The True Story Behind Memoirs Of A Geisha|The Life Of Mineko Iwasaki. Mineko Iwasaki was the most successful Geisha of her time before her shocking retirement at only twenty nine. The Author of No, it is not based on a true story. However, a real geisha, named Mineko Iwasaki, sued the author of the book because of defamation. Surprisingly, not the plot, but some characters in the book resembled some of the real characters in Mineko Iwasaki's life that she shared with the author in a private conversation. a cinderella-type of story combined with mulan's drive to stand above the pressure of living a maid for her whole life or be a full-fledged geisha: memoirs of a geisha drew me into the enchanting world of geisha. and while sayuri strove her very best to keep up with the tsunami of events in her life, circumstances always lead her to chairman iwamoto. and while it was a sad love story (geisha Memoirs of a Geisha 2005 PG-13 2h 25m IMDb RATING 7.3 /10 158K YOUR RATING Rate POPULARITY 2,668 284 Play trailer 2:34 11 Videos 99+ Photos Drama Romance Nitta Sayuri reveals how she transcended her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan's most celebrated geisha. Director Rob Marshall Writers Robin Swicord Arthur Golden Stars Ziyi Zhang Is Memoirs of a Geisha Based on a True Story? No, 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is not based on a true story. However, in saying that, the lead character of Chiyo Sakamoto, known as Sayuri Nitta, seems to be partly derived from a real-life former geisha named Mineko Iwasaki. Specifically, Golden draws from Liza Dalby's memoir Geisha, which recounts the author's experiences as the only American woman ever to become a geisha. Since Golden's novel masquerades as a true memoir, it also belongs to the relatively recent literary tradition of novels written in the guise of memoirs or autobiographies. Was Memoirs of a Geisha a true story? The book isn't based on a true story. However, the author interviewed a former geisha, Mineko Iwasaki, who offered him details about her life that were included in some of the chapters. Why was Memoirs of a Geisha banned in China? Culture Books News Memoirs of a geisha scorned Mineko Iwasaki, the greatest of the legendary Kyoto geisha girls, knew that Arthur Golden would retell her story in his four-million-selling Plot In 1929, Chiyo Sakamoto and her older sister Satsu are sold off by their poor father and taken to Gion, Kyoto. Chiyo is taken in by Kayoko Nitta, known as "Mother", the proprietress of a local okiya; Satsu, deemed too unattractive, is sent to a brothel instead. Having read the book, I found that the film version of Memoirs of a Geisha was a near flawless film with an incredible story. This film is the perfect example of a love story done right. Z76EG.