Mineko Iwasaki - Overview

Overview

Born as Masako Tanaka, at the age of five, she left home to begin studying traditional Japanese dance at the Iwasaki okiya (geisha house) in the Gion district of Kyoto. She was legally adopted by the okiya's owner, Madame Oima, and began using their family name of Iwasaki. She had been chosen as the house's atotori, or heir. Iwasaki became a maiko (apprentice geiko) at age 15. At 15, she also received the name Mineko, as prescribed by a Japanese fortune-teller. By age 21, she had earned a reputation as Japan's best dancer and maiko. She officially became a geiko at this time and was officially known as Iwasaki Mineko.

According to her autobiography, Iwasaki worked herself to her limit, both physically and mentally. She developed a near fatal kidney condition, but recovered and made a strong re-entry into the geiko community. She entertained numerous celebrities and foreign dignitaries including United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. Iwasaki's fame also made her the subject of jealousy and gossip, and she was sometimes faced with physical harassment both when performing and in public. In her autobiography, she describes having to defend herself with a sharp piece of bamboo from a basket she was carrying when a group of men assaulted her on the street.

In 1978, Iwasaki became frustrated with the tradition-bound world of the geiko. She later explained she saw inadequacies in the education system. Iwasaki unexpectedly retired at the height of her career, aged just 29. She hoped that this would shock Gion into reform, but over 70 other ranking geiko emulated her retirement. In her autobiography, Iwasaki speculates that she may have inadvertently doomed the profession. She transitioned to a career in art. In 1982, she married an artist named Jin'ichirō Satō. Their only child, a daughter named Kōko, was born in 1983.