54 As a popular geisha, Sayuri often entertained her patrons on Ichiriki
Teahouse. Most of Ichiriki ‘s guests were from rich and well-known people,
such as rich merchant, businessman, and even from Military. Iwamura Electric also often invited Sayuri to entertain them on Ichiriki Teahouse.
4.3.2.5 Gion
After the war ended, Gion became a quiet place. The main cause was the government
‘s instruction to close Gion. The result for that was all geisha activities were stopped.
―The government has announced the closing of the geisha districts,‖ he said.
―All of you are to report to the registry office tomorrow morning.
‖ Golden: 1997, 337
A year after the defeat, government decided to re-open it. Hence all geisha that scattered over in the country, started to return to Gion slowly,
include Sayuri. We can see from the following quotation: In Gion I recognized a number of geisha, though of course they
didn ‘t recognize me, and I didn‘t speak a word to them, hoping for
once to view the place as an outsider might. In truth, though, I could scarecely see Gion at all as I strolled through it; I saw instead only
my ghostly memories. Golden, 1997:351
Geisha usually awared and known each other, especially when they lived on the same district. But after the war, a lot things had been changed,
when Sayuri visited Gion on her peasant clothes, no one recognized her. The only one that did not changed from Gion after war, were only various places
such as Nitta Okiya, School, the bridges, Teahouse, and etc.
55
4.3.2.6 Gion Registry Office
Gion registry office was located on the second floor of the school building. This office was very important for Gion, especially for all geisha
that lived on Gion. It because this office is responsible for the financial management on Gion, included geisha payment, okiya income, and etc. We
can see from the following quotation: … His job was to make certain that all the money passing through
Gion flowed where it was supposed to; and a trickle from that river of cash flowed directly into his pocket. That isn
‘t to say that he was stealing; it was just the way the system worked. Golden; 1997, 60
Since it was very important place, many geisha usually want to keep good relationship with the important person that handled that office, such as
Awaijumi, the one who watched over the cash flow in Gion.
4.3.2.7 New York
