“The filthy state of the Yoshiwara Hospital, and its utter lack of proper appointments, is so notorious that it is hardly necessary for us to dwell upon this particular phase of the subject; but we propose to enquire into some of the details of the institution. When we try to picture to ourselves what a hospital is, or should be like, we naturally imagine a fine lofty buildingsurrounded by beautiful green trees, grateful shrubs and flowering plants, containing well-ventilated wards kept scrupulously neat and clean and furnished with beds covered with snowy-white counterpanes free from even a suspicion of stain or dirt; but the Yoshiwara Hospital is indeed far from being like that. We are tempted to compare it to a prison, but, as a matter of fact, a prison like the Sugamo Gaol is far more clean and complete, so from the point of general dirtiness and disorder the comparison would be quite inappropriate! The sick rooms have an area of from about 144 to 180 square feet, and as many as twelve or thirteen people are sometimes collected together in such stuffy chambers. The inmates often sleep two in a bed, and women belonging to different brothels, who are indeed entire strangers to each other, share the same couch. As to their treatment, they are medically examined twice a day, they have to pay for their own food, and although attendance and medicine is supposed to be supplied by the brothel-keepers, the patients have to get the money from their masters in the form of a loan and repay it in due course. Even in these expensive times, when living is far dearer than formerly, it appears that the cost of the regular hospital food is only estimated at from 7 to 8sen(3-1�2 to 4 cents U.S. money or say 2d in sterling), so that for the women to be supplied with appetizing or nourishing food is simply impossible. The food they actually get three times a day is far worse than good prison fare, and consists of:—(1)In morning: boiled barley and rice mixed (baku-han).(2)At noon: boiled barley and rice mixed (baku-han), some vegetables or a small fish.(3)In the evening: boiled barley and rice mixed (baku-han) and some indigestible malodorous pickled vegetables (k�-no-mono).“Periodical examination of all prostitutes takes place once a week, the different streets each having special days. For instance if Edo-ch� It-ch�-me has its inspection on Friday, the inspection of Ageya-machi will be on a Wednesday. When the inspection time arrives, the name of each prostitute is called by turn, and one by one each undergoes a local examination. If a woman is visibly infected, the doctor orders her into hospital, but prior to her entering the establishment she is permitted to temporarily return to her brothel, where she makes up a bundle of such little things as she needs and, accompanied by a servant of the house, proceeds to the hospital and applies for admission. In the hospital several nurses are in attendance, but while the name ‘nurse’ sounds fine enough in itself, the women who bear this title are terrible females, something like the old brothel hags (yarite) themselves, and are ready to do anything for a consideration. For this reason, the prostitutes need some pocket-money when entering the hospital, and if they only are provided with this they have very little trouble in getting their whims gratified in every respect. After a prostitute has been in the hospital three or four days, if she happens to be a popular woman, the brothel-keeper, and others who lose by her absence, do their best, by judicious presents, to get her discharged as soon as possible, so she is not put to any great inconvenience. On the other hand, if the woman is an unknown new comer, or unpopular, she is treated in a manner painful to witness, only getting what may be given to her out of sheer pity by one of the senior prostitutes of the brothel to whichshe belongs. The moment they hear the signal for dinner, these wretched girls rush into the dining hall, and scrambling for food devour it in the same greedy wolfish manner as we can imagine the hungry spirits doing in the Buddhist hell! As to the condition of the inmates of the hospital, most of them spend their time in reading obscene novels and stories, but this does not last long, and they begin to discuss their guests and the men they know, to talk about their lovers, to sing, and to make abusive remarks about their masters and the servants in their respective brothels. Or they dance and skip about, play cards, write begging letters, and generally raise a pandemonium as if the institution was a low-class boarding-house. Such being the conditions of this horrible place, with the exception perhaps of a few disappointed women, or women who get on badly with the brothel-keeper, the prostitutes regard with dread the ordeal of entering the hospital. The majority of the public place considerable faith in the efficacy of the medical examination, but they are woefully mistaken in thinking that immunity from disease is secured by such inspection, because many of the doctors of the prostitute quarters are miserable quacks, apparently regardless of their conduct, and so venal that they receive bribes from the brothel-keepers to deliberately pass unchallenged women who are plainly affected with