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Who Is Minako Iwasaki?

Mineko Iwasaki, or Iwasaki Mineko (as her name would appear in Japanese -- 岩崎峰子) was born November 2nd, 1949 as Masako Tanaka. She began her training at the age of five at the Iwasaki okiya . She became a maiko, or apprentice geisha, at the age of 15, and became an official geisha (geiko) at age 21. She was eventually adopted as the daughter of the okiya's mistress, Madame Iwasaki Oima, which is when her last name changed to Iwasaki. Mineko had earned the reputation as Gion's best dancer and geisha, which besides giving her the priviledge to entertain many celebrties, and even royal figures such as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles of the United Kingdom, also earned her many jealous enemies.

Mineko unexpectedly retired at age 29 at the height of her career to get married. She has one daughter and now lives in the suburbs of Kyoto. It was after her retirement that she began to help Arthur Golden with his research on geisha life in Gion.

After Memoirs of a Geisha was published, Mineko received hate mails and death threats for violating the traditional geisha code of silence. Since geisha are privy to information most people would not have since they typically entertain celebrities or wealthy clients, they undertake an unspoken vow of silence never to reveal information about their clients, or their own personal lives. By giving Arthur Golden information about the lives of geisha, she had broken this code of honor, and risked her reputation not only in the flower and willow world, but also risked the jobs of the girls working in Gion and Tokyo today.

Because of this, Iwasaki took Arthur Golden to court for defamation of character and breach of contract. The case was settled out of court in December of 2003.

Mineko Iwasaki has published her own book about the lives of geisha in Gion. It is called "Geisha of Gion", or "Geisha, A Life" (depending on where you live; UK and US, respectively) and is an international best-seller. It has sold millions of copies worldwide.

The life of the main character in Memoirs of a Geisha, Sayuri, is heavily based off of Mineko's own experiences as a geisha in Gion. Mineko disputes that the similar situations both the fictional character and Mineko underwent were not always as negative as they were depicted in the novel. Mineko also disputes the existance of a mizuage ritual, or the auctioning of a young girl's virginity to the highest bidder to become a full-fledged geisha.