A tale of hardship, love, determination and life... Inoue Mao plays the role of Mineko, a young maiko (apprentice geisha) in the Gion district of Kyoto. The story is loosely based on the autobiography of the famous retired geisha Mineko Iwasaki (who was one of the sources for Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha). Iwasaki is also involved in the drama by personally coaching Inoue in the ways of the geisha, and training the cast to speak the unique Gion dialect.