Kiharu Nakamura
{{short description|Japanese writer and geisha}}
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{{Nihongo|Kiharu Nakamura|中村 喜春|Nakamura Kiharu|April 14, 1913 – January 5, 2004}} was an essayist and former geisha.
Biography
Nakamura was born on April 14, 1913, in Hokkaido or Tokyo, Japan.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1451876/Kiharu-Nakamura.html|title=Kiharu Nakamura|date=2004-01-17|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2019-09-05|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} Her birth name was Kazuko Yamamoto.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/nyregion/kiharu-nakamura-90-geisha-and-madama-butterfly-expert.html|title=Kiharu Nakamura, 90, Geisha And Madama Butterfly Expert|last=Lavietes|first=Stuart|date=2004-01-18|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-09-05|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
In 1929, at age of 16, she became a geisha at a geisha house in Shinbashi. She learned English, and gained a reputation as the first English-speaking geisha.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nakamura-Kiharu|title=Kiharu Nakamura {{!}} Japanese geisha|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-09-05}} Some of her clients included Babe Ruth, Jean Cocteau, and Charlie Chaplin. Nakamura was also the first woman in Japan to get a pilot's license.
She worked until 27 years old, when she married Shintaro Ota in 1940, a Japanese diplomat, and moved with him to Kolkata, India. Nakamura divorced Ota soon after giving birth to her son, and they returned to Japan in 1942. She then married Masaya Nakamura, a photographer.
After divorcing Masaya Nakamura in 1956, Nakamura moved to the United States. She consulted on many operas, books, and films about geisha life, including productions of Madame Butterfly and Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha. Nakamura also worked to change misconceptions about geisha.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-21-me-passings21.3-story.html|title=Kiharu Nakamura, 90; Ex-Geisha Consulted, Wrote on Profession|date=2004-01-21|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-05}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2004/01/22/kiharu-nakamura|title=Kiharu Nakamura|date=2004-01-22|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=2019-09-05|issn=0013-0613}} She lived in New York City until her death in 2004.
Selected bibliography
- {{Cite book|title=Edokko geisha ichidaiki|last=Nakamura|first=Kiharu|publisher=Soshisha|year=1983|isbn=9784794201775|trans-title=Biography of an Edo geisha}}
- {{Cite book|title=ああ情なや日本 : 江戸っ子芸者の30年ぶりの日本|last=Nakamura|first=Kiharu|publisher=Soshisha|year=1985|isbn=9784794202239}}
- {{Cite book|title=あたしはアメリカが好き|last=Nakamura|first=Kiharu|publisher=Soshisha|year=1987|isbn=9784794202789|trans-title=I like America}}
References
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