![]() Their original role was assisting with entertaining guests, but they were not allowed to have direct contact with the guests (at all) because the oiran feared they would steal customers. Perhaps most surprising of all is that the first geisha were not women at all, but men though they only continued in this field for about 20 years before women became more common. Looking back on art and other visual references, the easiest way to differentiate them from geisha is the obi (sash) an oiran wore her obi to the front so she could re-tie it multiple times by herself throughout an evening. ![]() They evolved into oiran from the 1600s who continued through the Edo period. Although they were not geisha by any means, they were similarly trained and educated in the arts. We can trace the roots of the geisha back to the 1200s with a group called the shirabyoshi. ![]() ![]() She takes us back to the very beginning to understand the fascinating history and myths that surround the performers. Having led small group tours all over Japan Charlea has been asked a fair few questions, but “are geisha prostitutes?” come up again and again. ![]()
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