Memoirs of a Geisha

In 1929, Chiyo Sakamoto, a young girl living in a poor fishing village by the sea, is sold to a geisha house by her father alongside her sister, Satsu, so that they might send money back home. Chiyo is taken in by Kayoko Nitta, the "Mother" (proprietress) of a geisha house in Miyaki, Kyoto, whereas Satsu, deemed too unattractive, is sent to a brothel instead. Chiyo meets "Granny" and "Auntie", the other women who run the house, and the okiya's only working geisha, Hatsumomo, who is beautiful but cruel. Chiyo meets another young girl nicknamed Pumpkin, who she becomes friends with.