[1]: 17–18 "In the winter of 1883, at the age of twelve, the child celebrated her debut as an o-shaku, literally 'a sake pourer,' an apprentice geisha.

"[1]: 51  This Liberty Kid, twenty-seven-year-old Otojiro Kawakami, had a "cheeky round face, thick eyebrows, a blunt nose, and a defiant set to his mouth.

"[1]: 53 The troupe's popularity was such that Prime Minister Ito commanded a private performance at the Kiraku teahouse, where he had also invited Yakko and four other Yoshichō geisha.

Otojiro's troupe friend and fellow womanizer Asajiro Fujisawa would later say that Yakko became instantly drawn to his strong will and authority.

Otherwise she would lose face"[1]: 57  Abandoning her other men, Yakko devoted herself entirely to Otojiro, continuing to work at parties as a geisha to support him and "keep herself busy."

Finally, in October 1893, Yakko and Otojiro were married, with a mutual friend Baron Kentaro Kaneko as the official go-between.

[1]: 87  Kushibiki, desiring to add authentic theater to his garden's repertoire, offered to sponsor and promote Otojiro's troupe on a continental tour.

'"[1]: 96–97 This dance (buyō) wowed audiences almost immediately – "the San Francisco Examiner hailed the couple as 'the Henry Irving and Ellen Terry of Japan' [...] Yakko's debut had been a triumph.

Her dancing lessons since the age of four, her years as a geisha, which was a form of acting in itself, her appearances on the stage in charity performances, had all paid off.

She was the entrancing Yakko, the most celebrated geisha in Japan, adored by prime ministers, sumo heroes, and kabuki stars.

There were now twenty actors plus Raikichi", including five women (a former member of an all-female acting troupe, Yakko's niece Tsuru Koyama, Kamekichi's relative Tane Hamada, and two other geisha),[1]: 183  "along with musicians, dressers and hairdressers.

A theatre critic named Tohi Shunsho accompanied them, intending to spend his time studying and researching foreign drama.

"[1]: 184 June 18 to the end of August, 1901: Late August to November 8, 1901: In addition to their previous Paris repertoire – The Geisha and the Knight, Kesa, Takanori and Zingoro[1]: 179  – the troupe also performed Otojiro's version of The Merchant of Venice, a historical drama called The Shogun and Kosan and Kinkoro, "a Japanese La Dame aux Camelias.

Five prominent local businessmen became "founding members"—entrepreneur Eiichi Shibusawa, industrial magnate Kihachiro Okura, financiers Tsunenori Tanaka and Taro Masuda, and the "Wizard of the Money Markets", Momosuke Fukuzawa.

The curriculum would include history, script writing, traditional and modern acting skills, and Japanese and Western dancing, as well as the playing of musical instruments such as the flute, shoulder drum, shamisen, and koto.

"[1]: 228–229 Out of over 100 applicants, Sadayakko interviewed and eventually selected fifteen students, including Ritsuko Mori, daughter of an upper-class politician.

[1]: 261  The home she and Momosuke would build together in Futaba (now part of Nagoya) was restored and moved to Shumoku-cho in Higashi Ward and is now a museum dedicated to them.

"[1]: 278 Although retired from acting, Sada (having given up her stage and geisha names) involved herself in establishing the Kawakami Silk Company, a textile business near their home[1]: 266  that would last until she closed it following the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923.

In December 1924 she also established the Kawakami Children's Music and Drama School in Tokyo, eventually closing it soon after Momosuke retired in 1928.

[1]: 278 In 1933, the pair decided that, Momosuke now being sixty-five and in poor health, he should move back to his house and wife in Shibuya and end their relationship.

"[1]: 282  She dedicated the temple to Fudo Myo-o, her guardian deity, and built a storehouse on its grounds to house costumes, personal effects, and other important mementos from her life.

[1]: 282–283 "Sada's life [now] revolved around her three homes: Kawado-cho in Tokyo", which would unfortunately burn in the city's fire bombing during World War II,[1]: 286  "the Garden of Evening Pines, and a small villa in the hilly, semitropical seaside spa resort of Atami, where she went in winter to take the health-giving, mineral-rich waters".

Her adopted daughter Tomiji, and granddaughter, Hatsu, came to Atami to take care of her, "sitting by her bedside, moistening her lips with cotton wool dipped in water" as Sada was soon unable to eat or drink.

Three years later, her bones were interred at Teishoji, in a tomb she had previously set aside "in a secluded hollow in the hillside behind the main building, shaded by groves of maple and bamboo.