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Answer keys LEVEL 6
Memoirs of a Geisha
Book key
1 Open answers
2 a shamisen: a Japanese guitar
tsutsumi: a small drum
obi: a special belt
takamakura: a special pillow for the neck
danna: a wealthy man who provides for a geisha
financially
b kiss you
3 a geisha, maid, mistress
b admiral, baron
c apprentice, novice, peasant, prime minister
4 a  3  b  2  c  8  d  9  e  5  f  6  g  4  h  1  i  7
5 a Mrs. Nitta owns the okiya where Chiyo is taken.
She refuses to let Chiyo start her geisha training.
Mr. Bekku works for Mrs. Nitta. He takes Chiyo
from Yoroido to Kyoto. Asami is Mameha’s maid.
Chiyo gives Mameha’s ruined kimono to her. Later,
Asami arranges a secret meeting between Mameha
and Chiyo. Jakob Haarhuis meets Nitta Sayuri
(Chiyo) in New York in 1985. He records and
translates her story. Chiyo meets the man on his
way to Hatsumomo’s room. Hatsumomo is angry
because she is obviously keeping her lover a secret
from Mrs. Nitta. She forces Chiyo not to mention
him. The Chairman sees Chiyo crying outside the
Minamiza Theater and gives her a handkerchief.
Chiyo knows that she will always remember his
kindness, and is filled with a strong desire to
become a geisha. Pumpkin is the other girl at the
okiya. She starts her geisha training before Chiyo
because Hatsumomo is her “Older Sister” and does
not see her as a threat to her position. Tanaka Ichiro
arranges for Chiyo to leave Yoroido and go to Mrs.
Nitta’s okiya in Kyoto. Mameha is another geisha.
Hatsumomo forces Chiyo to ruin her kimono.
Later, Mameha offers to be Chiyo’s “Older Sister”
on condition that Mrs. Nitta arranges for Chiyo to
start geisha training.
b Hatsumomo is the geisha at Mrs. Nitta’s okiya. She
sees Chiyo as a threat to her position and therefore
treats her very badly. She frequently hits her and
tells lies about her. She gets her into serious trouble
by forcing her to ruin Mameha’s kimono. Chiyo
tries to run away, but is caught. As a result, she
seems to have lost all chance of training to be a
geisha and of being adopted by Mrs. Nitta.
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6 a She does not want anyone to be embarrassed by her
memoirs.
b Chiyo is taken to Kyoto by Mr. Bekku after Tanaka
Ichiro has persuaded her parents to let her leave.
c Hatsumomo is unpleasant to (and about) Chiyo
from the beginning.
d Pumpkin, Mr. Bekku and Mrs. Nitta live off the
money that Hatsumomo earns.
e Hatsumomo hits Chiyo because she does not like
the way that Chiyo has spoken to her.
f Mrs. Nitta tells Chiyo that she will have to pay for
Mameha’s ruined kimono.
g True
h She is afraid that Mrs. Nitta might adopt Chiyo.
i Hatsumomo has reason to be unhappy, but Mrs.
Nitta is pleased.
7–9  Open answers
10 a shamisen / tsutsumi
b Pumpkin / Chiyo
c takamakura / hair
d faint / eyes
e novice / Sayuri
f maids / teahouse
g adopts / Hatsumomo
h two / mizuage
i handkerchief / sleeve
j burns / arm
11 a It makes her “stomach turn over” even now because
it reminds her of the smell of her school.
b She is unhappy, because Hatsumomo is going to tell
Pumpkin not to speak to Chiyo again.
c She thinks that it is two years of hard work. She
has to learn special skills; she cannot sleep on an
ordinary pillow because of her new hair style; the
new kimonos are big and heavy.
d The usual geisha parties are boring because the
conversation is not very intelligent. The formal
parties are the worst because no one speaks to a
novice geisha. Some parties where there are writers
and actors are more interesting.
e Before the party she feels relieved because she thinks
that Hatsumomo will not be there. During the
party she feels embarrassed because Hatsumomo
arrives and makes all the men laugh at Sayuri. After
the party she is disappointed because she has to stop
going to parties in Gion until Mameha can think of
a plan to stop Hatsumomo.
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Memoirs of a Geisha
f She feels less sorry for herself because she sees for
the first time how poor people have to live during
the Depression.
g She is disappointed, because she learns that Mrs.
