The true story about Memoirs of a Geisha
Author Arthur Golden interviewed Iwasaki while researching for his novel Memoirs of a Geisha. He promised to maintain absolute confidentiality but he thanked her by name in the book's acknowledgements. Iwasaki felt betrayed by that mention to her name and also by the manipulation of her personal life.
For Iwasaki's association with Golden's inaccurate portrayal of the geisha world, she has been shunned in Gion Kobu and treated with hostility.
As a result Iwasaki sued Golden for breach of contract and defamation of character. Golden chose to settle out of court in February 2003.
She wrote her true story in Geisha of Gion: The Memoir of Mineko Iwasaki.
This entry was posted back in January 30, 2006.