Yoshiwara

“ Being attracted by the tinkling notes of sugagaki, crowds flock into the Yoshiwara dressed in their holiday clothes, to visit the girls for the first time in the New Year: so the kuruwa becomes lively, and men walk about stretching their necks like herons.
The tayū and kōshi prosper and the sancha and baicha also become popular, their voices echoing like the twittering of singing birds. The great houses of Yamaguchi and Miura are famed for their wealth and prosperity, and indeed they are the famous things of Sumichō. ”

“ If there be any person who desires to know where the white bones of the miserable courtesan are going, and who wishes to follow the unhappy woman to the end of her terrible fate, I beg that he will go out of the great gateway of the Yoshiwara—where the flower has withered and fallen—past the Go-jikken-dōri road, up the Emon-zaka hill, and grope his way along to the left of the dike at Dote-Hatchō. ”

“ It is the thing called progress. It is part of Western civilisation that men will become more hypocritical. These foreigners say our Yoshiwara is a shame; but, in their own cities, immoral women walk in the best streets, and offer themselves to men quite openly. These virtuous foreigners are worse than we are. I myself have seen. They say, 'We have no Yoshiwara system, therefore we are good.' They pretend not to see like a geisha who squints through a fan. We Japanese, we now become more hypocritical, because this is necessary law of civilisation. The two swords of the samurai have gone ”

“ Respectable Japanese women wear the quietest of colours, in public at least. Bright flowers, glittering jewellery, and gaudy garments are the avowed livery of the yoshiwara women. They are pretty as a rule—these women—prettier even than the run of Japanese women; for in Japan personal beauty is considered one of the indispensable attributes of women who would lead a life of remunerative idleness.
The flower-girls of China are in most ways more to be pitied than the yoshiwara women of Japan. ”

“ To Japanese who may think that the Yoshiwara is a disgrace to Japan I would remark that this Empire has by no means a monopoly of vice; and to foreigners who declaim against the “immorality of Japanese” I would say frankly—“Read the ‘History of Prostitution’ by Dr. W. W. Sanger of New York, also the ‘Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon’ which appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette fourteen years ago. You cannot afford to criticize this country too closely, for you certainly dare not lay the flattering unction to your souls that you, as a race, have any monopoly of virtue.” ”

“ There is no need for us to bring trouble on the landlord. Come to the Mound of the Yoshiwara."
So they went to the Mound, and drawing their swords, began to fight furiously. As the news soon spread abroad through the Yoshiwara that a duel was being fought upon the Mound, the people flocked out to see the sight; and among them came Tôken Gombei and Shirobei, Banzayémon's companions, who, when they saw that the combatants were their own friend and the strange Samurai, tried to interfere and stop the fight, but, being hindered by the thickness of the crowd, remained as spectators. ”

“ Under these circumstances many persons—not excepting women—flock into the Yoshiwara to witness the brilliant spectacle, and many a prodigal is induced to squander money there by reason of the lanterns which apparently only serve to dazzle his eyes and obscure his reason instead of enlightening him and guiding his footsteps. ”

“ Into this quarter, which either took its name from Yoshiwara, a town on the Tokaido famed for the prettiness of its daughters, or from its literal import, the “place of reeds,” being situated in a marsh on the outskirts of Yedo, all the courtesans who had infested various portions of the city were gathered, licensed, and supervised. It at once became a little city in itself, wisely and usefully administered, and, being burnt down fifty years later, was replaced by the new or Shin-Yoshiwara, which remains in most essentials to this day a copy of its predecessor. ”

“ On this night, lanterns were lighted throughout the Yoshiwara. On the 17th and 18th, what was called the Aki-ha-matsuri (festival) took place. In front of the large street lamp at Suidō-jiri, dealers in various articles erected temporary sheds for the sale of their wares, and the neighbourhood was crowded by yūjo and other people. On every “day of the bird” in this month all the gates of the Yoshiwara were thrown open, and the Tori-no-ichi festival was held in [228] the quarter. On this night large numbers of persons thronged the quarter and formed an immense and surging crowd. ”