venereal diseases—an act as dangerous as letting loose wild tigers to prey upon the public! Not only that, but some of the youngster assistant doctors who, though of course licensed, are still in the course of perfecting their medical knowledge by practical training, often intentionally overlook serious cases which, unless treated in the hospital, are incurable and likely to spread infection. This is done partly out of sympathy and partlyfor the sake of winning popularity with some of these ill-famed wenches who know so well exactly how to bewitch the impressionable young men with their sidelong looks and amorous glances. No doubt it is very wrong, but then what a potent influence for good or bad there is in the eye of a young and pretty woman! Moreover, many of the girls are in collusion with their masters for the purpose of hoodwinking the examiners. These girls employ some of the low quacks who haunt the quarters to make preliminary inspections, and if they are found infected and likely to be ordered into hospital on the examination day, they get ‘fixed up’ for the official inspection by having the inflamed parts treated with medicinal applications which temporarily, but effectually, conceal all visible symptoms of disease. For those reasons, it is by no means safe to put one’s trust in the medical inspection. But these are not the only tricks of the trade. It sometimes happens that the quacks discover cases which it is impossible to conceal from the examiners by any known method of ‘fixing,’ and when this happens, the brothel-keepers often request the mercenary charlatans to prepare false certificates stating that a change of air is necessary. Armed with these certificates, keepers pretend that the patient has gone into the country, whereas she is carefully hidden in the house and secretly treated by the quacks. The consequence of this is that many women who are actually in attendance on guests, and apparently healthy, are a frightful menace to society and dangerous as the sharp points of poisoned needles concealed in a bag, whose awful pricks spread death and desolation in the paths of those with whom they come into contact. As to the sanitary conditions of the quarters, the laws of hygiene are utterly defied, fornotwithstanding the exterior splendour of the palaces of vice in the Yoshiwara, filthiness is the order of the day, and in unseen corners, and dirty yards and alleys, lie heaps of festering garbage containing the germs of every imaginable form of virulent disease. While some attempt is made to detect venereal maladies by means of periodical inspections, internal diseases are practically left uncared for, therefore the callous and selfish brothel-keepers, taking advantage of this fact, are apt to force girls (who are really ill and ought to be inmates of a hospital ward) to wait on guests, and allow women suffering from such sicknesses as consumption and syphilitic eye diseases to continue their calling. Partly owing to the heartlessness of the masters, and partly owing to their carelessness in matters of sanitation, many instances have occurred where women have not only communicated to their guests the most loathsome diseases, but actually died from illness while sleeping beside their patrons. Decency forbids a too close description of all the horrors of these brothels, but one or two more instances of the terrible inattention to sanitary precautions may be pardoned. In some of the smaller houses the keepers are too mean to provide daily baths, so it often happens that the women appear before their guests innocent of the use of soap and water. In these houses the girls are treated like veritable dogs and cats, and remain year in and year out in cramped unclean chambers, known askwambeya, furnished with dirty ragged bedding which is so filthy that it gives off a strong sweaty effluvium! In these dens, owing to the absence of hot water, the inmates are supposed to wash in cold water, but in the winter-time the low temperature causes them to dread their ablutions, and so the risk of infection to themselves andguests is materially increased. On the other hand, when they do cleanse themselves as expected, the frequent application of cold water results in bringing on various forms of uterine affections and dooming the unfortunate wretches to life-long misery. In the alleys where the restaurants (daiya) stand, lie piles of mouldy fish-bones, rejected articles of food in a high state of putrefaction, and even heaps of excrement, all vieing with each other in the exhalation of offensive and poisonous odours, and advertising far and wide the ‘sanitary’ ideas of the charming residents of this sink of corruption. Thus are the laws of hygiene observed in the great Yoshiwara of T�ky�!�
