<P> After the Japanese edition of the novel was published, Arthur Golden was sued for breach of contract and defamation of character by Mineko Iwasaki, a retired geisha he had interviewed for background information while writing the novel . The plaintiff asserted that Golden had agreed to protect her anonymity if she told him about her life as a geisha, due to the traditional code of silence about their clients . However, Golden listed Iwasaki as a source in his acknowledgments for the novel, causing her to face a serious backlash, to the point of death threats . In his defense, Arthur Golden countered that he had tapes of his conversations with Iwasaki . Eventually, in 2003, Golden's publisher settled with Iwasaki out of court for an undisclosed sum of money . </P> <P> Iwasaki later went on to write an autobiography, which shows a very different picture of twentieth - century geisha life than the one shown in Golden's novel . The book was published as Geisha, a Life in the U.S. and Geisha of Gion in the U.K. </P> <P> In 2005, film director Rob Marshall made a film version of the novel . It stars the Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi as Sayuri, Gong Li as Hatsumomo, and Michelle Yeoh as Mameha; and Japanese actors Ken Watanabe as the Chairman, Suzuka Ohgo as Sayuri's childhood incarnation Chiyo, and Youki Kudoh as the adult Pumpkin . </P> <P> Filming was primarily done in California, and in some locations in Kyoto, including Kiyomizu - dera and Fushimi Inari - taisha . It was nominated for and won numerous awards, including nominations for six Academy Awards, three of which--Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design--were won . </P>

Who plays the chairman in memoirs of a geisha