Why Does Chiyo Have Blue Eyes?

Why Does Chiyo Have Blue Eyes
Are Chihuahuas Born Blue-eyed? – One of the most popular myths of the animal kingdom is that Chihuahuas are always born with blue eyes. In fact, blue-eyed Chihuahuas are much rarer than previously thought. They occur because a recessive gene, called Eucalyptus, that gives blue eyes to Chihuahuas also causes dilated pupils.

This condition, known as heterochromia iridis, happens when the blue part of the eye is dilated, but the iris remains white, creating a startling contrast. Blue-eyed Chihuahuas are only found in litters that also have blue-eyed parents, so the condition is passed along from one generation to another.

The blue-eyed trait is common in Chihuahuas, but the dilated pupil is not. Read more about My Puppies Eyes Are Red: A Comprehensive Guide

Why does Memoirs of a Geisha have blue eyes?

Sayuri’s eyes symbolically relate to the old saying that “eyes are the windows to the soul.” Sayuri’s translucent blue-grey eyes lead many characters to believe that she has a lot of water in her personality. Her eyes also represent her honest and truthful nature, which contrasts with the artificial and deceptive world of the geisha.

In order to be successful in Kyoto, geisha create the illusion that they enjoy spending time with the men they entertain, no matter how boring or boorish the men are.
Mameha even explains that a geisha’s expressive eyes are her best asset for creating these illusions.
While these deceptive eyes conceal a geisha’s true feelings, Sayuri’s eyes are open and honest.

Because of their light color, her eyes seem transparent—”windows” in the old saying—and they reveal her true feelings instead of concealing them. Yet since most characters in the novel are only concerned with the external appearance of beauty rather than inner beauty, they can only see the superficial loveliness of her eyes, rather than the beautiful personality that her eyes reveal.

How much did Sayuri sell her virginity for?

The following day at Mameha’s apartment, Sayuri tells Mameha what happened at the okiya, Mameha says that she knew Mother would adopt Sayuri, because yesterday the bidding ended with Dr. Crab agreeing to pay 11,500 yen for her mizuage – the highest amount ever paid for a mizuage in Gion.

The amount is enough to pay back all her debts.
Mameha explains that if Mother hadn’t adopted Sayuri, then some of the money would have gone straight to Sayuri herself.
But when Sayuri becomes the daughter of the okiya, any money she makes as a geisha will go to the okiya, meaning that Mother will make even more money off Sayuri.

Mameha’s explanation for why Mother adopted Sayuri emphasizes how familial relationships among geisha are merely illusions that conceal the true economic realities. Mother does not adopt Sayuri out of love or affection, but in order to profit off her success.

In the world of the geisha, titles like “mother” and “daughter” suggest economic rather than familial relationships. To Sayuri’s surprise, Mameha doesn’t seem that pleased about this turn of events. Years later, Sayuri would come to understand that the bidding went so high because Dr. Crab ended up bidding against the Baron and not Nobu,

Nobu did bid in the beginning, but soon dropped out when the prices got too high, since he had only a vague interest in mizuage, Dr. Crab and the Baron, however, had their minds set on Sayuri’s mizuage and were willing to bid heavily. Nobu’s lack of interest in Sayuri’s mizuage shows that he desires more from her than just sex – he may even love her.

The Baron and Dr.
Crab, however, are superficial men who want Sayuri for her virginity, and feel only lust for her.
Nobu may love Sayuri, but he still allows his colleagues to treat her like property.
Mother formally adopts Sayuri the following week.
As Mother’s daughter, Sayuri takes on the last name “Nitta.” A few days later, Dr.

Crab and Sayuri drink sake together in a ceremony that binds them together in the tradition of mizuage, Afterwards, Sayuri and Dr. Crab go to a beautiful inn where, in a private room, Dr. Crab tells her to undress and lie on a futon. He then puts a towel underneath her.

The Doctor says that the towel is for absorbing the blood.
Since neither Mameha nor Mother told Sayuri what to expect from the mizuage, she nervously asks him, “Why blood?” He responds that “the hymenfrequently bled when torn.” Though she doesn’t understand what any of this means, Sayuri becomes anxious hearing him talk about the blood and rises up a little from the futon.

