In fascinating detail, Charles J. Dunn describes how each class lived: their food, clothing, and houses; their beliefs and their fears. At the same time, he takes account of certain important groups that fell outside the formal class structure, such as the courtiers in the emperor's palace at Kyoto, the Shinto and Buddhist priests, and the other extreme, the actors and the outcasts. he concludes with a lively account of everyday life in the capital city of Edo, the present-day Tokyo.