Whilst Memoirs of a Geisha is a fictional story, Arthur Golden did interview two ex-geisha during his researching phase. The first geisha he spoke with was Kiharu Nakamura, whom he spent an evening speaking with. Kiharu-san has her own biography out about her life as a Shimbashi Geisha. The second geisha he spoke with, and whom he gives a lot of credit to in helping him understand the geisha world is Mineko Iwasaki, who was a very famous maiko and geiko in Gion, Kyoto. See similar questions...

Yes I have. I first read Memoirs of a Geisha shortly after it was first published and released in Australia in 1998 and have read it a few other times over the past years. See similar questions...

However, I do give credit to the novel with helping open many eyes to the world of geisha that may never have known otherwise. Whilst Mr. Golden did researching and interviewing to remain as accurate and as true to the geisha world, it is important that one must remember that it is essentially a fictional novel written by a Western man. See similar questions...

The first book I generally recommend is Mineko Iwasaki's biography due to her involvement with the creation of Memoirs of a Geisha and the lawsuit that followed. It is an interesting look into the life of one of the most famous geisha to emerge from Gion. See similar questions...

Sayuri, Mameha, Pumpkin and Hatsumomo are all fictional character created by Arthur Golden. Because of this, you will not find any further information about them nor will you find photographs or travel posters as none of them never truly existed. See similar questions...

Yes I did enjoy reading Memoirs of a Geisha the first time, despite the fact there are numerous inaccuracies (which will be addressed in the near future). It was an entertaining story but I did feel that it was a rather Western approach to a Japanese "love" story. I believe Lesley Downer described it the best as a "Cinderella" story in Japanese guise. See similar questions...

No I made that up, but I know another guy who did something similar. He thought he would short out the fence and it arced...and knocked him over See similar questions...

The word Geisha literally translates to "arts person" or "one trained in arts" (gei = art, sha = person). It is also sometimes described as "women of arts, which is exactly what a Geisha is - a woman trained in the traditional arts of Japan such as dance, music, singing to name a few. See similar questions...

This is the question I am asked most often. And the most honest answer I can come up with is, I don't know. There are pieces of it I can point to that are absolutely, factually pulled directly from my life. They tend to be the more unbelievable ones. For instance, I do have a son who withdrew for a long time and the first story ever to reach him was Mrs. Doubtfire. See similar questions...

To be completely honest and frank, there really is 0% chance of becoming a geisha if you are not of Japanese desent or extremely skilled in various arts of the geisha (and even then I highly doubt it will be the case). b) Liza did not go there with the purpose of becoming a geisha, nor did she ask to become a geisha. It was the geisha themselves that suggested to her that to further her studies, she should become a geisha. See similar questions...

I've had people tell me that while on their vacation at Zihuatanejo in Mexico, someone actually claimed she was Andy Dufresne's wife!! To repeat, The Shawshank Redemption is about as fact as the toothfairy and Santa Clause, it is a FICTION story. See similar questions...

Just about anything that is not blatant fantasy... and even some of that is in a grey area. No, we don't actually visit anime worlds (we should be so lucky). Yes, we really are such dedicated otaku that if the opportunity arose, we would probably wait until we were done watching the current video. Strips pertaining to the cat's behavior are almost always literal, although her reasons for doing so may not be exactly as we present them. See similar questions...

Yes! Some details may have been "enhanced" and others may have been added for the sake of humor -- unless it is totally made up. See similar questions...

The story of the ship is and many of the characters were really on board. However, the love story is completely fictional. See similar questions...

The book's central idea is true (meeting the angel), the journey to Mojave too, but much of what is written is fictionalized. Nevertheless, the most important episode - the meeting of the angel - really did happen, and I left a statue of the Lady of Aparecida in Glorieta Canyon, near Borrego Springs, CA. See similar questions...

Like with James Cameron's Titanic, The Last Samurai is a fictional character story placed in an actual historic event and time setting. While the story of Captain Algren isn't true (just like the story of Jack and Rose isn't true in Titanic), the events that surround Algren and the time period are true. In 1877, the Samurai lost their final major battle, during a rebellion, when they went up against more modern weaponry. This factual event is part of the basis of the telling of The Last Samurai. See similar questions...

Not exactly. The Thing That Should Not Be is a similar creature to the Ktulu who also dwells in the underground. The band decided to continue the story but with a different creature. See similar questions...

Film historian William K. Everson reviewed Memoirs of a Star in The New York Times when it came out. His thesis on the book was that it "is true in essence if not in details." And that essentially runs true when you read it today. Pola did not set out to lie about her career in Memoirs; in fact, she says in the book a couple of times that her goal was to set forth "the truth" about what happened to her. See similar questions...