Nitta is going to adopt Pumpkin.
h She is unhappy because Mameha wants Nobu to
bid for Sayuri’s mizuage. At the sumo wrestling
exhibition, she finds it hard to look at him because
of his facial burns. She wishes that she could talk to
the Chairman instead.
i She is embarrassed, because there is no tea in the
pot.
j She feels sick, because Mameha tells her that two
men will bid for her mizuage, neither of whom will
be the Chairman.
12–14  Open answers
15 a  2  b  1  c  2  d  2  e  2  f  2  g  2  h  2
16 a Hatsumomo is talking to Nobu about Sayuri, after
she has seen Nobu give Sayuri a gift. She is sad
because, for the first time, she has been unable to
publicly embarrass Sayuri at a party.
b Pumpkin is explaining to Sayuri that Dr. Crab did
not go to the Shirae Teahouse because Hatsumomo
had told him that Sayuri had a boyfriend.
c Dr. Crab is talking to Mameha about Sayuri. He is
angry because he has been told by Hatsumomo that
Sayuri has a boyfriend.
d Mrs. Nitta is talking to Sayuri after Dr. Crab has
offered a record amount of money for Sayuri’s
mizuage.
e Hatsumomo is talking angrily to Mrs. Nitta about
Pumpkin, who has just told her that Mrs. Nitta
intends to adopt Sayuri.
f Mameha is talking to Sayuri about her desire for
love, not kindness. (Nobu, who is a kind man, has
proposed himself as Sayuri’s future danna. Sayuri
does not want this; she would prefer the Chairman,
with whom she is in love.)
g Mrs. Nitta is telling Sayuri, who has earned more
in the past six months than Hatsumomo and
Pumpkin combined, that the time has come for her
to exchange rooms with them.
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h Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku is telling everyone at
the Ichiriki Teahouse the secret of his success. He
never tries to defeat his enemy; he only tries to
make him less confident.
i Mameha is talking to some people about
Hatsumomo, who has just threatened to hit
her on the street.
j Mameha is talking to Hatsumomo, who has just
bitten Shojiro on the lip.
17–19  Open answers
20 a the years of the Depression
b the geisha district
c parachutes
d Mrs. Nitta
e Sato
f Pumpkin
g Sato and Nobu
h Nobu
i the Chairman and Pumpkin
21 a When the geisha district is closed, all the geisha
must report to the registry office for factory work.
b Sayuri visits General Tottori in the Suruya Inn to
ask him for help.
c At a party at the Ichiriki Teahouse just before
the geisha district is closed, Sayuri asks Nobu to
forgive her. After the war, she entertains Sato there.
Sato asks the mistress of the teahouse if he can be
Sayuri’s danna. Iwamura Electric telephone the
mistress of the teahouse with news about the trip
to the island of Amami.
d During the war, Sayuri lives with the Arashino
family in the country outside Kyoto.
e Every day during the war, Sayuri throws flowers
into the Kamo River, hoping that the Chairman
might see them from his office window in Osaka.
f Asami is killed in Nagasaki.
g After the war, Mameha lives in a one-room
apartment near the Gion Shrine.
h After the war, Pumpkin lives in a small okiya in the
Hanami-cho area of Gion.
i Sayuri visits the island of Amami with Nobu, Sato,
and the Chairman.
j Sayuri betrays Nobu on the stage in an old theater
by being Sato’s lover.
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Memoirs of a Geisha
22 a Nobu arranges for Sayuri to stay with a family
outside Kyoto during the war.
b She sells herself on the streets of Osaka.
c Sayuri is hurt because she is never invited to any
parties at Iwamura Electric. She also thinks that the
Chairman has too many other problems to worry
about. At first, she is afraid to ask Nobu because she
has not seen him since General Tottori became her
danna four years earlier.
d Sato is the new Deputy Minister of Finance, and
the Chairman’s position as head of Iwamura Electric
depends on Sato’s report to the Americans. Sato is
attracted to Sayuri. If Sayuri treats him well, Sato’s
report is likely to be favorable and the Chairman
will be able to keep his company.
e Pumpkin’s formal behavior and lack of warmth
f When Sayuri finishes the story about her first
meeting with the Chairman, she realizes that the
Chairman has not been listening.
g If Sayuri succeeds in betraying Nobu, Nobu will
be angry with her and never speak to her again.
