Hatsumomo

Hatsumomo is the antagonist of the 1997 best selling novel and 2005 film of the same name "Memoirs of a Geisha". She is portrayed by Chinese actress Gong Li in the film.

Appearance
In both the book and movie, Hatsumomo is as cruel as a spider, but is described as beautiful and fair. She has a petite frame, and looks more lovely chewing her fingernails than most Geisha's look posing in a picture or to have their photograph taken.

Personality
Hatsumomo was one of the most Beautiful and successful Geisha's of Gion Japan. She earned and payed back her purchase price by the time she was only twenty which was unheard of. She had been the talk of the Hanamachi ever since. Despite Hatsumomo's success and good fortune she was far from being beautiful on the inside. Behind closed doors Hatsumomo was Sociopathic, a selfish and very jealous woman, filled with hatred and malice. She was a coldblooded Geisha who hated competition or anyone more successful than her. She would stop at nothing to get her way, and sabotage anyone who dared to try and stop her. Behind her evilness, Hatsumomo was a helpless Romantic even though it was strictly forbidden for Geisha to love. She had a secret lover, Koichi who eventually left her when they were caught making love and she never saw him again. This broke Hatsumomo's heart, making her even more angry and bitter inside.

The story of Hatsumomo
In 1920's Japan, the famous Hatsumomo is the only resident Geisha of the Nitta Okiya, upon nine year old Chiyo's arrival. When Chiyo first notices her she is completely astounded and bewitched by Hatsumomo's rare beauty and elegant look. But soon after, Chiyo discovers her true colors and her evil character. She bosses everyone in the Okiya around, and finds the girl to be a potential rival. Hatsumomo becomes jealous of Chiyo who has natural beauty and rare blue-grey eyes, the color of rain. So Hatsumomo thinks she's a threat to the older Geisha's status, since it would put Mother in excellent position to throw her out in the street. As a result, throughout the plot, Hatsumomo makes several evil attempts to get Chiyo either restricted from being a Geisha, or banned from Gion all together. She and her othe Geisha friend, Korin, convinces her to paint on another rival Geisha's (Mameha) kimono with ink if she wanted to know where her long lost sister was being housed at. However, Auntie even warns Chiyo against trusting the older Geisha, even if she helps her because she'd ruin her in a second. After she was half-heartedly beaten by a reluctant Auntie, Hatsumomo finally tells her that Satsu her sister is a Prostitute in the Miyagawa-Cho "Pleaser district" of Gion, under the brothel house of Tatsuyo.

Despite her wicked ways, Hatsumomo did love once. She had a boyfriend named Koichi and loses him when Chiyo catches them having sex on the Okiya grounds. Koichi is fed up with the relationship and is insulted. He breaks off all ties with Hatsumomo forever by not coming back. Hatsumomo hides money in her own kimono, angered by what Chiyo saw. Then, she grabs Chiyo's head and pulls her hair hard, and lies to Mother by telling her that she stole her emerald brooch with the intent of selling it to a businessman. Unfortunately for her, Mrs. Nitta (Mother) isn't fooled and Chiyo tells her the truth. After she happily charges the girl for stealing the brooch, she orders Auntie to take Hatsumomo by the arms and she searched her neither regions. In the book, she didn't bother to struggle as she searched her knowing she could be in trouble and it was no use. Whereas in the movie, she struggle against Auntie as she searched her neither regions. Mother finds semen in it, slaps Hatsumomo across the face and bans her from seeing Koichi ever again by reminding her that Geishas are never free to love. As revenge for losing her boyfriend, she also convinces Chiyo to run away, where she breaks her arm in the process and is caught, resulting in her banishment from learning the trades and art of a Geisha, pleasing Hatsumomo to no end.

In the book version, Mameha reveals to a 12-year-old Chiyo (15 in the movie and still a maid) that Hatsumomo can't tolerate competition because of her natural beauty with her rare blue-grey eyes. She mentions to her about what her rival did to her childhood friend, Hatsuoki a potential Geisha in training, when she was trained under the great Tomihatsu. Mameha also reveals that Hatsumomo is far more threatened by Chiyo than Pumpkin because she unlike her friend can find ways to drive her out. Whereas, Pumpkin is considered no threat to her due to her slow, clumsiness and would secure her position. She also reveals that despite her rival's beauty, popularity and talent, she had failed to secure a wealthy Danna of her own. This was because, a long time ago, Hatsumomo made the terrible mistake of angering the mistress of the Mizuki Teahouse (her prime). As a result of her mistake, she could never have a Patron as her Danna. She could've requested for one from the other teahouse, but they'd refuse her request as respect to the Mizuki mistress.

