memoirs of a geisha - english · pdf filememoirs of a geisha c pearson education limited 2008...

Memoirs of a Geisha

c Pearson Education Limited 2008 Memoirs of a Geisha - Answer keys � of 6

Answer keys LEVEL 6PENGUIN READERS

Teacher Support Programme

Book key

1 Open answers2 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 you3 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 75 a Mrs. Nitta owns the okiyawhere 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 okiyain 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.

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 answers10 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 / arm11 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.

Memoirs of a Geisha

c Pearson Education Limited 2008 Memoirs of a Geisha - Answer keys 2 of 6



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 answers15 a 2 b 1 c 2 d 2 e 2 f 2 g 2 h 216 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.

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 answers20 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 Pumpkin21 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 okiyain 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.

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 dannafour 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 answers25 a 7 b 7 c 3 d 3 e 3 f 3 g 7 h 7

i 7 j 3

26 Open answers27 a 10 b 6 c 3 d 1 e 9 f 7 g 4 h 2 i 5 j 828–38 Open answers

Discussion activities key1–11 Open answers12 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 answers24 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 key1 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. MemoirsofaGeisha tells her story.

g Gion is the geisha area of Kyoto. h Hatsumomo is a beautiful but evil geisha who tries

to hurt Sayuri.

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 answer5 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 answer7 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.

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 answers10 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.

Memoirs of a Geisha




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 False14 Open answer15 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

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.

Memoirs of a Geisha

c Pearson Education Limited 2008 Memoirs of a Geisha - Answer keys 6 of 6



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.

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 key1 a Hatsumomo b Mameha c Pumpkin d The Chairman e Nobu2 a 2 b 5 c 7 d 1 e 8 f 4 g 10 h 6 i 3 j 93 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 15 a True b False c True d False e False

memoirs of a geisha - english · pdf filememoirs of a geisha c pearson education limited 2008...

Documents