He will no longer want to be her danna, which
means that Sayuri might still be able to attract the
Chairman as her danna.
h Sayuri wants Nobu to discover her alone with Sato
so that he (Nobu) will give up his desire to be her
danna.
i Pumpkin knows that Sayuri is secretly in love
with the Chairman. As revenge for past injustices,
Pumpkin punishes Sayuri by bringing the
Chairman, not Nobu, to the theater. The Chairman
will see Sayuri alone with Sato and will think that
Sayuri is a bad woman. Pumpkin hopes that this
will destroy Sayuri’s chances of ever having the
Chairman as her danna.
23–24  Open answers
25 a  7  b  7  c  3  d  3  e  3  f  3  g  7  h  7
i  7  j  3
26 Open answers
27 a  10  b  6  c  3  d  1  e  9  f  7  g  4  h  2
i  5  j  8
28–38  Open answers
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Discussion activities key
1–11  Open answers
12 Suggested answer
okiya: the house where geisha live.
shamisen: one of the instruments that geisha play at
parties.
tsutsumi: a small drum geisha learn to play.
takamakura: a special pillow for novice geisha to sleep
on.
kimono: geisha’s outfit for parties.
obi: the wide belt worn around the kimono.
tatami: a mat they kneel or sleep on.
mizuage: the first time a geisha sleeps with a man.
danna: a man who wanted to be with a geisha for
quite a long time and who paid for her expenses.
sake: an alcoholic drink.
sumo: a wrestling sport.
hataki-komi use of the energy of the bigger wrestler to
the advantage of the opponent.
13–23  Open answers
24 Suggested answer
In both cases, there is a deliberate plan to deceive
someone. Sayuri knows she has to do these things but
she does not like it.
25–38  Open answers
Activity worksheets key
1 a A period when there was worldwide
unemployment.
b Kyoto is a city in Japan.
c Jakob Haarhuis is the fictional translator of the
story of Sayuri.
d Kuraitani means “the valley of darkness”; the black
years of the Depression of the 1930s and then
World War II.
e A geisha is a professional female companion for
men in Japan, trained in music, dancing and the art
of conversation.
f Sayuri is a Japanese geisha and the heroine of the
novel. Memoirs of a Geisha tells her story.
g Gion is the geisha area of Kyoto.
h Hatsumomo is a beautiful but evil geisha who tries
to hurt Sayuri.
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Memoirs of a Geisha
2 a … forty years.
b … as a geisha, she would always talk to people,
face-to-face. She couldn’t write a story in an empty
room; she needed somebody with her, listening,
talking to her.
c … she didn’t want anybody to be embarrassed by
her memoirs.
d … entertain men.
e … having a danna.
f … dance and play instruments.
3 Mr. Tanako Ichuro: His family owns the Japan Coastal
Seafood Company. He arranges for Chiyo to be taken
to Kyoto and live in an okiya, working as a maid.
Mr. Bekku: He is a tall, thin man who takes Chiyo
from her home town to the okiya in Kyoto.
Hatsumomo: She is tiny and very beautiful and is one
of the most famous geisha in Gion. Hatsumomo earns
all the money for the okiya. Chiyo’s job is to look after
her.
Mrs. Nitta: She is the owner of the okiya. She is very
ugly: her eyelids are the colour of red meat and her
gums and tongue are grey.
Pumpkin: She is a young girl of about thirteen or
fourteen with a thin body and round face. Like Chiyo,
her job is to look after the geisha Hatsumomo. If she
works very hard, like Chiyo, she may become a geisha
herself.
4 Open answer
5 a Hatsumomo speaks very cruelly to Chiyo. She
makes Chiyo write on Mameha’s expensive kimono
in ink and then blames Chiyo. As a result, Chiyo
has to pay the okiya back for it.
b Because Hatsumomo has made her life so unhappy
in the okiya.
c Because Mrs. Nitta knows that Chiyo tried to
run away. Mrs. Nitta thinks that Chiyo ruined
Mamema’s kimono and Mrs. Nitta has had to pay
for the kimono. Mrs. Nitta also has to pay Chiyo’s
medical expenses for her broken arm. She decides
that she does not want to pay for Chiyo’s geisha
training as well – she has already spent too much on
her.
6 Open answer
7 a A man called the Chairman says this to Chiyo when
he sees her crying.
b This is Chiyo’s reply to the Chairman’s words of
sympathy.
