Movies Quiz: Memoirs of a Geisha | 10 Questions

Answer: Satsu

At the beginning of the movie, Chiyo and Satsu are sold by their father because he cannot afford to look after them as their mother is dying. Chiyo is sold into the geisha house, but Satsu, who is only fifteen, is sold into prostitution. They try to run away together, but Chiyo is caught and taken back to the geisha house. They never see each other again.

Answer: Her parents have both died.

Chiyo finds out about her parents just after her attempt to run away with Satsu. The Chairman buys her a cup of sweet ice, then gives her his handkerchief and the money left over from buying the ice. She keeps the handkerchief and spends the money in prayer. This is the point at which she begins to dream of being a geisha.

Answer: Mother has no right over Chiyo's future earnings.

Chiyo (re-named Sayuri as a geisha) does erase her debt by selling her mizuage (virginity) to the highest bidder for 15,000 yen, the highest sum ever paid. She manages this by dancing the lead role in the spring dances, captivating the whole audience.

Answer: The baron

The baron is Mameha's danna (patron), so she understandably lets Dr. Crab win the bidding.

Sayuri first meets Dr. Crab when Mameha orchestrates a meeting by having Sayuri cut her own leg. She gets taken to be treated by Dr Crab, who is won over by Sayuri's blue eyes. Hatsumomo tries to sabotage Sayuri by spreading lies about her, but Sayuri's performance, and her conversation with Dr Crab, win him over again.

At the baron's blossom-viewing party, he compromises Sayuri's reputation by undressing her. His bidding for her mizuage proves to Mameha that he didn't go any further.

Nobu (the Chairman's business partner) doesn't usually like geisha, but, like with most other men, she wins him over. He doesn't join in the bidding as it would go against his principles and pride.

The Chairman sees that Nobu is interested in Sayuri and so, despite being in love with her, doesn't act. Nobu had saved his life in Manchuria.

Answer: She eventually self-destructs and sets fire to the geisha house.

Since she first saw Sayuri as a little girl, Hatsumomo has realised that she was a threat, which was why she chose Pumpkin as her younger sister. Over time, she has kept on attempting to ruin Sayuri, including making her ruin Mameha's kimono, and spreading rumours about her.

When Mother adopts Sayuri over Pumpkin, Hatsumomo can't take it any more. She and Sayuri fight, knocking over a lamp which starts a fire. Sayuri immediately tries to stop the flames from spreading, but Hatsumomo smashes two lamps, increasing the inferno. We don't find out what happens to her when she leaves.

Answer: nurse's aide

When the Second World War hits Japan, soldiers round up all the geisha to take them to Osaka, which is one of the main targets for bombing raids by Allied planes. Nobu and the Chairman, whose factory is in Osaka, try to find safe places to stay out the war for as many geisha as possible. Mameha goes to Kamioka to work for a surgeon. Sayuri gets taken to a kimono maker in the Japanese hills.

Answer: Colonel Derricks

Nobu shows the Colonel Sayuri's picture and encourages her to meet him because he and the Chairman need American money to rebuild their business and factory. He thinks geisha are just glorified prostitutes and wants to arrange a tryst with Sayuri. Jealousy after seeing the Colonel cornering Sayuri prompts Nobu to declare his feelings for her.

In a bid to end Nobu's interest in her, Sayuri arranges to meet the Colonel.

Answer: She leaves and becomes a prostitute.

Pumpkin was never a very good geisha, and had pinned all her hopes on being adopted by Mother. When Mother adopts Sayuri instead, she leaves and becomes a prostitute. When Sayuri meets up with her again after the war, she has become a favourite with the American soldiers.

She is still bitter about being rejected, though and, when Sayuri asks her to send Nobu along so he can see her with Colonel Derricks, she sends the Chairman instead, knowing that he is the man Sayuri really likes. She says afterwards that she wants Sayuri to feel the loss of something she wanted.

Answer: Kiko

Kiko is the last of three main children we see in the film, the first two being the younger Chiyo and Pumpkin. We first see Kiko drying Sayuri's hair as she transforms herself into a geisha again after the war, and then again with Mother watching Sayuri getting ready to meet the Chairman at the end of the movie.

Korin is the name of Hatsumomo's friend, who is with her when she makes Chiyo destroy Mameha's kimono.

Koichi is the name of Hatsumomo's boyfriend.

Kaori is the name of the actress who plays Mother.

Answer: Artist

Geisha means 'artist'. Mameha tells Sayuri this in the voice-over during the montage showing her preparing for her debut, specifically during the little scene when they are dancing with the fans.

In one of the documentaries on the DVD, we are told that the first geisha were actually men, who entertained courtesans and their clients. Later, women began doing the same, and slowly took the trade over. Mameha says that geisha sell their skills, not their bodies. The only sexual requirement is the selling of the mizuage, but this now no longer happens.

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