The nightless city; or, The "history of the Yoshiwara Yūkwaku"

by J. E. De Becker

“Kuruwa-kotoba� or Yoshiwara Dialect.

It appears that owing to the Yoshiwara being a rendezvous of people from various parts of the country, there were a great many provincialisms spoken. This caused considerable inconvenience to persons visiting the quarter, and therefore, for the purpose of making the language used as uniform as possible, a kind of dialect known as the “sato-kotoba� (里言葉 language of the prostitute quarter) was coined, and all the prostitute were taught to speak it. The “Hoku-jo-ryo Kigen� (北女閭起原) says:—

“When a woman speaks the Yoshiwara dialect it successfully conceals her awkward pronunciation, no matter from what distant part of the country she may have come, and stamps her as a regular denizen of the quarter. For this reason, study of sato-kotoba has been greatly encouraged.�

It is, however, suggested by some people that the dialect was transmitted from Shimabara, Ky�to (a noted prostitute quarter) for under the “Shimabara� section of the “Ukiyo Monogatari� (浮世物語) reference is made to the popular sato-kotoba words “kinanshita ka?� (have you come?), and “hay�inanshi� (go quickly.)

According to ancient records, up to the period of Meiwa (1764–1771) the honorific irregular verb masu (to be), which is always used as a terminal in conjunction with other verbs, was corrupted to “nsu� therefore such words as omoimasu (to think) gozaimasu (to be: to have) and m�shimash� (to say, to be) were changed to “omoinsū,� “gozarinsu,� “m�shinsh�,� etc. From the end of Anyei (1772–1780) this again changed to “isu� and words like “gozaimasu� and omoimasu were pronounced “gozarisu� and “omoisu.� At that period “gozarimasu� was often pronounced as “gozansu,� or even “ozansu,� and in the vulgar colloquial it was sometimes pronounced as “gozensu� or “gozēsu�: accordingly “nasarimasé� (please deign to do) changed to “nasansé,� but in the Yoshiwara dialect this was further abbreviated to “nanshi.� Thus instead of “o kun nasai� (an abbreviation of “o kure nasarimasé� = please do) and “o agari nasaimashi� (an abbreviation of “o agari nasaimasé� = please come in: (or) please eat) were developed the words “o kun nanshi,� and “o agan nanshi,� etc. From the end of Ky�wa (1801–1803) until the Bunkwa era (1804–1817) “masu� and “mashi� changed to “namashi,� and afterwards into zansu, zaisu, zaimasu, ossu, osu, ariisu, etc.

It also appears that in former times the various brothels had their own special dialects, but these, not being specially interesting, all the dialectical differences are omitted here.

A few examples of sundry sentences and expressions may be cited to give an idea of the language:—

Yoshiwara Dialect.	Modern Japanese.	English.
Nushi wa mada chaya ni iinsuka?	Anata wa mada chaya ni i-nasaru ka?	Are you still in the tea-house?
Kore wo o mi nanshi.	Kore wo goran nasai.	Please look at this.
Oide nasen ka e?	Oide nasaimasen ka?	Won’t you go? (or) Won’t you come?
M� chitto shite mērinsh�.	M� chitto shite mairimash�.	I will go (or “come�) a little later on.
Uso-uso shimē yo.	Sawaij� ikenai.	Don’t be excited.
Sonnara o tano-m�-shinsu.	Sonnara o tanomi m�-shimasu.	Well then I will leave the matter in your hands.
Sore wa tareshi mo s� de ozansu.	Sore wa dare demo s� de gozaimasu.	That is the case with everybody.
S� ossēsu ga.	S� osshaimasu ga....	You say so but....
Kurashinsu zo e.	Uchimasu yo!	I’ll strike you!
O busharezansu na.	Baka ni suruna.	Don’t try and make a fool of me.
Hagurakasu.	Age-ashi wo toru.	To catch a person tripping.
Sonna koto wa shirinsen.	Sonna koto wa shirimasen.	I don’t know anything about it.
Yabo.	Fu-anai no hito.	A stranger who is unacquainted with a place.
Sui.	Tsūjin.	An adept: a person posted up on all points; one who “Knows the ropes.�
Yonde kiro.	Yonde koi.	Call him.
Hayaku oppashiro.	Isoide yonde koi.	Call him quickly.
Itte koyo.	Itte kuru.	I will go.
Ayobiyaré.	O aruki nasai.	Please walk (on).
Fukkobosu.	Kobosu.	To spill; To grumble.
Kechi na koto.	Warui koto.	A wicked thing.
Kosoppai.	Kosobaii.	Ticklish.
Unasaruru.	Osuwaruru.	To have the nightmare.
Daijin	Fu-kyaku.	A rich guest.
Daté.	Daté.	Luxurious and elegant: a fop.
Hanka.	Nama-naka.	Impertinent and pedantic.
Shara-kusai.	Nama-iki.	To pretend to be something that one is not. “Cheeky.�
O kan.	Atsu-mono.	A hot object.
Tanabata.	Tama ni kuru kyaku.	An occasional guest.
Kuzetsu.	Chiwa-genkwa.	A curtain lecture.
Sashi.	Ai-gataki kyaku.	A guest with whom one cannot meet.
Nushi.	Iro-otoko.	A paramour.
O yukari sama.	Najimi kyaku.	A familiar guest.
Muk� no hito.	Y�-tashi akindo.	A Yoshiwara storekeeper.
Shir�to-ya.	Futsū no sh�ka.	Merchants and shopkeepers.
Go te san.	Go teishu.	The proprietor of a tea-house or hotel.
Okasan.	O kamisan.	The wife of the above.
Ani-san.	Musuko.	The son of the above.
Gebiz�: Kurai-nuke.	B�shoku suru hito.	A glutton.
Inasé.	Sugata no yoi hito.	A person with an elegant figure.
Shitta ka y�.	Bakarashii.	Ridiculous.
Jirett�su.	Jirett� gozaimasu.	I am vexed.
Y�-zansu.	Y� gozaimasu.	All right: Very well.
Nan zansu ka?	Nan de gozaimasu ka?	What is it?
Kii-shita.	Kimashita.	Has come.
Dashi-kitte.	Arawasu.	To show (or) manifest anything.
Shinobi-komeru.	Hisoka ni.	Secretly.
Samisen-ban.	Mise no samisen wo adzukaru {shinzo}.	{Samisen} keeper.
Nanto demo ii nanshi.	Nanto demo o ii nasai.	Say whatever you like (I don’t mind).
Chotto mi nē!	Miyagaré.	Oh! just look at (hear) him!
Ii ame dakké nē!	(The same).	What good rain![31]
Akire-kēru yo.	Akire-kaeru yo.	I am astonished.
Pochi-pochi.	Oiran ni kawai-garareta hito.	A guest loved by a courtesan.
Chaki-chaki.	Oiran ni niku-mareta hito.	The reverse.
Ki-fū.	Kiita-fū.	Pedantic style.
Shiwo-ya. Enjir�.	Jiman unubore no hito.	A conceited fellow.

