For nearly 400 years the geisha culture in Japan has remained unchanged . Even though Japan has rapidly changed with technological advancements, geishas ( which means artists in Japanese) continue to live a sheltered life out of the public's eye. Geishas have evolved over time from being the " playthings of shoguns, to favorites of the samurai, and the sweethearts of the American GI's to becoming an elite group with high prestige and status.

    During the 16th century, which was the Shogun era, prostitution was contained in only one area of Japan:  Edo. Surprisingly, the first geisha were men an can be compared to court jesters. Eventually women were becoming geishas and started to entertain the men with song, dance, poetry and conversation without having sex. The geisha are the ideal women in Japanese men's minds and are trained to cater to their sensual desires. A great rivalry between the prostitutes and geishas began to develop.

    As the Samurai got ready to take over the Shogun, they met in geisha teahouses to plot their conquest. After they defeated the Shogun, geishas became the favorites of the Samurai because the geisha mentioned the plans of conquest to the government. One rule of the geisha was that whatever happens within the wall of the teahouse remains there. That is one reason why so many famous government officials spend time with geishas, because of their closed mouth policy.