Shirabyōshi

Shirabyōshi (白拍子) were Japanese female entertainers in the Heian and Kamakura periods who sang songs and performed dances.

Some shirabyōshi did sometimes sleep with their patrons and give birth to nobles' children, but this was not their intended purpose as entertainers.

As educated and cultured ladies, they become a superior group of courtesans noted for their singing, dancing and poetry as well as beauty.

It was a man's outfit and featured the following:[9] Shirabyōshi also wore oshiroi, white face makeup.

Their hair was worn simply, and was left long and pulled back into a loose ponytail secured with a ribbon called a takenaga.

They also would sing imayō songs, which were poems using images of nature to convey meanings of circumstances in their lives.

There she gave birth to a son, who was, according to some versions of the tales, promptly killed by his uncle Yoritomo,[11] but survived in others.

In some tales, Shizuka was then forced to perform a dance for Yoritomo and his wife Hōjō Masako at a temple celebration, where she sang a song of praise for her lover Yoshitsune.

A year later, Giō was asked to perform a dance for Hotoke at Kiyomori's command, who actually intended on humiliating her.