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Sayo Masuda was a geisha at a hot springs resort, where the realities of sex for sale are unadorned by the trappings of wealth and power. Remarkable for its wit and frankness, the book is a moving record of a woman's survival on the margins of Japanese society -- in the words of the translator, "the superbly told tale of a woman whom fortune never favored yet never defeated."
List of contents
Part 1: A Little Dog, Abandoned and Terrified Little Crane the nursemaid The eyes of the oxen glow in the dark I, too, had a mother Part 2: The Sunburned Novice The dream palace Geisha school I want to be a geisha, right now My four "Elder Sisters" The death of Elder Sister Takemi The hot iron The scar I learn my name Cruel rules I devote myself to art Part 3: Miss Low Gets Wise Shallow river A secret place The new novice The sleep-with-anyone geisha How to be cute and sexy Part 4: Bird in a Cage My first customer The geisha temperament Miscarriage Thou shalt not love In the party business Tip taker Tsukiko's suicide Revenge Part 5: Awakening to Love Number Two and Number Three Tricks of the love trade The witcher bewitched True love Attempted suicide Part 6: Wanderings of a Castaway No place to call home A brother's love Tears of humiliation War's end The dumpling-soup diner Part 7: A Dream for My Little Brother Beautiful eyes Peddler Street stall Gang moll Little Foundling Seven funerary laths Part 8: The Depths of Despair My little brother's suicide Return to Suwa Reunion Happy days Farewell banquet Love's anguish Happiness and unhappiness Wandering between life and death Part 9: The Road Back to Life Innocent smile Piiko the fledgling hawk Vain dreams The Prostitution Prevention Act Cats' paws
About the author
Sayo Masuda died in 2008. G. G. Rowley teaches English and Japanese literature at Waseda University in Tokyo. She is the author of Yosano Akiko and The Tale of Genji.
Summary
Sayo Masuda was a geisha at a hot springs resort, where the realities of sex for sale are unadorned by the trappings of wealth and power. Remarkable for its wit and frankness, the book is a moving record of a woman's survival on the margins of Japanese society -- in the words of the translator, "the superbly told tale of a woman whom fortune never favored yet never defeated."
