But when Nobu rejects Sayuri, the Chairman becomes her danna (a man who pays a geisha to be his long-term mistress). He does not marry her (he already has a family), but he pays all of her expenses and allows her to move to New York to open her teahouse and rear their son.
The Chairman falls in love with Sayuri at that moment because he sees an honest openness in her eyes that is different from the lies and deceit in the rest of the world.
Sayuri peacefully retires from geisha work when the Chairman becomes her danna. Sayuri relocates to New York City and opens her own small tea house for entertaining Japanese men on business in the United States. The Chairman remains her danna until his death.
The story ends with Sayuri recounting her subsequent life with the Chairman as her dana, and her eventual retirement as a geisha. She never freely admits that she has a son with the Chairman, but speaks of moving to New York City in order to avoid complications regarding inheritance of Iwamura Electric.
How old is the chairman? / What is the age gap between the chairman and Chiyo “Sayuri”? The chairman met Sayuri when he was 45 years old and she was 9. The age gap is 36 years.
But when Nobu rejects Sayuri, the Chairman becomes her danna (a man who pays a geisha to be his long-term mistress). He does not marry her (he already has a family), but he pays all of her expenses and allows her to move to New York to open her teahouse and rear their son. He takes care of Sayuri until his death.
He's the object of Sayuri's love, a man who is nice to her as a girl—giving her a bit of spare change and saying, "We none of us find as much kindness in this world as we should" (9.48)—and eventually marries her.
The ugly, dim-witted Deputy Minister who uses his influence to reverse the American government's decision to strip the Chairman and Nobu's company of its assets. Since Nobu finds Sato detestable, Sayuri sleeps with him in order to infuriate Nobu, hoping that Nobu will lose interest in her as a result.
Saroj blames Sayuri and Kanha. Meanwhile, Kanha marries Sayuri in order to fulfill the promise he made to Chiru. Both Kanha and Sayuri are unable to accept each other and Saroj does not accept Sayuri as her daughter-in-law.
Chiyo, now called Sayuri professionally, undergoes a mizuage, when her virginity is sold to Dr. Crab, who collects blood samples from virgins he has deflowered. But by the novel's end, Sayuri is one of the most renowned geisha of her time. Dig deeper into the moment.
The Chairman pays Mother a considerable amount of money each month so that Sayuri can end her career. Sayuri also learns that since the Chairman is married, she can't move in with him.
Mameha doesn't have feelings for the Baron, she says that much. But she does feel sadness and regret for abortions he makes her have. At a local shrine, she builds three jizo statues to honor "the three children she'd aborted at the Baron's request" (28.67).
Sayuri's beloved older sister. Since Satsu is not as pretty or as clever as Sayuri, Mr. Tanaka sells her to a brothel instead of an okiya. Satsu despises life as a prostitute, so she runs away to her home village where she reunites with her boyfriend.
Jealous of any geisha who might be prettier than her, Hatsumomo fears that Sayuri will replace her as the most popular geisha in Kyoto. As a result, Hatsumomo tries to ruin Sayuri's career by spreading malicious rumors about her.
Pumpkin vehemently out of anger (cool, but still upset in the movie) told her she took away her rightful place as Mother's daughter and heir of the Nitta Okiya. A heart-broken Sayuri threw away the cherished handkerchief, and gave in to her fate.
Pumpkin's big moment is when she betrays Sayuri by bringing the Chairman instead of Nobu to "accidentally" see her have sex with the Minister.
Now shockingly Kanha spots Sayuri and Chiru romancing together and he learns that they are dating each other. Kanha cannot accept this because he feels Sayuri is the wrong girl. He just does not like her and so he cannot let her come into Chiru's life.
I thought it was interesting that she ended up with the Chairman (in a way, even though they cannot marry) instead of marrying Nobu. I expected it to be one more disappointment in her life. That being said, I'm glad she got to be a part of the Chairman's life because that seemed to make her happy in the end.
During the pheras, Sayuri froze to her place and Kanha held her hand and made her take the pheras. They both get married and Kusum informs Saroj about it.
As Dr. Crab rapes Sayuri, Sayuri tries to mentally flee from herself and her body. In essence, the rape forces Sayuri to distance and alienate her mind from her body.
One of the reasons that the two sisters never reconnect is because Sayuri never again tries to escape the bonds of being a geisha. Even in the end, when she moves to New York, she's still the Chairman's mistress.
The renowned geisha Sayuri started life as Chiyo Sakamoto, the daughter of a poor, elderly fisherman and his sickly wife. She also has an older sister named Satsu; the family lives in what Chiyo calls her "tipsy house", since it leans.
Sayuri's eyes symbolically relate to the old saying that “eyes are the windows to the soul.” Sayuri's translucent blue-grey eyes lead many characters to believe that she has a lot of water in her personality.
Hatsumomo is jealous of Chiyo, who also has natural beauty and possesses rare bluish-gray eyes, like the color of rain. So Hatsumomo believes that when Chiyo comes of age, she will be a threat to her own Geisha status, since it would put Nitta in a great position to throw Hatsumomo out.
Someone once said "the eyes are the windows to the soul". In particular, Sayuri's blue-grey eyes are said to reveal the abundant amount of water in her personality. In contrast with the deceptive world of the Geisha, her eyes represent her truthful nature.