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Chiyo (Zhang Ziyi), is a
girl who, at the age of nine, is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto in the early
1930s. Here, she learns that becoming a geisha can be the single path to wealth
and independence for a woman. The head geisha of her house, however, Hatsumomo
(Gong Li), is bitterly jealous of Chiyo and abuses her at every opportunity.
Eventually Chiyo is taken under the wing of Hatsumomo's rival, Mameha (Michelle
Yeoh), by far the most famous and successful geisha in their district. Under
Mameha's tutelage, Chiyo becomes Sayuri, the most legendary geisha in the
nation, skilled in all areas, from conversation to dance, and sought after by
seemingly every man alive, except for the one whom she has secretly longed for
since she began her training, The Chairman (Ken Watanabe), a man who showed her
kindness at a time when her view of the world had turned the most bleak. Now as
World War II approaches, Japan stands at the brink of a new era and Sayuri must
confront the possibility that history will leave all that she has worked for
behind.
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