The Doctor then puts his hand on her shoulder and gently pushes her back down. Sayuri’s ignorance about the process of losing her virginity emphasizes that she is not psychologically or emotionally ready for this experience. In many ways, she is still a naïve young girl.

The fact that the Doctor pushes her down also implies the coercion in this scene.
Sayuri knows she can’t reject Dr.
Crab without risking either violence or being kicked out of the okiya for disobeying Mother.
Sayuri has no control over her body or her sexual experiences, showing how geisha culture (in Golden’s fictionalized version) oppresses women by taking away their agency.

Dr. Crab takes off his robe and gets on top of her. Sayuri tries to put a “mental barrier” between herself and the Doctor, but it’s not enough to keep her from feeling the Doctor’s “eel.” Sayuri feels uncomfortable and squeezes her eyes tight, wondering why a man would pay so much to do this to her.

Sayuri smells a metallic blood smell in the air. Finally he finishes and thanks Sayuri before going to take a bath. As Dr. Crab rapes Sayuri, Sayuri tries to mentally flee from herself and her body. In essence, the rape forces Sayuri to distance and alienate her mind from her body. Creating this rift between mind and body adds to the dehumanizing aspect of the whole experience.

With the mizuage over, Sayuri feels such relief that she breaks out into a smile. She finds the whole experience so absurd that she has to stifle her laughter. When the Doctor comes out of the bath, he quickly gets into bed and falls asleep. As part of the customs of mizuage, Sayuri stays up all night in case the Doctor should need something.

The next morning, the Doctor presents her with some herbs before he leaves.
He says she should drink them every morning for a week so that she won’t need an abortion.
Sayuri’s reaction shows that she has yet to understand the pleasures or desires of sex—as she hasn’t had the opportunity.
She hasn’t experienced the feelings of sexual arousal that might drive a person to pay for sex.

Yet we should also be critical of this scene, as Golden, a male author, describes a girl responding to her rape with mild amusement – a highly unlikely and insensitive portrayal. Before Sayuri’s mizuage, Mother didn’t care that Hatsumomo was causing Sayuri trouble in Gion, since Hatsumomo was the only one bringing in an income to the okiya,

But since Sayuri’s record-setting mizuage put “a high price tag” on her, men are now willing to pay a lot just to be entertained by her.
Now that Sayuri can bring in money to the okiya, Mother puts a stop to Hatsumomo’s troublemaking by threatening to make Hatsumomo pay for any money she prevents Sayuri from making.

Sayuri now feels that she can go out to any party without fearing that Hatsumomo will get in her way. Even Sayuri now thinks of herself as commodity with a price tag rather than a human being that cannot be judged by monetary worth. Sayuri’s experience in the world of the geisha has caused her to internalize society’s view of women as objects for the pleasure of men, and so she is pleased by the high price her virginity commanded.

Perhaps her acceptance of these beliefs makes it easier for her to undergo traumatic events like her rape. Sayuri stops seeing Dr. Crab at the small teahouse, but she continues to see Nobu, who often asks for her company. Whenever she’s with him and the Chairman at events, Sayuri hopes the Chairman will show a sign that he has affection for her, but he only acts cordially.

Nobu, however, looks at her as though she were the only person in the room. Sayuri worries that the Chairman shares none of the same feelings that she has for him. Nobu’s continued interest in Sayuri shows that he cares for her even though she has already lost her virginity to another man.

He clearly wants more than just to take the virginity of a beautiful girl—he might even be falling in love with Sayuri. Requesting a new title requires a free LitCharts account. With a free LitCharts account, you’ll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes.

Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. You can access all of your notes and highlights by logging into your account.

What is the difference between Chiyo and Sayuri?

Nitta Sayuri (Sakamoto Chiyo) in Memoirs of a Geisha First things first: last name first. In Japanese culture, the family name goes before the given name. Americans would know our protagonist as a young girl as Chiyo Sakamoto, and as a geisha as Sayuri Nitta.

