Japanese folks were all about painting working girls, just a couple of centuries ago.

This painting of a workin' girl with a child attendant fits neatly into a category of paintings of hot courtesans known as 'Bijinga paintings,' which translates to 'paintings of beauties.' Kind of sounds like “bazinga” too…wonder if the two are related. But let’s forgo etymology for a second and focus on this work by Utagawa Toyokuni. It may just seem like a regular old 18th century courtesan walking around with a kid, but there’s much more to it than that.

What we’re seeing here is a lady who is high on the ladder of brothel hierarchy. She’s the kind who would be referred to as an Oiran courtesan. Oiran means “flower-first” (you’re welcome for the crash course in Japanese sex trade slang) and these ladies were special, which Toyokuni has shown discreetly in this painting as well. The top-notch ladies likely required more funding for their company and other services, and had also graduated courtesan school with flying colors. Hence, the little child attendant follows her around, hoping to be schooled in the ways of becoming an Oiran . We also know her talents are up for sale because her obi is tied in front, not behind, and her hair is arranged in a sexy and practically sculptural fashion. For some time, it was only these gals who wore their obi knots in that forward fashion, but soon, the wives of their high-ranking clients began to wear it the same way. To sum it up: these girls were trend setters.  Unbeknownst to them, these girls-for-hire are like 18th century Japanese Anna Wintours!

Toyokuni also shows the courtesan and her young attendant wearing matching obi fabrics and are also wearing the same red undergarments (shown in the necklines, and just a teeny bit at the courtesan's hemline). The government at the time was none too pleased about the color red and what it symbolized (youth, beauty and $$$) and didn’t want the common folk wearing it. So they barred the wearing of red so peeps could know who was who. Even though only the wealthy were allowed to wear this color, you’d see a layer of red peeping out of the geisha’s clothing as a kind of rebellious (and also seductive) statement. Guerrilla fashion? Ok, Anna Wintour can suck it because these gals are WAY cooler.