Madame Sadayakko was the ultimate geisha, so exquisite that the prime minister of the day paid a fortune to deflower her. But she was a rebel who wanted to carve her own path in life. In 1899 she married a subversive avant garde actor and, with a troupe of other actors, they set out on the first ever tour of the West by a Japanese theatre company. Sadayakko took to the stage and became an instant star. She danced for the American President and for the Prince of Wales in London, Picasso painted her, Gide swooned over her and Rodin admired her. But back in Japan, she suffered the stigma of being an ex-geisha and an actor and was forced, in the end, to make a terrible choice - between respectability and love.
- ISBN10 0755310306
- ISBN13 9780755310302
- Publish Date 18 March 2003 (first published 24 February 2003)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 16 September 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Headline Publishing Group
- Imprint Headline Book Publishing
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 352
- Language English