Oiran (
花魁) was a specific category of high ranking
courtesan in
Japanese history. Divided into a number of ranks within this category,
oiran were considered – both in social terms and in the entertainment they provided – to be above common
prostitutes, known as
yūjo (
遊女, lit. 'woman of pleasure'). Though
oiran by definition also engaged in prostitution, they were distinguished by their skills in the traditional arts, with the higher-ranking
oiran having a degree of choice in which customers they took, and the highest-ranking
oiran, known as
tayū,
not engaging in sex work at all. The term
oiran originated in
Yoshiwara, the
red light district of
Edo in the 1750s, and is applied to all ranks of high level courtesans in historical Japan.