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c Mameha says this to Chiyo. Mameha has asked
Chiyo to come and visit her secretly. She knows
that Chiyo is very unhappy and that Hatsumomo
has made Chiyo’s life miserable.
d Chiyo says this to Mameha, as she tries to describe
her life with Hatsumomo.
e Hatsumomo says this to Mameha when she hears
that Mameha intends to take Chiyo as a “Younger
Sister.”
f Mrs. Nitta says this to Mameya. She is delighted
that Chiyo will be Mameha’s younger sister because
this means that Chiyo’s income will increase so
Mrs Nitta will get more money.
8–9  Open answers
10 Chiyo learns to pour tea in a way that shows off her
arms. She has her hair done in the way that novice
geishas wear their hair. She learns to walk in the
special kimono that novice geishas wear. She learns
to use her eyes in a way that men find extremely
attractive. Finally, there is a special tea ceremony and
she becomes the novice geisha, “Sayuri.”
11 a Because it is the 1930s and this is the time of the
Depression – very few people have money for
formal parties.
b Because Hatsumomo and Pumpkin start following
them and going to the same parties. This makes
Sayuri very frightened of what she might do.
c In order to frighten Sayuri and also in order to say
bad things about Sayuri to people at the parties.
d Because Hatsumomo starts telling terrible stories
about Sayuri and Mameha fears it will ruin Sayuri’s
reputation.
e Because Pumpkin has earned more money than any
other geisha in Gion.
12 a Sayuri meets the Chairman at a sumo wrestling
exhibition. She learns that the Chairman’s name is
Iwamura Ken and that he started a big company
called Iwamura Electric in Osaka. Nobu Toshikazu
is also there. “The Chairman” looks curiously at
Sayuri when he is introduced to her. Sayuri tries to
talk to him but Nobu keeps talking to her. Nobu
has terrible burns on his face and has lost an arm.
Because of this, Sayuri finds it hard to look at him.
Mameha’s plan is to get Nobu interested in Sayuri
so that he will bid for her mizuage but Sayuri feels
sick at the thought of this. She wants her rescuer to
be the Chairman. She has dreamed of him all these
years and at last she has met him.
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b Nobu Toshikazu is the President of Iwamura
Electric and is the Chairman’s right hand man.
Iwamura Electric nearly went bankrupt in the
1920s and Nobu found some new investors and
saved the company. The Chairman feels that he
owes Nobu everything. He says that Nobu is more
like a brother than a business partner.
c Mizuage: When a woman sleeps with a man for the
first time.
Sumo: a type of Japanese wrestling.
Hataki-komo: This is a word used in sumo
wrestling when one wrestler uses the energy of his
opponent’s attack against him.
13 a  False  b  False  c  True  d  True  e  False
f  False  g  True  h  True  i  False
14 Open answer
15 a Mrs. Nitta has adopted Sayuri because of the
amount of money Sayuri has obtained for her
mizuage. This means that when Mrs. Nitta dies,
the okiya will belong to Sayuri.
b Mrs. Nitta says this to Hatsumomo. She has
informed Hatsumomo that she has adopted Sayuri
and that from now on she must show respect to
Sayuri.
c Mrs. Nitta had intended to adopt Pumpkin. Now
Sayuri has taken her place. Naturally, Pumpkin is
very upset.
d These are Mrs. Nitta’s words to Sayuri. Nobu has
offered to become Sayuri’s danna.
e Sayuri knows that if Nobu becomes her danna,
because the Chairman is a friend of Nobu, the
former will never be able to have a relationship with
Sayuri.
f Mameha says these words to Sayuri. She means that
a geisha can rightly expect kindness from her danna
but she cannot expect love.
16 a She says that he has a new job to try and obtain
supplies for the army at the lowest possible price.
Because there is a war on, if the General becomes
Sayuri’s danna, he could be very useful in obtaining
goods and food if there are shortages.
b Because Sayuri is earning so much money,
Mrs. Nitta allows her to exchange rooms with
Hatsumomo and Pumpkin. This is a real turning
point in Sayuri’s relationship with Hatsumomo.
Sayuri and Mameha follow Hatsumomo. This
frightens her and she almost attacks Mameha
in public. Mameha suggests that Hatsumomo
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is “losing her mind” and this rumor spreads all
over Gion. Then, one evening, Mameha becomes
friendly with a famous actor who is a friend of
Hatsumomo’s. Hatsumomo attacks the actor
and bites his lip. As a result, the geisha is thrown
out of the party and does not return to the okiya
that night. A few days later, Mrs. Nitta uses
Hatsumomo’s behaviour as an excuse to throw her
out of the okiya. Hatsumomo is no longer earning
as much money as she used to and Mameha believes
that Mrs. Nitta has wanted to get rid of her for
years.
