by LindaAnn LoSchiavo

​Golden Shovel: Memories of a Kyoto Geisha
 
Traditional Kagura rituals — oh, how I
longed to study ancient entertainments but wasn’t
able to while under my father’s roof. But born
anew as Mineko, and
adopted by Madame Oima, I was raised
at the Iwasako okiya to
become an apprentice  —  a maiko  —    be
taught the tea ceremony, music, and a
proper beauty routine in the Gion district of Kyoto.

I’m a cultural ambassador. But tourists only see a pretty geisha.

Original line: I wasn't born and raised to be a Kyoto geisha.
Source: "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden, Chapter 1, page 1, second paragraph.

Note: Mineko Iwasaki (born in 1949) was one of several geisha interviewed by author Arthur Golden as he was researching his novel "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Native New Yorker LindaAnn LoSchiavo, a four time nominee for The Pushcart Prize, has also been nominated for Best of the Net, the Rhysling Award, and Dwarf Stars. Elgin Award winner "A Route Obscure and Lonely," "Women Who Were Warned,” Firecracker Award, Quill and Ink, and IPPY Award nominee "Messengers of the Macabre," co-written with David Davies [Audience Askew, 2022], "Apprenticed to the Night" [UniVerse Press, 2023], and "Felones de Se: Poems about Suicide" [Ukiyoto Publishing, 2023] are her latest poetry titles. In 2023, her poetry placed as a finalist in Thirty West Publishing's "Fresh Start Contest" and in the 8th annual Stephen DiBiase contest.

Use and/or duplication of any content on White Enso is strictly prohibited without express and written permission from the author and/or owner.

Table of Contents                                                                                                                                         Next Page