In downtown Tokyo where modern buildings and malls stand right now, the land used to be home to the life of luxury and dissipation hundreds of years ago. During the 17th century, in the narrow alleys of the city, there stood dozens of hamanachis, one beside another. As nights fell, lanterns were hung from the roofs and lit up, turning the streets into a world of fantasy for men. Behind the closed doors, one could hear the melodious tune, the sound of glass cups colliding, and the charming laughter of oirans and geishas, attracting an endless stream of male customers. The joyous clamor did not end until dawn fell, and men walked out of the hamanachis, befuddled by drinks and the dazzling beauty of the women. When the first beam of sunlight shone on the street, the lights went off and the buildings returned to complete silence again. It almost seemed like waking up from a beautiful dream, which shattered into pieces under the bright sunlight.

In Sakuran and Memoirs of a Geisha, they demonstrate the supreme power of oirans and geishas, but also picture the other side of the story that consists of endless shackles and one’s helplessness of a doomed faith.

The representation of goldfish constantly appears in the film, indicating the vulnerability and the inescapable fate of the women. By describing the goldfish which “can remain beautiful only in a glass bowl”, Sakuran uses metaphor to stress the similarity between goldfish and oirans, with the latter being trapped in the hanamachi at a young age. In this case, the glass bowl is the hamanachi, and the goldfish represents the women. Within the glass bowl, the goldfish live a peaceful and relaxed life, not having to worry about insufficient food or a dirty environment. Their only role is to be pretty and to be appreciated by people. However, they are forever trapped in the small world of immediate pleasure and are blinded to the abyss of confinements in emotions, love and individuality. Life is not a Disney movie where with merely willpower, the princesses can fight against fate and find true happiness ever after. In real life, despite the fact that the geishas and oirans possess the strength of goddesses, as they try to resist the life of ease and comfort for free love and liberty, they end up flapping on the floor, struggling for oxygen in vain. 

Power of femininity

Unlike ordinary prostitution, the courtesans incorporate a special meaning that empower women as a whole, while bearing controversy in itself, regarding the concept of women in Japanese religious culture. On one hand, people value the purity of virgins; but on the other hand, they believe in the superiority of motherhood that places importance in shaping women’s identity. Such a dilemma is depicted within a goddess figure named Izanami no mikoto. In Japanese myth, Izanami is the representation of both the creator of life and the incarnation of death. Thus, the perception of women is deeply bound by the two opposite concepts, resulting in a mixed feelings toward women, especially reflected in men’s relationship with courtesans like oirans and geishas. Men indulge themselves with the idea of women being subjects of them when the courtesans entertain the customers with their skills, dances and bodies; but meanwhile, men also stand in awe of them, as he is attracted by their maturity and holiness, represented by the high social status of oirans and geishas. To men, they enjoy competing with their own kind to obtain the rare beauty on earth - even just for a short period of time - fulfilling their own desires and illusions. In other words, oirans and geishas are no longer the subject of humiliation and inferiority cast by men. Instead, they take complete control over men’s desires, thus building a sense of superiority as a real life goddess through the power of femininity.​​​​​​​

Forbidden Love

A forbidden love is always the key to the soul of the films. For both oirans and geishas, it is expected to act without feelings and work without emotions. Even though they seem to be liberated from the restraints of the physical body in traditional Japanese culture, their heart is locked up away from the material world. In Memoirs of a Geisha, the senior geisha Hatsumomo, played by Chinese actress Gong Li, kept meeting her secret lover Koichi after her daily work. The emotional attachment which was supposed to be common for a young woman turned out to be disgraceful due to her identity. The scene in a raining night implicitly shows such forbearance and secrecy. Instead of meeting Koichi in her room like she met with the rest of her customers, Hatsumomo chose an abandoned side closet where there was no light or heating, just so that she would be able to freely express her passionate affection. It was one of the very few times where she could feel the euphoria brought by emotions and forget about the indifferent life in the hamanachi. As the rain was dripping from the ceiling outside, Hatsumomo and Koichi embraced each other in their arms, trying to make up for the sinful love under the daylight. After the mother in the hanamachi found out about the secret relationship, she was enraged. “What do you think? A geisha is free to love? Never.” Those short phrases struck hard to Hatsumomo as well as young Chiyo, destroying their little but fragile bubbles of love. As Koichi grew up, she faced the same challenge as her senior - not being able to love someone freely. Since she met the Chairman as a kid, she felt her first bloom of love as the Chairman handed her a scoop of ice cream and his handkerchief on the bridge. It was the very first time in little Chiyo’s life that someone looked into her eyes with sincerity instead of disdain or sympathy like looking down on a stray cat. Besides forecasting Chiyo’s affection for the Chairman later in her life, this scene also serves as a way of empowerment. The act of showing voluntary concern usually comes with the assumption of certain power relationships, with the superior asserting their power on the inferior through such action. And most of the time, the concept of exchange is implicitly shown in the action, as the one giving out help is hoping to gain something back for their own interests, mentally, sexually or economically. Throughout her life in the hamanachi, Chiyo clearly knew that there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. As the male customers paid for their service, they asserted their masculinity and expected to get sexual pleasure in return. When the mother invested their time and effort on the geishas, they asserted ownership and expected the latter to bring the house huge profits, paying for food, clothes and housings for the rest of the residents. However, in the scene of Chiyo’s first encounter with the Chairman, he merely rendered assistance to little Chiyo without reinforcing his gender superiority or expecting anything in return. As Chiyo spent more time in the hamanachi and saw more cruel sides of humanity, she gradually realized how rare such kindness was, and she grasped every opportunity she could to reencounter the feeling of being loved as an individual.

Endless Cycle

Both films incorporate the use of flashbacks in their timelines. The beginning of the film usually starts with a deep voiceover of an old woman, clearly indicating our main character who is recalling her narrative all the way back to her childhood and youth. The narratives start with our main characters witnessing the legend of her senior. It is an endless cycle, as the main characters all fall into the same path without being able to break the conventions.