“ In response to the last petition, the authorities provided a suitable site near Nilion-dsutsumi, and in consideration of the [9] removal of the houses to such a distant and out-of-the-way locality, Ishigaya Shōgen, and Kamio, Lord of Bizen, agreed to the following conditions in connection with the new Yoshiwara:—
“ (1.) Hitherto the ground to be occupied has been limited to 2 square chō: in the new place these limits will be increased by 50 per cent., and extended to 3 chō by 2 chō (3x2) . ”

“ The old saying ‘if you wish to see flowers go to Yoshino’ seems somewhat stupid considering that one can find any flower which he desires to see if he goes to the Yoshiwara. Nowadays, however, customs of ancient times are changing, and the flowers no longer parade the Naka-no-chō. The flowers which are shown to the public are limited to those which blossom on the small fences, while the oiran (who may be likened to the queen of all flowers) are concealed from the public view in the privacy of their own chambers, and may be compared to beautiful blossoms hidden from sight by a dense mist. ”

“ This is contrary to the notification and makes it difficult to exercise proper control over them, therefore they shall be compelled to move into the Yoshiwara under pain of having the exercise of their profession suspended. Henceforth all persons desirous of carrying on the business of a middleman shall only be allowed to do so inside the gates of the quarter.”
From the above it would appear that the profession was not altogether abolished, and that it was merely concentrated in the Yoshiwara for the purpose of enforcing a strict control over zegen and naka-tsugi. ”

“ He is, if he has visited the great cities and towns of Great Britain, by no means convinced that the action of Japan in establishing a Yoshiwara whose inmates are under proper supervision, medical and otherwise, is not better from every point of view, that of morality included, than turning loose women into the streets to accost every passer-by and place temptations in the way of youth. ”

“ In ancient times a blind musician made a departure in the direction of playing koto music on the samisen, and this was handed down in the Yoshiwara as “sugagaki”.
During the Genroku era (1688–1703) “Ni-agari suyagaki” “Yedo sugagaki” and “Sanya-sugagaki” came into vogue owing to their suiting the tastes of fashionable persons.
There is a kiyomoto song entitled “Hokushū” in which reference is made to the sugagaki, and the prosperity of the Yoshiwara at that time vividly described. ”

“ In the Yoshiwara the public women are supposed to occupy the first position as leaders of society, so they are never spoken of as jōro or shōgi by any professional men and women, but called by the more flowery and euphemistic name of oiran.26 Any song in which the words “Yoshiwara jōro-shū (or shōgi) ” occurs is sung; altered to “Yoshiwara oiran,” thus softening the expression and making the sound more agreeable and less offensive to the courtesans themselves. ”

“ In the Yoshiwara, the most popular hōkan at present (1899) are Zenroku, Minchū, Hambei, Shōkō, and Heiki. The usual costume of a hōkan consists of a haori of black cloth having five crests upon it, and a kimono of a different coloured crêpe. According to the narrative of an old man, there were in the era of Tempō (1830–1843) two classes of hōkan named zamochi and taiko-mochi. ”

“ Japanese literature is full of romantic stories in which the Yoshiwara plays a part. Generally the heroine has found her way there in obedience to the dictates of filial piety in order to support her aged parents, or else she is kidnapped by some ruffian who basely sells her for his own profit. The story often ends by the girl emerging from a life of shame with at least her heart untainted, and by all the good people living happily ever after. ”

“ The treasures of the Shin-Yoshiwara are hidden by the back of a palanquin. Passing through Shim-machi, Ageya-chō, Uki-hashi, Komura, and Yatsuhashi, one comes out into the Shitaya streets, sees the small cherry temple of Tōyeizan (Uyeno park) [208] and the Toraren temple of Kinryū-zan (Asakusa temple) . The thing which is praised and admired here is the long flowing haori of Kōhei-bō. Then you know Confucius said, ha! ha! whosoever worships us, ha! ha! will certainly be dragged to the wicked place, ho! ”

