I picked up this one after I finished Geisha, A Life by Mikeko Iwasaki. They are both so different, since they tell the lives of two very different types of geisha/women, but I think that I can say that I enjoyed this one more. It seemed very pure and straight forward, which I liked very much. There were some parts to it that made you really feel what she was trying to convey, which I did not feel as strongly in Geisha, A Life.
Its definitely an important book and one that will make you think about the simple things in your life that can easily be taken for granted.