“The filthy state of the Yoshiwara Hospital, and its utter lack of proper appointments, is so notorious that it is hardly necessary for us to dwell upon this particular phase of the subject; but we propose to enquire into some of the details of the institution. When we try to picture to ourselves what a hospital is, or should be like, we naturally imagine a fine lofty buildingsurrounded by beautiful green trees, grateful shrubs and flowering plants, containing well-ventilated wards kept scrupulously neat and clean and furnished with beds covered with snowy-white counterpanes free from even a suspicion of stain or dirt; but the Yoshiwara Hospital is indeed far from being like that. We are tempted to compare it to a prison, but, as a matter of fact, a prison like the Sugamo Gaol is far more clean and complete, so from the point of general dirtiness and disorder the comparison would be quite inappropriate! The sick rooms have an area of from about 144 to 180 square feet, and as many as twelve or thirteen people are sometimes collected together in such stuffy chambers. The inmates often sleep two in a bed, and women belonging to different brothels, who are indeed entire strangers to each other, share the same couch. As to their treatment, they are medically examined twice a day, they have to pay for their own food, and although attendance and medicine is supposed to be supplied by the brothel-keepers, the patients have to get the money from their masters in the form of a loan and repay it in due course. Even in these expensive times, when living is far dearer than formerly, it appears that the cost of the regular hospital food is only estimated at from 7 to 8sen(3-1�2 to 4 cents U.S. money or say 2d in sterling), so that for the women to be supplied with appetizing or nourishing food is simply impossible. The food they actually get three times a day is far worse than good prison fare, and consists of:—
“Periodical examination of all prostitutes takes place once a week, the different streets each having special days. For instance if Edo-ch� It-ch�-me has its inspection on Friday, the inspection of Ageya-machi will be on a Wednesday. When the inspection time arrives, the name of each prostitute is called by turn, and one by one each undergoes a local examination. If a woman is visibly infected, the doctor orders her into hospital, but prior to her entering the establishment she is permitted to temporarily return to her brothel, where she makes up a bundle of such little things as she needs and, accompanied by a servant of the house, proceeds to the hospital and applies for admission. In the hospital several nurses are in attendance, but while the name ‘nurse’ sounds fine enough in itself, the women who bear this title are terrible females, something like the old brothel hags (yarite) themselves, and are ready to do anything for a consideration. For this reason, the prostitutes need some pocket-money when entering the hospital, and if they only are provided with this they have very little trouble in getting their whims gratified in every respect. After a prostitute has been in the hospital three or four days, if she happens to be a popular woman, the brothel-keeper, and others who lose by her absence, do their best, by judicious presents, to get her discharged as soon as possible, so she is not put to any great inconvenience. On the other hand, if the woman is an unknown new comer, or unpopular, she is treated in a manner painful to witness, only getting what may be given to her out of sheer pity by one of the senior prostitutes of the brothel to whichshe belongs. The moment they hear the signal for dinner, these wretched girls rush into the dining hall, and scrambling for food devour it in the same greedy wolfish manner as we can imagine the hungry spirits doing in the Buddhist hell! As to the condition of the inmates of the hospital, most of them spend their time in reading obscene novels and stories, but this does not last long, and they begin to discuss their guests and the men they know, to talk about their lovers, to sing, and to make abusive remarks about their masters and the servants in their respective brothels. Or they dance and skip about, play cards, write begging letters, and generally raise a pandemonium as if the institution was a low-class boarding-house. Such being the conditions of this horrible place, with the exception perhaps of a few disappointed women, or women who get on badly with the brothel-keeper, the prostitutes regard with dread the ordeal of entering the hospital. The majority of the public place considerable faith in the efficacy of the medical examination, but they are woefully mistaken in thinking that immunity from disease is secured by such inspection, because many of the doctors of the prostitute quarters are miserable quacks, apparently regardless of their conduct, and so venal that they receive bribes from the brothel-keepers to deliberately pass unchallenged women who are plainly affected with venereal diseases—an act as dangerous as letting loose wild tigers to prey upon the public! Not only that, but some of the youngster assistant doctors who, though of course licensed, are still in the course of perfecting their medical knowledge by practical training, often intentionally overlook serious cases which, unless treated in the hospital, are incurable and likely to spread infection. This is done partly out of sympathy and partlyfor the sake of winning popularity with some of these ill-famed wenches who know so well exactly how to bewitch the impressionable young men with their sidelong looks and amorous glances. No doubt it is very wrong, but then what a potent influence for good or bad there is in the eye of a young and pretty woman! Moreover, many of the