Julia's Jottings - Julia Verzhbinsky

Madame Sadayakko
by L. Downey

“In fact the whole of Japan is a pure invention!” That is what Oscar Wilde said after seeing Japanese actress Madame Sadayakko performing in London at the turn of the last century. It is hard to imagine such confused sentiment today, when Japan is as real to us as any country in Europe.

As portrayed in L. Downey’s book, “Madame Sadayakko”, Sado Yakko Kawakami indeed invented her own myth. In her life she met with unbelievable challenges, both social and artistic. But trained as a geisha and led by her artistic and political instincts, she knew above all how to touch and seduce human heart. In the West, she would often appear in her formal black kimono, her face vacant of expression, and declare in her chirpy and caressing voice: “Ah, to me, my friend, love in Japan is very noble, sublime and sacred!” In Japan, she would often appear dressed in the latest Parisian fashion and would talk with great conviction about personal freedom, women’s rights and plans to reform Japanese theater. Both East and West, poorly informed about each other at the time, would be grandly seduced, indeed bewitched by her exotic otherness. Japan Premier Minister Baron Ito, artist Pablo Picasso, the Czar of Russia, the Prince of Wales, Italian composer J. Puccini – her list of famous admirers seems endless. She became the embodiment of Japonisme for the West, and the first modern woman and modern actress in Japan.

© Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

George Henry, Geisha Girl, 1894.  Image from Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile. 

Those who read another L. Downey book “ Geisha: The secret history of vanishing world” may expect to discover more about the world of geisha in “Madame Sadayakko”. They might be a little disappointed. This book is written and marketed as a biography, and the geisha aspect of it is relatively small in comparison with Sadayakko life in the theater. It can be explained by the lack of reliable material, as a geisha is supposed to keep her lips sealed forever. There are however some clues such as mysterious document, a yellow piece of paper with a word “Toranai” (“I will not take”), still kept in Sadayakko’s family. The story of this cryptic writing and geisha Yakko’s “deflowering” is quite telling. Also captivating and well written are her relationships with most powerful men in the country at the time, especially with her husband, great shimpa (“New Wave Theatre”) actor Otojiro.

I found myself staring at Sadayakko pictures in the book , trying to relate to the real woman “beyond the painted smile”. She was of humble origins, but her image seems to be refined and luminous. Often she looks demure, but she was a woman of strong will. I do not know if I succeeded in picturing her in flesh and blood. But maybe I should not try. Maybe she would not want us to look beyond the myth she invented.