Later on, Mameha takes in Chiyo under her wing and as an apprentice Geisha and her younger sister, changing her name to Sayuri. Meanwhile, Hatsumomo bans Pumpkin from ever speaking to her friend and changes her name to Hatsumiyo. Unfortunately for her, everyone else keeps calling her Pumpkin when her younger sister's Geisha name Hatsumiyo, failed to impress. She follows both of them to whatever parties they attend in an attempt to ruin her reputation. That attempt was at first successful because she wanted her gone the same way she did to her rival and sister, Hatsuoki. That was until Sayuri's popularity and successful Mizuage got her adopted instead of Pumpkin. This horrified and angered Hatsumomo to no end as she tried to convince Mother to go through with the original plan. She refuses and warns the older Geisha not to sabotage her daughter's career and will charge her a lot of money if she even thinks about it, angering her. Hatsumomo realizes that not only Sayuri's position as Mother's daughter and heir to the Nitta Okiya puts her out of her reach permanently, but she was in even more danger of being thrown out the okiya and banned from Gion all together.

Also in the book, days after her Mizuage and adoption, Sayuri was a successful Geisha with her own clientele of businessmen wanting to be her Danna, even having one in General Tottori. Meanwhile, Hatsumomo's own status and reputation as a Geisha has declined rapidly to the point that she tries to save her own career and Pumpkin's. She accuses Sayuri of keeping a journal in her room, but it backfires in her face right way when her rival finds her emerald brooch. Immediately, Mother charges Hatsumomo instead for plotting to ruin her daughter's career and trying to cost the Nitta Okiya money, angering and humiliating her further. Becasue of Mrs. Nitta (Mother)'s embarrassing charges, Hatsumomo was forced to leave much earlier to her parties in order to avoid having both of her rivals following her around and causing her to give into her insanity by driving her towards her breaking point (the same way she did to them at the beginning of Sayuri's career). She accuses them for stalking her and she ready to strike her other rival, until Sayuri screamed. After everyone crowds around Mameha, asking her if she was all right, this caused the older Geisha to leave right away. She feigns concern for her rival by telling everyone that a Doctor has declared Hatsumomo an alcoholic and mentally unstable. There was no Doctor around, but everyone believed her and started spreading rumors that a doctor has declared her (Hatsumomo) mentally unstable. Later on at a party, Hatsumomo gave into her anger by biting and viciously attacking her friend, a Homosexual Kabuki actor, for kissing Mameha in front of her and making her look like a complete fool. Hatsumomo snaps and attacks her actor friend who she bites. She is then thrown out into the street drunk and delusional.

In the moive, as a final blow to her, the older Geisha attempts to burn the Chairman's handkerchief, and in a struggle between herself and her rival for its possession, the candle that Hatsumomo had planned to use to burn it falls and starts a fire that soon envelops the whole room. As Sayuri and Mother both try to put out the fire, she exits the room and takes another candle from the wall and throws it to the ground to destroy the Okiya, throwing alcohol onto the fire making the flames even higher.

Hatsumomo's fate
The next day in both versions, Mother throws Hatsumomo out of the Nitta Okiya and bans her from Gion permanently. In the book version, she was only wearing a simple white cotten robe that Mother given her and her hair was loose. She was carrying all her belonging of jewelry, purfumes and ointments and in a bag and left the Okiya without saying Goodbye to anyone. In the movie, she was wearing the same black kimono she wore earlier when she deliberately caused the fire, but all of her belongings now belonged to Sayuri. Also in both versions, she's never involved in the plot again, even after World War II. Although in the book many rumors in Gion had specualted that Hatsumomo did survive the War and that she was currently working as a lowlife Prostitute in the Miyagawa-Cho District (the same one Satsu was sold to under the brothel home of Tatsuyo) she was never physically seen ever again. This rumor however, was probably true because no other Geisha Okiya wanted to take her in as their prime Geisha because they were too afraid of her. However, it was implied that she was successful in drinking herself to death in Suicide, with too much sake intake during the War.

Even Chiyo, who suffered the most under her wrath, felt sympathy for Hatsumomo when looking back on her Memoirs.