girls are in collusion with their masters for the purpose of hoodwinking the examiners. These girls employ some of the low quacks who haunt the quarters to make preliminary inspections, and if they are found infected and likely to be ordered into hospital on the examination day, they get ‘fixed up’ for the official inspection by having the inflamed parts treated with medicinal applications which temporarily, but effectually, conceal all visible symptoms of disease. For those reasons, it is by no means safe to put one’s trust in the medical inspection. But these are not the only tricks of the trade. It sometimes happens that the quacks discover cases which it is impossible to conceal from the examiners by any known method of ‘fixing,’ and when this happens, the brothel-keepers often request the mercenary charlatans to prepare false certificates stating that a change of air is necessary. Armed with these certificates, keepers pretend that the patient has gone into the country, whereas she is carefully hidden in the house and secretly treated by the quacks. The consequence of this is that many women who are actually in attendance on guests, and apparently healthy, are a frightful menace to society and dangerous as the sharp points of poisoned needles concealed in a bag, whose awful pricks spread death and desolation in the paths of those with whom they come into contact. As to the sanitary conditions of the quarters, the laws of hygiene are utterly defied, fornotwithstanding the exterior splendour of the palaces of vice in the Yoshiwara, filthiness is the order of the day, and in unseen corners, and dirty yards and alleys, lie heaps of festering garbage containing the germs of every imaginable form of virulent disease. While some attempt is made to detect venereal maladies by means of periodical inspections, internal diseases are practically left uncared for, therefore the callous and selfish brothel-keepers, taking advantage of this fact, are apt to force girls (who are really ill and ought to be inmates of a hospital ward) to wait on guests, and allow women suffering from such sicknesses as consumption and syphilitic eye diseases to continue their calling. Partly owing to the heartlessness of the masters, and partly owing to their carelessness in matters of sanitation, many instances have occurred where women have not only communicated to their guests the most loathsome diseases, but actually died from illness while sleeping beside their patrons. Decency forbids a too close description of all the horrors of these brothels, but one or two more instances of the terrible inattention to sanitary precautions may be pardoned. In some of the smaller houses the keepers are too mean to provide daily baths, so it often happens that the women appear before their guests innocent of the use of soap and water. In these houses the girls are treated like veritable dogs and cats, and remain year in and year out in cramped unclean chambers, known askwambeya, furnished with dirty ragged bedding which is so filthy that it gives off a strong sweaty effluvium! In these dens, owing to the absence of hot water, the inmates are supposed to wash in cold water, but in the winter-time the low temperature causes them to dread their ablutions, and so the risk of infection to themselves andguests is materially increased. On the other hand, when they do cleanse themselves as expected, the frequent application of cold water results in bringing on various forms of uterine affections and dooming the unfortunate wretches to life-long misery. In the alleys where the restaurants (daiya) stand, lie piles of mouldy fish-bones, rejected articles of food in a high state of putrefaction, and even heaps of excrement, all vieing with each other in the exhalation of offensive and poisonous odours, and advertising far and wide the ‘sanitary’ ideas of the charming residents of this sink of corruption. Thus are the laws of hygiene observed in the great Yoshiwara of T�ky�!�
Whether the author’s scathing denunciations of the medical staff of the Yoshiwara are justified or otherwise is not known, but, collating the results of enquiries instituted, the writer is of the opinion that the allegations are somewhat sensational, although of course scandals may occasionally arise, and it must be remembered that the miserable salaries paid are not likely to tempt high-class practitioners to remain in the service for any great length of time. That a host of shady quacks haunt the quarters and assist the brothel-keepers to enable the women to hoodwink the regular examiners is, the writer is informed on reliable authority, a sober fact, and it is probable that in some cases the official doctors have to bear the opprobium of sins committed by these unscrupulous outside charlatans.
As to the gross inattention to sanitary methods charged against the denizens of this immense social sewer, it is probably impossible to exaggerate the mephitic abominations of the disgusting place, or to overestimate the danger of infectionrun by its thoughtless frequenters in consequence of the virulent disease-germs which are incubated in and infest every hole and corner of the unclean stews, vitiating the atmosphere and spreading the seeds of sickness and death far and near.
