And so it's from this period of time and court life in Heian-kyo, in the Heian period, that we get the world's first novel, The Tale of Genji, comes out of this period.

Yeah, The Tale of Genji is written around 1000 AD.

And it was this very sophisticated society in Kyoto.

And over in England, It was well before 1066.

It was well before William the Conqueror.

So we over here were leading a pretty rugged life.

Meanwhile, in Japan, it was extremely sophisticated.

Who were these women and why were they called geisha?