We know what Sayuri means, because it’s a geisha name chosen for her by her “big sister,” Mameha: My new name came from “sa,” meaning “together,” “yu,” from the zodiac sign for the Hen—in order to balance other elements in my personality—and “ri,” meaning “understanding.
14.20) But what about Chiyo? No Google required.

There is a clue in the book as to what “Chiyo” means in Japanese. One of the dances Sayuri learns is called the Chi-yo no Tomo, which she translates as “Friends Everlasting” (14.51) Which part is Chiyo, the friends or the everlasting? It doesn’t matter, because both of these are ironic for poor Chiyo, a girl whose identity is temporary and who has no friends.

Sayuri is a slightly more accurate name.
She achieves understanding as a geisha, even if that understanding is about how tragic the life of a geisha is.
But what does she bring “together”? She ends up together with the Chairman.
And she joins East and West by moving to New York and revealing geisha culture to American audiences.

Finally, she now has the zodiac animal of the Hen as part of her name, but she’s no chicken.

How old was Chiyo when she became a geisha?

Summaries –

Nitta Sayuri reveals how she transcended her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan’s most celebrated geisha. In the 1920s, 9-year-old Chiyo gets sold to a geisha house where she is forced into servitude, receiving nothing in return until the house’s ruling hierarchy determines whether she is of high-enough quality to service the clientele-men who visit and pay for conversation, dance, and song. After rigorous years of training, Chiyo becomes Sayuri, a geisha of incredible beauty and influence. Life is good for Sayuri, but World War II is about to disrupt the peace. In 1929 an impoverished nine-year-old named Chiyo from a fishing village is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto’s Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo, who is vindictively jealous of this new young girl’s stunning beauty. Hatsumomo’s bitter rival Mameha rescues Chiuo and mentors her as she becomes Sayuri, a geisha fully trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. As World War II looms, Japan and the geisha’s world are forever changed by the onslaught of history. Chiyo, age 9, lives in Yoroido, an impoverished fishing village on Japan’s coast. When worse comes to worst for her family, she is sent to the Nitta Okiya while her older sister Satsu is transferred elsewhere. An Okiya is a house (sort of a compound) where a geisha lives. At the Nitta Okiya Chiyo meets another girl about her age nicknamed Pumpkin. Together Pumpkin and Chiyo struggle through the daily life of being treated as nothing more than slaves to the resident geisha, Hatsumomo-the story’s villain, who tries her hardest to make Chiyo’s life as miserable as possible. On one particular occasion, crushingly-depressed Chiyo collapses on a bridge in tears, and a high-society passerby stops to talk to and try to comfort her. This is the first time little Chiyo meets The Chairman. He shows her kindness in a world which has been nothing but cruel to her. From that point on, Chiyo determines to break free from the social class she was born into and become a geisha worthy of The Chairman. After much work and hardship, Chiyo is allowed to attend the school where young girls are taught all the important practices associated with the life of a geisha. She learns how to conduct the tea ceremony, how to play the shamisen (an instrument like a mini-banjo or mini-acoustic guitar), and-possibly the most important-how to dance. The Japanese word “geisha” word geisha is derived from a term referring to art, so a geisha is like an artisan, or an artist. After more altercations with Hatsumomo, Chiyo is taken under the wing of one of Gion’s most popular geisha, Mameha-Hatsumomo’s arch-rival as a geisha. Mameha takes a long time to introduce Chiyo-now renamed Sayuri-as her apprentice, but once she does, she is already blessed with fame for being associated with someone of Mameha’s class. Mameha introduces Sayuri is many numerous figures in Gion life and it come to a point where men are fighting for the highest bid on Sayuri’s mizuage. All this time Sayuri is struggling with the common life lessons of any girl growing up into a young woman; it is very much a coming-of-age story. Through all her trials of adversity, Sayuri’s main goal is always to see The Chairman again. Finally the day comes when she is invited, along with Mameha, to a party at a teahouse at which The Chairman is attending. For the next couple of weeks she attends multiple parties which the Chairman attends, all the while seemingly coming closer to achieving her goal. Tension has been growing concerning World War II and Gion society stars to feel the effects of war. Rations are set up and many part of the geisha district are closing. Geisha are fleeing to other parts of the country hoping to avoid getting caught in an attack. Sayuri and all of her friends are separated until after the war, and once everyone returns to Gion it is realized the effects of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All geisha who fled to these cities obviously died and the community greatly feels the loss. Sayuri desperately attempts to attain The Chairman’s love: will she ever finally achieve this cherished goal? In 1920s Japan, 9-year-old Chiyo and her older sister Satsu get sold by their fisherman father to a Geisha house in Miyako. Satsu is not accepted into the house and is sent to a brothel, from which she later escapes, and rebel Chiyo is left alone and becomes a slave to a geisha. Six years later, however, she has becomes the geisha Sayuri with the support of successful Mameha, while fighting against the evil jealousy of Mameha’s archrival, the wicked Hatsumomo. While still a child, Chyio falls in love with The Chairman, and after World War II they meet again in a period of changes in Japan, with the occupying American forces and the country completely destroyed.