The monthly report sheets of the hospital contain blanks analysing the various forms of disease as follows:—
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
Syphilis:
NON-INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The medical statistics of the Yoshiwara for seven years (1898 to 1904 inclusive) are as follows:—
The figures show that during seven years the average ratio of infection was 5.18 per 100, but whether these show the true facts of the case is hard to determine. However, they have the merit of being “official� even if somewhat erroneous.
Taking into consideration the above results, it appears that the figures for the whole Empire given in the “Annual Report of the Central Sanitary Bureau of the Home Department� (published in 1905) must be misleading, as theyshow the ratio in 1901 to range from only 0.43 in K�chi Prefecture to 6.20 in Kagoshima Prefecture. In Hy�go Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture and Aomori Prefecture the ratio is stated to be 9.69, 13.75 and 14.52, respectively, and the average for the whole country works out as only 2.75 for all the forty-six prefectures enumerated. It is hard to reconcile these differences except on the assumption that the severity of the examination varies according to the localities.
The following table shows the alleged results of examination of prostitutes throughout Japan fortenyears, the average ratio being 3.31 per 100.
EXAMINATION OF PROSTITUTES FOR SYPHILIS, IN EACH OF THE LAST TEN YEARS.
Digest of the Regulations of the Yoshiwara Guild.
General.—In December 1901, in accordance with Article 26 of the Metropolitan Police Board Notification No 37, issued in 1900, the brothel-keepers, introducing-tea-house-keepers, and prostitutes of the Yoshiwara established a Guild, and in February 1904 the rules of this Guild were revised.
Object.—The object of the association is to secure and maintain intimate relations between its members, to protect the common interests of the “trade,� and to preserve ancient picturesque customs of the quarter.
Director.—The Guild, which has its office at No. 462 Ni-ch�-me, Senzoku-machi, Asakusa district, T�ky� City, is governed by a Director (tori-shimari) and a Vice-Director (fukutori-shimari) both of whom are elected, by means of an open ballot, by the members, all of whom enjoy the “franchise.�
When the number of votes is equal the individual who is senior in birth is deemed to be elected, and when the dates of birth are identical the vote is decided by lot. The term of office is two years, and in case of a vacancy occurring a by-election is held. The Director has a staff of clerks and other employees under his control.
Undertaking by Members.—Persons joining the Guild are required to subscribe to the articles of association and to give a written promise to observe the same. Moreover the new member has to provide a guarantor who will actually make performance of his duties should he himself fail to do so. Guarantors must be persons in the same line of “business,� and the brothel-keepers have to guarantee the prostitutes belonging to their respective houses.
Contracts to be Submitted to Director.—All financial arrangements relative to contracts entered into between thebrothel-keepers and prostitutes have to be reported to the Director under the joint signatures of the parties.
Pass-Books.—The brothel-keepers and the women are required to prepare and keep pass-books in the following form, and to send in the same (duly entered up) for the approval of the Director before the 10th of every month:—
Entries in this book are to be made for one year from the _______________ 19__ to the _______________ 19__.Revenue Stamp and (L.S.)Name of prostitute _______________Date __________________________TotalYenFee for one entertainment out of whichYen(1) Portion of the Keeper “(2) Portion of the woman “Agreement relative to the income of the woman of ____________ out of the fee for one entertainment as shown in the above division, has been duly notified to the Police Station.As to the pocket-money ____________ for each entertainment fee, it will be paid at the time of accounting.Number of entertainments ____________YenSenEntertainment feesActual amount to be paid to the womanTo be applied to the interest on loan for (name of month)Pocket money of the womanApplied to repayment of debit balance in booksBalance is as follows:—LoanAdvance in current a/c on the booksTotal
Entries in this book are to be made for one year from the _______________ 19__ to the _______________ 19__.
Revenue Stamp and (L.S.)
Name of prostitute _______________
Date __________________________
Agreement relative to the income of the woman of ____________ out of the fee for one entertainment as shown in the above division, has been duly notified to the Police Station.
As to the pocket-money ____________ for each entertainment fee, it will be paid at the time of accounting.
Number of entertainments ____________
Changes in Membership, Etc.—All changes in regard to membership and movements of employees are notified to the members generally through the Director, and the members are bound not to engage discharged employees except with the consent of the former employers.
Precautions Against Fire.—To guard against fire, periodical examinations are made by an expert (appointed by the Director) of the kerosene oil used in lighting, and the use of oil of under 70° (C) is forbidden.
