Geisha are one of the most iconic images we associate with Japan. If there’s one thing most Westerners can say they know about Japan, it’s that they had those female prostitutes who covered their faces in thick, white paint.

One problem: None of that’s exactly true. Geisha weren’t prostitutes, and they didn’t always cover their faces in white paint. And—for a while—they weren’t even women.

[Read the full article at Listverse.]