Is Sasori related to Chiyo?

Chiyo was a supporting character in the Naruto franchise. She was a retired counselor of Sunagakure. She was also a famed puppeteer, the leader of Sunagakure’s Puppet Brigade and a medical-nin. She was the grandmother of one of the deceased Akatsuki members, Sasori,

What gender were the first geisha?

The origins and rise of geisha in Pre-Modern Japan – Believe it or not, the original geisha hardly resembled modern geisha in any way. The first geisha were actually male, appearing around the year 1730. It was only about 20 years later that female geisha began to appear in the forms of odoriko (踊り子, meaning dancers) and shamisen players, and they quickly took over the profession, dominating it by 1780.

The original role of geisha was as an assistant to the oiran, high-class and every expensive Japanese courtesans who resided in the pleasure quarters of Edo (modern day Tokyo), Kyoto, and other major cities in the Edo Period (1603-1886).
As the courtesans feared geisha stealing their customers, regulations at the time forbade geisha from forming personal relations with customers.

In fact, they were not even allowed to sit near guests. However, patrons visiting the courtesans gradually began to gravitate towards the less expensive and much more socially accessible geisha, and by the 1800s, geisha for the most part were replacing oiran as the center of parties.

As the popularity of the oiran waned in the Meiji Period (1868-1912), the popularity of geisha only grew, as they became vital providers of hospitality and entertainment at dinner events for large companies and government officials. The popularity of geisha grew continually up until the 1920s, when there were as many as 80,000 geisha throughout Japan entertaining guests.

It was only as the country became involved in international warfare that the strain on Japanese society threatened the role and prestige of the geisha profession.

Did the chairman marry Sayuri?

But when Nobu rejects Sayuri, the Chairman becomes her danna (a man who pays a geisha to be his long-term mistress). He does not marry her (he already has a family), but he pays all of her expenses and allows her to move to New York to open her teahouse and rear their son. He takes care of Sayuri until his death.

What do they call virginity in Memoirs of a Geisha?

In literature – Arthur Golden’s novel Memoirs of a Geisha portrays mizuage as a financial arrangement in which a girl’s virginity is sold to a ” mizuage patron”, generally someone who particularly enjoys sex with virgin girls, or merely enjoys the charms of an individual maiko,

Former geisha Sayo Masuda describes mizuage in her 1956 autobiography Autobiography of a Geisha as sexual exploitation. Masuda describes being sold multiple times by her okiya to men, ostensibly for the purposes of taking her virginity, under the pretence that she had not yet lost it. The transaction was explicitly a sexual arrangement, far removed from the ceremony of graduating into geishahood, netting the okiya a large profit.

Despite her personal experiences, Masuda argued against the outlawing of sex work in Japan, explaining that it provided a way for women to make an independent living when chosen as a profession, and through criminalisation, would merely be driven underground.

Why is geisha makeup white?

History & Theory behind Geisha and Maiko Makeup – The white face makeup customary to geisha and maiko originated in China, used because, in the dim candlelight, wearing thick white makeup created a porcelain look. The mouth looked like lacquer ware—something loved and praised by the Japanese. The whitening effects of whitening powder are still proliferated to this day in modern makeup.