4. Misinterpretation

Little Yoshiwara - Bakumatsu Period Japan Cultural Area. , Milarepa (49.046,70.857,43.6945)

Traditional geisha was and is never a prostitute. But they often worked alongside the prostitutes (Oiran) before WW2. The geisha worked as musicians and dancers in the same restaurants where the prostitutes also worked. The two different groups were clearly distinguished from each other by the local government and people as they held different licenses issued by the government (for taxation).

The worldwide misinterpretation started after WW2 during the U.S. occupation when the U.S. soldiers could not tell the difference between the two, and these soldiers returned to the U.S. telling the world that they had sex with the geisha. But in fact they had sex with the oiran, not the geisha.

After WW2, the government banned prostitution, so the oiran have been gone. The geisha still remain until today but greatly reduced in number.