Geisha, 25th Anniversary Edition, Updated Edition

Author is the only non-Japanese to achieve the status of geisha. That fact alone makes the book worth buying. A fascinating look into the secret world of these women living in both a tractional world and modern one.

In contrast to "Memoirs of a Geisha" by A. Golden, Liza Dalby lived for 14 months within Geisha communities and can provide a more authentic and broader view than beforementioned Golden, whose publication received a lot of critics by his geisha, who felt misunderstood in some aspects.Whereas Golden has the view of a westerner on something exotic, Dalby interviewed geisha, ex-geisha, owners of geisha houses etc., worked as a Geisha and shows us the life from within the Japanese society.I especially like how Dalby's research questions are often interwowen by funny anecdotes and stories not only of herself but the history of her trainers and Kyoto. The book is easy to read and hard to lay down after you started. What it means to be a geisha has a lot of answers, and this ethnography will challenge popular opinions like "they are playthings for men!" "Better prostitutes!" "Isolated and can't have their own will!".The only drawback could be that Dalby's research took place in the mid-1970s, but the author explains what has changed since then and guides the reader well.I hope you will enjoy this as much as I did.

This book is primarily an anthropological study of Japanese geisha, particularly the geisha of Kyoto. But it is also in part the story of Liza Crihfield, graduate student, transforming into Ichigiku of Pontocho, the first American Geisha. The whole thing – the background information as well as the personal story – is extremely interesting if you have ever wondered in the least about the geisha.Among the background stuff – Japanese customs and culture, history of the geisha, their differences from the women of pleasure or licensed prostitutes and from wives, their ceremonies and the like – there is also the story if Ichigiku and her ok¬asans and her elder sister. This part of the story is rendered particularly

Been looking a for reputable geisha source for a while now and this is definitely the book to have for qaulity reference.

A Triumph of Anthropology, and of Personal CourageOthers have said the many ways this book is a great and informative vicarious experience. My main point, as a rather timid person, is just my admiration for the courage it must have taken for an American young woman to sign up to work as a geisha in Japan. I mean, for goodness sake, Japan is well known as a place where there a lot of customs about just how to behave in various circumstances. I can't get over the fact that she could step up to play the geisha social role as she did, Talk about dangers of committing faux pas!

It could have been great.So what's wrong with it? Well, name the first three things you think of when you hear the word "Geisha." Chances are, "color" is going to be in there somewhere. And that is precisely what is lacking in this book. There is not one single DROP of color. What few photographs there are tend to be grainy, dreary black and white.And the writing style is just as drab, unfortunately.The world of Geisha is looked at from an almost clinical viewpoint. The fun,the beauty, the mystery are scarcely hinted at. And the layout of the book is also a negative: there are copious footnotes in the back of the book, forcing the reader to page back and forth, back and forth, and that's never fun. I didn't find any of the notes to be so deserving of being set apart in this way: any one of them could have been easily incorporated into the body of the work. I finally just gave up on reading the notes, since none of them seemed all that relevant anyway. One gets the sense that the author, by doing this, was attempting to give her work a more "scholarly" appearance and feel. She certainly succeeded: the book frequently takes on the tone of an extremely long dull seminar. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIt's been a slow read for me, but I am determined to get through this book, for it is a good resource if not the most entertaining read.If anyone knows of a book on geisha that is more enjoyable to read, please feel free to point me in that direction.

This is a great book to learn about the Geisha culture. I was interested in reading about Geisha after seeing the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha". Found out that an American, Lisa Dalby, had been trained as a Geisha and had written the book "Geisha" to share her experiences with us. It's a great book and anyone who thought Geisha are only glorified "women of the evening", are highly mistaken. I highly recommend this book!

This is a very good anthological work. She has included details that could not be found elsewhere. The pictures are good too. Her writing style reminds me of a newspaper reporter.This is the 25th anniversary book and since the original publishing one of the six Geisha districts in Kyoto has disappeared. In 1980 there was about 17,000 Geishas now there is less than 2,000. The Onsen Geishas at Atami have almost disappeared.It's unfortunate that at the end of the book her ego takes over and she starts calling herself a Geisha. (She forgot she was writing a thesis) Dalby attended parties, played the shamisen, wore a kimono, a Geiko wig and makeup. She was never a Maiko nor went through the formal processes of becoming a Geisha, which would take several years. She was not associated any okiya. The Geishas were very generous and brought her along to the parties as their guest. A sports reporter does does not become a professional ball player by wearing a uniform and conducting interviews.If you are fascinated by the Geisha world you will like this book.