Oiran
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Oiran is a collective term for the highest-ranking courtesans in Japanese history, who were considered to be above common prostitutes for their more refined entertainment skills and training in the tr
An oiran sitting with a client and an apprentice. Ukiyo-e print by Suzuki Harunobu (1765).
Picture of oiran in 1917
The modern-day tayū Kisaragi of the Wachigaiya okiya of Shimabara, Kyoto on parade
An actress dressed as an oiran in parade wearing distinctive high platform shoes
Tayū
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Tayū were the highest rank of female entertainers in early modern Japanese licensed quarters. Tayū were distinguished historically from other courtesans and entertainers by their intensive training in
Oiran
…entertainment skills and training in the traditional arts. Divided into a number of ranks within this category, the highest rank of oiran were the tayū, who were considered to be set apart from other oiran due to their intensive training in the traditional arts and the fact that they lived and worked…
One of the tayū from the Wachigaiya okiya in the Shimabara district of Kyoto