In 1929, Chiyo, a nine-year-old girl from a very poor family in a fishing village, is sold to a geisha house in Gion, in the Kyoto district.
There he will suffer cruel treatment from the owners and the older geisha, Hatsumomo.
The enormous beauty of Chiyo, provoke the envy and jealousy of Hatsumomo, who does not hesitate to mistreat and humiliate the girl, until she is rescued and placed under the protective wing of Mameha, the biggest rival of Hatsumomo.
With Mameha as his teacher, Chiyo becomes the geisha Sayuri, trained in all the social and artistic skills that a geisha must possess to survive in society.
Already a renowned geisha, she has access to a world of privilege and intrigue.
Until the Second World War breaks out, and the world of geisha will change forever.