“ Not beautiful these damsels, if judged by our standard, but the charm of Japanese women lies in their manner and dainty little ways, and the tea-house girl, being a professional decoy-duck, is an adept in the art of flirting,—en tout bien tout honneur, be it remembered; for she is not to be confounded with the frail beauties of the Yoshiwara, nor even with her sisterhood near the ports open to foreigners, and to their corrupting influence. For, strange as it seems, our contact all over the East has an evil effect upon the natives. ”

“ It is one of the many curious customs of the Yoshiwara that the expression “fukidasu” (to blow out) is disliked, as also is the blowing out of the ground cherry (hozuki) .20
Outside of a Third-class Brothel at night. [37]
I must not omit to state that there is a low class of tea-houses which resort to extortion and barefaced robbery in dealing with strangers to the Yoshiwara. These houses are known by the general term of “bori-jaya” and their modus operandi is to detail their rascally employés to prowl about outside the quarter and inveigle uninitiated visitors to the kuruwa. ”

“ The present day fashion would seem to be of very modern origin indeed. After the 10th year of Meiji (1877) the tea-houses in the Naka-no-chō hit upon the novel idea of putting up white cloths at the entrance and making displays by means of magic-lanterns, but as this made the Yoshiwara practically a dark world it occasioned great inconvenience to the guests. ”

“ It affords me much pleasure to know that my patrons are all doing well. By reason of your kind patronage and favour, for which I am extremely grateful, I have been enabled to continue the business of brothel-keeping for many years, but regret to observe that there are signs that the prosperity of the Yoshiwara is on the wane. ”

“ The Japanese used to boast that they were born good; that only the Chinese, and such barbarians, require a code of prohibitive clauses defining and forbidding sin. It is a charming theory, and many foreigners have subscribed to it. It is certain that if you deduct from Yoshiwara the heinousness which Western moralists impute, a tangle of pros and cons would confuse the Japanese conservative who knows anything of Western wickedness. ”

“ Considering that the members of this “Daruma-gumi” never pay for anything, the “trade-mark” they have adopted is certainly very appropriate! Among the members of these beautiful societies, the act of evading payment of bills is known as “Kipparai” (Kipparau = to cut right through an obstruction) or “Nakaseru” (“to cause to weep”) .
[170]
Yoshiwara-gayoi no Jinrikisha.
(The jinrikisha traffic of the Yoshiwara.)
The use of tsuji-kago (palanquin) by the general public was permitted from the Genroku era (1688–1703) , but the number of these conveyances in Yedo was limited to one hundred only! ”

“ If the fire which destroyed the extensive, obtrusive yoshiwara quarter in the Susaki section of Tokio in 1911 had swept the whole institution away, womanhood throughout the world would not have the grievance against Japanese society which it now has. ”

“ The three rich men from the West now wished to send for courtesans to attend them, but to their great astonishment they were informed that as everything in the Yoshiwara had been bought up by Bunzaemon there were neither any women to be had nor eatables to be procured. The visitors protested most indignantly at this treatment and spoke about their wealth and possessions, but the words fell on deaf ears, and finally the crestfallen trio had to trudge away on foot owing to the fact that Bunzaemon had taken care to engage all the available boats and palanquins beforehand. ”

“ The Yoshiwara has been enjoying comparative immunity from fire for quite a long period, but as late as 1862 (May 29th) more than half of the brothels in the quarter were burnt to the ground, and a kari-taku was established in the neighbourhood of Fukagawa. During the time that the business is carried on in a temporary quarter, rules and usages are not adhered to very strictly by the brothels, and sometimes, under the pretext of aiming at simplicity, even tea-houses are allowed to carry on the profession of brothel-keeping. ”

“ While admitting the existence of objectionable features in the Yoshiwara, it is evident that a system which has stood the test of three hundred years must possess some good points to account for its long lease of life, and it is also manifest that in the course of three centuries a great many curious customs—some good, some bad—must have crystallized around the institution. ”