Main Characters
Komayo – protagonist, has been a geisha since she was seventeen or eighteen, was named Komazo before debut
Yoshioka – methodical and calculating businessman who first met Komayo seven years ago when her name was Komazo
Rikiji – Yoshioka’s first mistress, not pretty but is skilled
Kitani Chojiro – also known as Old Gozan, is a storyteller married to Jukichi, has one surviving, ruined son and a son who died young
Jukichi – plump and dependable woman who oversees the Obanaya, married to Old Gozan
Segawa Isshi – Onnagata (female impersonator in Kabuki) actor who becomes Komayo’s lover
Kikuchiyo – sister in the okiya, nicknamed “Chinese goldfish” and is described as gaudy and kitten-like, Yoshioka takes interest in her after Komayo’s affair with Segawa
Hanasuke – also a sister in the okiya and a friend to Komayo as they both went through hard times, is sturdy and hardworking, but not particularly pretty, holds her money close
Sea Monster – Antique dealer who becomes the danna of Komayo, he knows she will put up with him because she needs his money
Kimiryu – former geisha in Rikiji, patron died leaving wealth, becomes Segawa Isshi’s lover, approved of by Segawa’s mother
Read more about this topic: Geisha In Rivalry
Famous quotes containing the words main and/or characters:
“It is indeed very possible, that the Persons we laugh at may in the main of their Characters be much wiser Men than our selves; but if they would have us laugh at them, they must fall short of us in those Respects which stir up this Passion.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.”
—Clifford Irving (b. 1930)