Power to Expel.—Persons infringing the rules of the Guild may be expelled by a resolution of a general meeting.
Revision of Articles.—The articles of association of the Guild may be revised by a general meeting called by the Director at the request of thirty members.
Brothel-Keepers Consultation Committee.—To protect their mutual benefit the brothel-keepers appoint a consultation committee (ky�gi-in) the members of which are elected in the same manner as the Directors. This committee may request the Director to call a meeting at any time.
Reports of Income.—Every day each brothel keeper is obliged to report his gross income, and number of guests entertained, to the Director.
Charges.—An entertainments tariff, legibly written, must be conspicuously displayed in every guest-chamber. This table must also include the prices of various refreshments provided. Persons who accompany guests, but who do not engage a woman, are charged half the amount of the highest fee charged for a woman.
Exhibition of Women.—Women may not be publicly exhibited in the “cages� after 1 o’clock a.m. from Novemberto April, or after 2 o’clock a.m. from May to October; and in case of pregnancy are forbidden to practice their calling for three months before and after parturition.
Medical Expenses.—Brothel-keepers are required to pay daily to the accountant of the Guild for transmission to the hospital the charges incurred in consequence of any of their women undergoing medical treatment.
Brothels who may use Tea-Houses.—Brothels employing women whose fee is Yen 1.50 (U.S. $.75 or 3/- sterling) may do their business through tea-houses, but they are obliged to pay a commission to the latter.
Insurance of Accounts.—As an insurance against loss the brothel-keepers pay to a separately organized office, called the “Uke-harai-jo� one per cent of the amount of money received from tea-houses, and in return for this premium the “Uke-harai-jo� guarantees the tea-house accounts. All monies due to the brothels by tea-houses are paid to the “Uke-harai-jo� and not direct, and should any tea-house fail to meet its liabilities all business with such defaulting establishment is discontinued until settlement is made. In case of the tea-house people having committed any improper act, the brothel-keepers may boycott the tea-house and refuse to do business with its proprietors.
Expenses to be Defrayed by Brothel-Keepers.—Brothel-keepers have to bear the following expenses: (1) of the Yoshiwara Hospital; (2) of the office for the inspection of venereal diseases; (3) of the Director’s office; (4) of emergencies; (5) of displays and shows; (6) of meetings; (7) of salaries of Director and employees; (8) reserve fund. These expenses are estimated and passed by the Consulting Committee in Mayand November each year, and notified to the brothel-keepers through the Director. In January and July of every year the Director prepares and submits accounts for the previous term. A supplementary budget may be passed by the Consulting Committee, but if the expenditure is for an object not contemplated in the eight items mentioned above, the sanction of a general meeting of brothel-keepers must be obtained.
Accounts for Medicines.—Accounts for medicine must be settled at the latest by the 25th of each following month, but these drugs are supplied to members at half-price as compared with the prices charged by ordinary physicians to the general public.
Tea-house-keepers.—Introducing-tea-house-keepers appoint by ballot a Consulting Committee, two accountants and severalnemban(“year guards.�) General meetings of tea-house-keepers are convened by the Director in accordance with resolutions of the Consulting Committee. Members of the tea-house fraternity deposit Yen 50 as a guarantee that they will pay accounts due to the brothels with whom they deal. The members must join theUke-harai-joor “clearing house� of the Guild, and all monies are paid to the brothels through its medium, and not direct. A commission of 10 (ten)% is charged to brothel-keepers on the gross sums of money paid to the latter by the tea-houses, but this is subject to alteration by agreement between the Committee and the brothel-keepers. Monthly statements of accounts relative to the number of guests, money received for refreshments andgeishafees, etc., must be sent to the Director by the 3rd of each following month. When tea-houses fail to meet their liabilities in respect to brothel accounts, the “clearing-house� (uke-harai-jo)makes good the amount, and the defaulter is either suspended or expelled.
