Taiwan Docs

Mizu Shōbai (Water Business) blends two stories, one of a geisha who is lost at sea and the other of the first geisha to circle the world. The dual narratives collapse into a single female figure, a traveler through time and across cultures. The geisha drifts beyond the prescribed bounds of her “place" in the world, observing anything and everything. The Shogun's Seclusion Edict, effective during Japan’s period of isolation (1637-1868,) states that foreign influence is punishable by death, so the geisha's passive observations become an active, fatal offence. Mizu Shōbai, literally Water Business, is the Japanese term for the entertainment world. The phrase refers to liquor, sex, as well as the geisha's often maudlin lifestyle which “flows like water.” “Through lyrical images and narrative shards, Lin builds a critique of the ways in which the figure of the Japanese woman exists in the imaginary.”

Source: Taiwan Women's Film Association
http://www.wmw.com.tw/en/data_content.php?Imovie_id=96