oiran

Shimabara used to be a licensed quarter where women known as oiran and tayu courtesans, high-class prostitutes plied their trade, though they were accomplished in the traditional arts as well.

Geisha, A Life Mineko Iwasaki with Rande Brown 2002

Shimabara used to be a licensed quarter where women known as oiran and tayu courtesans, high-class prostitutes plied their trade, though they were accomplished in the traditional arts as well.

Geisha, A Life Mineko Iwasaki with Rande Brown 2002

Anna Tsuchiya plays an oiran (courtesan), and her outfits are not those of geisha (artisan), period or otherwise.

GreenCine Daily: Midnight Eye. History, an interview, reviews. 2007

"Centered on the lives of the oiran, elite prostitutes working in official red light districts of the Edo era, Sakuran has been a surprise hit with Japan's style-conscious young women," writes Bruce Wallace.

GreenCine Daily: Shorts, 4/23. 2007

Although these vistas show all manner of Nighttown denizens and visitors, the stars in each case are the oiran, the highest-class prostitutes, who could earn their bosses the equivalent of thousands of dollars by entertaining a single client.

Worldly Pleasures on Paper: 2008

Tayu and oiran worked under contracts of indenture and were confined to the district until their period of servitude was over.

Geisha, A Life Mineko Iwasaki with Rande Brown 2002

In the process, the perception of the role of the oiran (courtesan) and the geisha (entertainer) became intertwined and confused.

Geisha, A Life Mineko Iwasaki with Rande Brown 2002

A young oiran also underwent a ritual called a “mizuage” but hers consisted of being ceremoniously deflowered by a patron who had paid handsomely for the privilege.

Geisha, A Life Mineko Iwasaki with Rande Brown 2002

In the process, the perception of the role of the oiran (courtesan) and the geisha (entertainer) became intertwined and confused.

Geisha, A Life Mineko Iwasaki with Rande Brown 2002

A young oiran also underwent a ritual called a “mizuage” but hers consisted of being ceremoniously deflowered by a patron who had paid handsomely for the privilege.

Geisha, A Life Mineko Iwasaki with Rande Brown 2002