I continue my reading of Memoirs of a Geisha the main character, Chiyo, she is currently called, has just been taken under the wing of another Geisha, Mameha, who belongs to another Okiya in the Gion district of Kyoto. Mameha is described to be one of the most beautiful women in all of Japan for the time, and the only thing that can even compare to her is another Geisha named Hatsumomo, who lives in the same Okiya as Chiyo. It is clear to Chiyo that the only reason Mameha has taken her as a "little sister" is to have revenge upon Hatsumomo, who viciously drove out Mameha's best friend many years ago. A recurring point throughout the story is that Chiyo's personality is "Full of water" in contrast to "Made of wood." While wooden personality is sturdy and focused, those of water find freedom to be most refreshing and can adapt to new challenges easily "Water will bend and curve around large objects, Chiyo. You can flow freely over what others cannot". Chiyo holds another unique aspect bound to those of water, her eyes. While most people in Japan commonly have brown or dark colored eyes Chiyo has light, blue gray eyes, and this is the feature most commonly pointed out to her by someone she has just met or when she is being inspected for qualities of a geisha.
I'll continue with the book despite its horrendously slow pace, I'm nearly half way through and Chiyo is still only a teenager, with no information of how she came to be in New York and her befriending of Jakob.
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