Yujo

April 1st was the night of the Tayuu Douchu, or Tayuu Parade, in which two Tayuu walk down the Takasegawa river in full style and then gave a small ceremony in a park nearby. There are only six women who continue to uphold the traditions of the Tayuu.

"The women in these guarded quarters were "playmates" (yujo) or prostitutes (shougi). The highest ranked were called oiran or "great court ladies" (tayuu). These women were dubbed "castle-destroyers" (keisei) because their sex appeal, like the mythical beauties of history, could destroy a man as easily as any army. These courtesans wore layers of ornately decorated kimono and a multitude of lacquer and tortoiseshell combs in their hair. Their wide, brocaded obi were tied in front — not, as some suppose, because it was easier to undress that way, but because that was the practice of married women and a yuujo was, in a sense, a wife for an evening. " (Liza Dalby)

Kiseragi Tayuu is a great dancer.