Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha, released in Japan as Sayuri, is a 2005 American epic period drama film directed by Rob Marshall and adapted by Robin Swicord from the 1997 novel of the same name by Arthur Golden. It tells the story of a young Japanese girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, who is sold by her impoverished family to a geisha house (okiya) to support them by training as and eventually becoming a geisha under the pseudonym "Sayuri Nitta". The film centers around the sacrifices and hardship faced by pre-World War II geisha, and the challenges posed to geisha society by the war and a modernizing world. It stars Zhang Ziyi in the lead role, with Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li, Youki Kudoh, Suzuka Ohgo, Samantha Futerman and Ken Watanabe.

The film was produced by Steven Spielberg (through production companies Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures) and Douglas Wick (through Red Wagon Entertainment). Production was split between southern and northern California and a number of locations in Kyoto, including the Kiyomizu temple and the Fushimi Inari shrine. It was released as a limited release in the United States on December 9, 2005, and a wide release on December 23, 2005, by Sony Pictures Releasing (through Columbia Pictures).