a romantic account of a less than romantic life-style

A very romantic account of the life of geisha's in the 20th century, before and after WWII. Although it's made clear that love wasn't intended for geisha's, this particular geisha manages to find love with a man she fancied since she was very young. What's very well stated is that they were not prostitutes, even though their 'first time' was auctioned and the price a 'Danna' had to pay is not all that dissimilar to modern trophy wives.