Geisha

Fascinationen hos vesterlændinge af japanske geishaer, deres mystiske hvide ansigter, deres elegante kimonoer og deres trippende gangart er kolossalt stor. Usikkerheden og uvidenheden om, hvad de egentlig er for nogen, og hvor traditionen kommer fra, er lige så stor. ”En ting står fast”, siger bogens forfatter Asger Røjle Christensen, der har studeret dette helt særlige, japanske kunstfænomen. ”En geisha er ikke en prostitueret. Tværtimod var en geisha fra begyndelsen defineret som det modsatte, en ikke-prostitueret i Japans prostitutionsmiljø, men som havde en anden rolle”. Geisha er en vej ind i Japans dybe kultur, og bogen beretter om fænomenets kulturhistorie fra 1600-tallet til turistens møde i dag med nulevende geishaer, der færdes i Gion-kvarteret i Japans gamle kejserby Kyoto. ASGER RØJLE CHRISTENSEN (f. 1956) er en erfaren dansk journalist, forfatter og foredrags-holder. Han har fulgt udviklingen i Japan og Østasien i mere end 35 år. Han har i alt boet i Tokyo i 13 år af sit liv, hvor han har arbejdet som korrespondent, reporter og analytiker for en række danske og skandinaviske nyhedsmedier, arrangeret studieture og fungeret som rejseleder. Asger Røjle Christensen er forfatter til en række bøger, heraf flere om Japan og japansk kultur.

No woman in the three-hundred-year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story--until now. "Many say I was the best geisha of my generation," writes Mineko Iwasaki. "And yet, it was a life that I found too constricting to continue. And one that I ultimately had to leave." Trained to become a geisha from the age of five, Iwasaki would live among the other "women of art" in Kyoto's Gion Kobu district and practice the ancient customs of Japanese entertainment. She was loved by kings, princes, military heroes, and wealthy statesmen alike. But even though she became one of the most prized geishas in Japan's history, Iwasaki wanted more: her own life. And by the time she retired at age twenty-nine, Iwasaki was finally on her way toward a new beginning. Geisha, a Life is her story -- at times heartbreaking, always awe-inspiring, and totally true.

No woman in the three-hundred-year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story--until now. "Many say I was the best geisha of my generation," writes Mineko Iwasaki. "And yet, it was a life that I found too constricting to continue. And one that I ultimately had to leave." Trained to become a geisha from the age of five, Iwasaki would live among the other "women of art" in Kyoto's Gion Kobu district and practice the ancient customs of Japanese entertainment. She was loved by kings, princes, military heroes, and wealthy statesmen alike. But even though she became one of the most prized geishas in Japan's history, Iwasaki wanted more: her own life. And by the time she retired at age twenty-nine, Iwasaki was finally on her way toward a new beginning. Geisha, a Life is her story -- at times heartbreaking, always awe-inspiring, and totally true.