Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li star as geishas in this drama which traces the life of a nine-year-old girl sold to a geisha house by her impoverished fishing family. Despite a treacherous rival Hatsumomo who nearly breaks her spirit, the girl blossoms into the legendary geisha, Sayuri, with the help of a kind and influential gentleman and geisha Mameha who takes Sayuri under her wing as her protégé.