Duties of Prostitutes.—Prostitutes belonging to the Guild are required to “take care of their health, be economical, and use their leisure time in study, sewing, etc., to the end that they may be prepared to resume their normal position in society.� They are expected to dress like ordinary women when outside the brothel-quarter, to maintain good relations with their comrades, to treat their guests fairly and show proper respect towards them, and not to refuse acceptance of guests unless for “valid reasons.�
At present, debts contracted by prostitutes are held to be valid and legally recoverable, although contracts binding women to serve in brothels in consideration of a loan would probably be held illegal. The leading case on the question isŌkuma Kin(and two others) v.Watanabe Masedecided in the First Civil Division of the Supreme Court of Japan (Case “O� 398 of 1901) on the 6th February, 1902. The principles enunciated are thus stated in the digests:—“Prostitution being a publicly recognized business, it is not in the least contrary to public order or good morals for a prostitute to enter into an agreement with her creditors to devote the profits arising from her own business to the satisfaction of her debt towards them.� It is the writer’s strong opinion that the Judges have committed a very serious blunder in interpreting the law as stated above, as they appear to have overlooked the distinct intention of the legislature. Prostitution, even in Japan, isnot intended to be authorized as a legitimate business, and, while it istoleratedby the law, thistolerationis the outcome of a desire to control and regulate the evil for considerations of public policy. Public and personal safety require a constant inspection, and Japanese experience has shown that such inspection can be best enforced when the brothels are all gathered together in one central locality, but to dignify the infamous and ruinous calling by placing it upon a level with other permitted callings istantamount to protectingthe business itself by affording the security of the law to persons engaged in earning money by means of leading and encouraging a notoriously profligate course of life. There can be no doubt but that the Japanese system is excellent so far as it goes, but for the courts to virtually hold that the mere fact that brothel-keepers and prostitutes aretoleratedand taxed entitles them to be ranked as ordinary worthy citizens, and their disgusting transactions protected by the Imperial laws, suggests a somewhat loose idea of morality in the Judges, and a wrong perception of the proper status of a class of persons whose professed business is to foster vice and pander to the libidinous desires of the multitude. Eradicate the evil we cannot, regulate it we can and ought, but surely the law goes far enough when it imposes certain obligations upon the unholy trade without going to the length of upholding claims based upon what is—no matter how plausibly you argue it—an immoral consideration!
The subject is so horribly repulsive and distasteful that the writer would have preferred to close his eyes to the existence of this awful phase of human depravity and pass itby in silence, but friends, in whose judgment he places entire confidence, have pointed out that the very nature of this work demands at least a passing allusion to one terrible form of venery which prevailed in Japan in the later Middle Ages.
In the early part of the Yedo period (commenced 1587,) traces of the surviving customs of the preceding civil wars lingered on, and as unnatural practices (which had grown up in armed camps) had been introduced into the metropolis, and were rife in the city, there were, of course depraved persons who provided accommodation to gratify the infamous tastes of the times. Among the play-actors were a number of vicious and wholly abandoned characters who did not hesitate to pander to their patrons and submit to outrageous physical indignities for hire.
After the performance of theatrical representations in the province of Idzumo, female actors became all the rage, and, as society was corrupted and injured in consequence, the authorities forbade actresses to appear on the stage in future. This interdiction brought young men-actors into vogue, and the performances of these handsome looking young fellows also fascinated and charmed the minds of the public and captivated a large class of voluptuaries. The fearful evil which subsequently developed having become prevalent, male actors were also prohibited in the 1st year of Sh�-� (1652), but in the 2nd year of the same period (1653) in accordance with the petition of certain persons, permission was granted for dramatic performances to be held under the name ofmono-mané-ky�gen-zukushi(various comic plays).
“Yar�.�
“Yar�.�
Warned by experience, and in order to prevent the recurrence of the vicious practice, the authorities caused all actors toshave the hair above their foreheads, and the cognomen of “wakashu� (“lad�) was officially changed into that ofyar�(“a low fellow�). To circumvent the law and nullify its operation, actors who took the part of women wore towels arranged so as to conceal their shaven pates, and, hitting upon a further expedient, wore hats made of floss silk or purple crêpe. The prepossessing appearance of these men so greatly outrivalled the beauty of real women that, far from the regulations effecting any reform, the habit of enjoying unnatural pleasure spread through the city. Following the trend of prevailing tastes, games known as “yaro-karuta� (cards with figures ofyar�upon them), andyar�-sugoroku(yar�backgammon) were invented and hawked around for sale, while some enterprising people manufactured pictures ofyar�for sale and others published ahy�ban-ki(Notes and criticism) about them. To such an extreme did the craze run that some insensate fanatics even went so far as to present votive tablets to shrines and temples bearing representations of these disgustingyar�!
