MINEKO IWASAKI as MISTRESS GEISHA of FAMOUS ACTOR SHINTARO KATSU

Chapter 28 of Mineko Iwasaki's memoir is where we begin to find her tale of her geisha mistresshood to a famous married and much older Japanese actor, stage name Shintaro Katsu.  Remember that an arrangement like this was socially acceptable in Japanese society where marriages were arranged and not for love, and even desired by the geisha, who needed to think about a future for herself as she aged. We must realize that geisha were not expected to remain virgins, and as Mineko says, when you put beautiful, accomplished, charming, women and powerful rich men together something is bound to happen.

I'll reiterate the story for you.

Mineko and Shintaro, who she called Toshio, were introduced when she was a fifteen year old professional dancer, no big deal, and then reintroduced when she was 18 and considered marriageable. Mineko, because of the attempted rape she had suffered at twelve, had doubt that she could allow physical love.  She even thought that her inability to love effected her dancing.

It turns out that Shintaro Katsu was the first man to kiss her and her reaction was not positive.  She says she thought kissing caused pregnancy! (This was the late 1950's.)  She was outraged that he had taken advantage of the two of them passing each other on the stairs, and reported this to her house and begged off having to entertain him. She was encouraged to give him slack because he was a good customer. He wished to seduce her gradually, but she gave him a challenge.  She said that if he showed up at Gion Kobu for three years, then she would succumb.  She was not always there but this he did.
He said that love and marriage do not always go together. He said he wanted a divorce.  He was twice as old as she and had children.  She voiced her objections.  But he won her over, gradually becoming one of her favorite customers.

And so she began a life of continuing to dance and being honored as the greatest dancer of her generation in Japan, but also traveling with Toshio.

EXCERPTS: Chapter 31, pages 5, 6 of 25 of the e-book.

"The "flower and willow world" is a society apart, complete with its own rules and regulations, its own rites and rituals.  It allows for sexual relationships outside of marriage, but only if those relationships adhere to certain guidelines... Thus Mother Sakaguchi arranged my apprenticeship to the iemoto and remained ready to intervene whenever there was a problem...Toshio promised Mama Masako that he was going to divorce his wife...

Page 13: "Toshio sounded on the edge of despair.  he talked to me for hours.  About his wife.  About his children.  About his anguish over the whole situation. I was too concerned about him to think about myself...

Page 14: "I will stay with you as long as it takes to convince her.  But you have to promise me two things.  You will never keep secrets from me and you will never tell me a lie.  If you do, it's over.  No questions asked. You'll go your way and I'll go mine." 

She went with him to New York City.

Mineko found herself surprised by her lusty passion.
Page18: "I was madly in love, and the intensity of our passion made a profound difference in my life.  More than anything else, it affected my dancing, which attained the expressiveness I had been seeking for so long.  Emotion seemed to flow from my heart into every movement, every gesture, making them deeper and more powerful."

In 1973 during another trip to New York Toshio introduced her as his fiancée at a party.
Back in Japan, though he had homes in Tokyo and Kyoto, her apartment became their "love nest."  She reports that he actually enjoyed doing the cleaning.  As her schedule was still very busy, for she had not retired her dancing, she had no time for domestic duty.  In fact she had moved back into the okiya in 1972 because she couldn't deal with cooking and cleaning.

Chapter 35, pages 1-3, 10-12. 16 of 27

EXCERPT: "For five years I believed that Toshio was going to divorce his wife and marry me.  During this period he lied to me twice. ... (He spent time with his wife.  His wife and children met him at the airport.) ... I know I said in the beginning of our relationship that lying was unacceptable but life is not so simple.  ...

Toshio lied to her twice, both times the lie had to do with spending time with his wife. He had her exit a plane separate of him when his wife and children were there to meet him.  Finally, after five years, she decided to end it after in March 1976 he lied to her a third time. This time his wife was with him at a hotel she had planned to stay at with him.  He lied that he was in meetings but she entered the room he was staying in and found herself relocated to another room.  Then she saw his wife's fur coat and bag.   Mineko went crazy, dumping the contents of the bag and putting a knife through a heap of clothing.  Then she packed her bags and left him.

Now if you are wondering if Toshio's whole family was on the side of his wife, they were not. In May of 1976. she went on a family trip that included his parents, his brother and brother's girlfriend.

EXCERPT: ..."It was not considered strange that I was traveling with this artistically accomplished group. His parents valued the cachet that I brought, as a geiko, to the party and were happy to include me in their circle.  They approved of my relationship with their son and we were quite fond of each other,"

Then she went to her house and informed Mama Masako that she wanted to separate from Toshio.  He was supposedly heartbroken and wanted the relationship to continue, but Mineko was through.



As you read these excerpts, I wonder if you, like me, noticed that this wealthy and famous man who owned homes allowed the affair to continue at her apartment.  It seems to me that he should have bought her a house rather than allow her to continue living in an apartment that she needed to afford.  - Missy