Geisha have been symbols of Japan to foreigners for many years. Who are
             geisha? We often perceive them not to be prostitutes, but highly trained
             entertainers. We cannot simply reproduce a picture of such an emblem, but to touch
             the surface. These female entertainers have survived purely over the years purely
             for their love of the preserving art and culture.
             Saburuko (ones who served) were the earliest predecessors to geisha who
             arose at the end of the seventh century. Because of social displacement, they were
             forced to become wanderers who traded their sexual favors in order to survive.
             >From the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries a new class of courtesans, called
             shirabyoshi, emerged. Saburuko and shirabyoshi were only related to geisha in that
             they were female entertainers who used their bodies freely. But geisha would not
             appear without the aid of the yujo who lived in the pleasure quarters.
             Around 1600 the walled-in quarters were established in order to contain the
             destitutes, prostitutes, and entertainers from the streets. Large numbers of young
             girls were sold by their own families who couldn’t support them, and they could not
             By the 1800’s, these entertainment districts existed in Japan’s three largest
             cities: Yoshiwa in Edo (now Tokyo), Shimmachi in Osaka, and Shimbara in Kyoto
             (Underwood 16). The pleasure quarters were separated from the rest of the cities
             by walls and moats. There were restaurants, brothels, teahouses, theaters and shops
             (Cobb 5). During the Edo period (1600-1867) Prostitution was legal, only if it was
             licensed and controlled (Underwood 54).
             The culture of the pleasure quarters contained classical references. The
             courtesans made constant reference to the romantic novel The Tale of Genji, written
             by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. The courtesans acquired the skills of calligraphy,
             poetry, flower arranging, tea ceremony, dancing an...