The resorts of this vile fraternity were in Yedo (T�ky�), Negimachi; in Ky�to, Miyagawa-machi; and in Ōsaka, D�tonbori. The houses in whichyar�were kept were colloquially known as “Kodomo-ya� (children’s houses). These establishments hired and offered to their patrons the services of attractive boys much in the same manner as the regular brothels dealt in women. The youths were taught various accomplishments, and after they had become proficient as actors they were placed on the stage. Those who performed in plays were styledbutai-ko(stage children), those who only waited at entertainments were calledkagema, and those who travelled about the country were known astobi-ko(jumping or “flying� children).
It was chiefly members of the military class and priests who came to houses of assignation (age-ya) and engaged these young men, but their services were also requisitioned by not a few women. At first the lads only appeared at banquets as pages in waiting on the guests, danced for the amusement of the company, and were engaged by enthusiastic patrons in the ordinary way, but eventually their exclusive business led them to become as familiar with their guests as ordinary female prostitutes. They aped the style of females, blackened their teeth withohaguro(like the women of those times), and gave themselves languid effeminate airs in imitation of the fair sex. Originally they dressed in a distinctive costume, and their get-up was known aswakashu-sugata(young man style), but gradually their mode of dress underwent a change, and in the Meiwa and An-ei periods (1704 to 1780) they attired themselves in graceful garments dyed in rich designs, adopted long flowing sleeves such as were worn by females, wore wide girdles around their waists, and did their hair up woman-fashion.
In the Genroku period (1688 to 1703) the common practice of the vice had declined, but the custom of hiringyar�was as popular as that of hiring courtesans, and in the Meiwa and An-ei periods (1704 to 1780) it had reached its zenith. At that time there were as many as ten places in Yedo whereyar�could be hired—namely in Yoshi-ch�, Kobiki-ch�, Hateh�-bori in Kanda, in the grounds of the Shrine of Yushima Tenjin (!), in front of the Shimmei Shrine (!) in Shiba near the Hirakawa Tenjin Shrine (!) in K�jimachi, near the Hachiman Shrine (!) at Ichi-ga-ya, etc. The number ofyar�carrying on their infamous calling in the city was two hundred and thirty at this period.
Before long, nature either began to assert itself or the laws against the vice passed in Kwansei period (1789 to 1800) were severely applied, for in the Temp� period (1830 to 1843) only four places remained whereyar�could be found.68Of these Yushima was patronized most extensively, but only twenty-two lads were kept there. In the 13th year of Temp� (1842), in the time of Ieyoshi, the 12th Tokugawa Shogun, the vice was utterly rooted out in consequence of searching reforms instituted by Midzuno Tadakuni, Lord of Ichizen, and from that year unnatural sexuality ceased almost entirely in Yedo. In the Kwan-ei period (1624 to 1643) a number of so-called “incense-dealers� (K�gu-uri) appeared in Yedo who offered unnatural services to their customers, and by the era of Genroku (1688 to 1703) the business was firmly established and the practice prevailed far and wide. Beautifully dressed, handsome, and effeminate looking young men wandered through the city carrying about with them various kinds of incense inkiri-wood boxes wrapped in light-blue silk cloths, and, under the guise of selling incense, wormed their way into the mansions of the nobility and gentry, but in course of time the custom was abolished. In those days it was quite general for lewd and abandoned women to hire actors and indulge in immoral pleasure. Such women, when they attended a play, would call actors to the tea-houses and there enjoy themselves with the players in the same way that male libertines were wont to call courtesans.
The above description ofyar�is condensed from theNikon-Fuzoku-Shi(日本風俗�), but the writer desires to add that the literature of the Genroku period, as typified in severalancient volumes in his possession, clearly reveal the fact that the vice was practised quite openly, and apparently without any sense of shame, in the 17th century. Curious readers are referred to theDanshoku Ō-kagami(published in 1687) and theDanshoku Ki-no-me-dzuke(published in 1703) as specimens of this precious literature.69