17 a Mother grew sick. But after a telephone call to the
General, an important doctor from the military
hospital called and gave Mother some medicine that
cured her.
b General Tottori is arrested in December 1942. He is
no longer able to help Sayuri and the okiya. Instead
they are the people who most needed help.
c In January 1943 the government announces the
closing of the geisha district. All geishas are ordered
to report to the registry office for factory work.
d In Spring 1944 the first bombs are dropped on
Japan. The Americans bomb the factories in Osaka
and Tokyo. Sayuri is desperately worried about the
Chairman and Nobu because they are working at
the Iwamura factory in Osaka.
e The war ends for the Japanese with the nuclear
bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is why
Sayuri describes this date as “the blackest moment
in a long night of darkness.”
f In Spring 1946 there is again talk of Japan’s rebirth.
Sayuri feels that the American soldiers in Japan are
extremely kind.
g Nobu visits Sayuri and tells her that Gion is open
again.
18 Sayuri goes to General Tottori for help but he is
unable to help her. Sayuri considers asking the
Chairman for help but she has learnt from the
newspapers that he is having troubles with the military
government. Feeling that he has too many of his own
troubles, she does not go to him for help. To Sayuri’s
surprise, Nobu requests her company at a last party at
the Ichiriki. Although Sayuri has not seen him for four
years, he tells her that he has arranged for her to live
with a family called Arashino outside Tokyo and make
parachutes. This means that Sayuri does not have to
work in the factories.
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Memoirs of a Geisha
19 a Nobu wants Sayuri to help Iwamura Electric by
entertaining a Minister called Sato. The Minister is
responsible for deciding whether Iwamura Electric
cooperated with the wartime government or not.
Sayuri entertains Sato charmingly and as a result
Iwamura Electric is safe. At the end of the chapter,
Nobu tells Sayuri that he is in a position to become
her danna. Sato finds Sayuri very attractive and
wants to be her danna. When he is told that Sayuri
is not available he asks if he can be her danna for
one night only.
b Sayuri wants Pumpkin to help her entertain Sato.
Pumpkin agrees to this. Sayuri also wants Pumpkin
to be her friend but because of past events,
Pumpkin does not act in a friendly way towards
Sayuri.
20 a Sayuri plans to end her relationship with Nobu by
having sex with Sato on the stage of an old theater.
She wants Nobu to witness this scene, knowing that
he will then end his relationship with her.
b Sayuri asks Pumpkin to help her by bringing
Nobu to the theatre when Sayuri is there with the
Minister.
c Sayuri’s plan doesn’t work because Pumpkin brings
the Chairman to the theatre, not Nobu.
21 Pumpkin tells Sayuri that she brought the
Chairman to the theatre as an act of revenge for
the pain that Sayuri caused her years ago by taking
Pumpkin’s place as Mrs. Nitta’s adopted daughter.
The Chairman tells Sayuri that he has always
remembered the young girl who he met by the
Shirakawa Stream on his way to the theater. He asked
Mameha to look out for a beautiful girl with amazing
grey eyes. Two years later, Mameha found Sayuri and
then the Chairman asked her to look after Sayuri and
become her Older Sister. As a result, Sayuri was able to
become a geisha.
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The Chairman explains that when he realized how
much Nobu cared about Sayuri, because he owed so
much to Nobu, he knew that he could not take Sayuri
away from him. When the Chairman saw Sayuri with
Sato at the theater, he saw that she looked desperately
unhappy. When he learnt from Pumpkin that Sayuri
had asked her to bring Nobu to the theater, he had
told Nobu what he had seen. Nobu was unable to
forgive Sayrui and this meant that the Chairman was
free to be with her.
22–23  Open answers
Progress test key
1 a  Hatsumomo  b  Mameha  c  Pumpkin
d  The Chairman  e  Nobu
2 a  2  b  5  c  7  d  1  e  8  f  4  g  10  h  6
i  3  j  9
3 a she had an excuse to see Dr. Crab.
b … get a very good sum of money for her mizuage.
c … that would drive her away from the Chairman
forever.
d … his offer is excellent.
e … he can get food delivered to the okiya.
4 a  3  b  1  c  2  d  3  e  1
5 a  True  b  False  c  True  d  False  e  False
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