The time after Hatsumomo's departure isn't as pleasant for Sayuri as expected. Due to the Second World War, and consequent depression, standards of living in Japan were poor. Gion appears to have escaped the worst of the depression; with wealthy men patronizing the geisha who lived there, conditions weren't as bad as the rest of the country. Conditions in the Nitta Okiya were better than most in Gion with the General providing for and protecting them.
General Tottori's arrest changes things dramatically. After his arrest, a military police officer visits their Okiya and they are forced to relinquish most of their possessions and tiny luxuries that had been making life bearable. Conditions get steadily worse towards the end of the war with rumors about the geisha districts being shut down.
Rumors become reality in 1943.....
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