Spoiler: When Okaa-san says she wants to adopt Sayuri, which provokes Hatsumomo's anger, Okaa-san's cigarette keeps changing its own size, being at times totally consumed, and sometimes not.
When Mameha cuts Sayuri's leg, during the dialogue Sayuri has a red ribbon and a pink comb in her hair. The pink comb disappears and reappears throughout the shots.
When Chiyo's virginity is discussed, you can see Mother smoke cigarettes (in a holder). During the scene the length of the cigarette varies.
When Chiyo apologizes to Mameha about the kimono; when she first bows both sleeves of her kimono are behind her arms but in the next scene when Mameha kneels beside her, the right sleeve is on top of her arm instead of behind it.
When Hatsumomo and Pumpkin are leaving on the night of Pumpkin's debut, neither Mother nor Auntie spark flint on their backs. A Geisha would never leave her okiya without this act being performed as it was believed it brought good luck.
Japanese shaved ice is a dessert that is usually served during the summer. When the Chairman buys Chiyo a cherry-flavored shaved ice, it appears to be the cherry-blossom viewing season, where it would be unlikely that any street vendors would be selling this treat.
When Hatsumomo opens her door to yell at Chiyo and Pumpkin for talking, her kimono is folded the wrong way. A kimono's right side is always folded underneath the left side.
When Chiyo/Sayuri and Pumpkin are listening on Mrs. Nitta and Mameha's discussion of Chiyo's future, and the camera zooms in on the girls' eyes peering through the crack in the door, Chiyo's eyes move very fast and you can clearly see Chiyo's blue contact, since it does not move with the rest of her eye.
When Sayuri arrives to get on the plane, the airmen driving the jeep forgets to set the brake, and the jeep starts rolling back as Sayuri is getting out. You can see him at the back try to push the jeep forward, then run around back to the driver's seat to set the brake as she is walking away.
The dance performed by Sayuri during her debut is of a dance style that was invented as a reaction to the tragedy of World War II.
Sayuri is the Year of the Monkey, not the Rooster.
During the fight between Sayuri and Hatsumomo in Sayuri's room a crew member walks through the left side of the shot.
After her first encounter with the Chairman, Chiyo is shown running from the hanamachi of Gion, through the red Torii gate trails of Fushimi Inari to a shrine where she gives coins as an offering. In reality, not only is Fushimi Inari several miles from Gion, and therefore an inconceivable location for a small girl to make a round trip to on foot, its gates form a circuitous path on the side of a mountain and do not lead anywhere outside the shrine itself.
When Sayuri discusses the conversation between Dr. Crab and Hatsumomo with Pumpkin, Pumpkin says 'I sat outside the door, but I could still hear them,' then later in the description she says 'Then the Doctor looked queasy, like he didn't want to hear any more.' If Pumpkin was sitting outside the door, she couldn't have seen the Doctor's face.