A saying in vogue about the Bunkwa era (1804–1817) was:—You can distinguish the Ōgi-ya by “watakushi� the Tama-ya by “shitsukata� the Ch�jiya by “zansu� and the Matsuba-ya by “osu.� This was said because of the peculiar dialects, spoken in the respective houses, changed into zansu, zaisu, ossu, osu, ariisu, etc. The sato-kotoba has now entirely disappeared, but as many of the women come from the Western provinces, in the neighbourhood of Ky�to, it is common in the Yoshiwara to hear such words as “anata itsu kiyaharimasu� (when will you come?), “s� dakka� (is that so?), “ah�rashii� (nonsense!), etc.

Sh�gi no okonau juho.
(Magic charms practised by the Yoshiwara courtesans.)

The Yoshiwara inhabitants are all peculiarly superstitious people and great believers in omens, consequently they carefully avoid anything which may be construed as fore-shadowing ill-luck. The word cha (tea) is supposed to be unlucky because it occurs in the phrase o cha wo hiku (literally “to pulverize tea,� but idiomatically it is applied to women of ill-fame who are unpopular and means “to be out of employment�) therefore it is carefully eschewed not only by courtesans but by geisha also.[32] The courtesans call “tea� “agaribana� (“going-up-flower�: meaning a guest who is going up the stairs) or “yamabuki� (“yellow rose�) or Uji (the name of a place) because the liquor of the infused tea is the colour of the yamubuki flower, and because Uji (near Ky�to) is a noted tea-district. Geisha speak of tea as “o-de-bana� (“august-going-out-flower�) because this expression conveys the sense of their “going out� and gathering presents (hana) from guests. Sitting on the staircase is looked upon with aversion, as this is supposed to decrease the number of guests. When a cat, or a domestic fowl, passes through a room it is immediately caught and brought back to the direction from whence it came, because the local folk believe that the toleration of such an event will tend to make guests go away without stopping at the house. There are a great many silly superstitions of a similar nature in the Yoshiwara, and charms of all kinds are extensively practised. Every evening the bant� of each brothel says a prayer before the “Engi-dana� (the shelf of good luck: this was formerly furnished with emblems of phallic worship), a bundle of wooden clog-checks (to which a long rope is attached) is held up and struck several times against the floor of the house, and then an imitation of a rat’s squeak is made while the bant� strikes a pillar of the house with his hand. This process is said to be a charm for attracting many guests. It would require a thick volume to contain a description of all these charms, therefore only a few of the principal ones as mentioned in the “Sh�bai Ōrai� (倡賣往來), written by Jippensha Ikku, are given here.

Charm for attracting a person for whom one is waiting:—It is a most efficacious method to stick an eel-skewer in the wall and pray for the advent of the party whose presence is desired.

Ditto (another method):—Fold a piece of paper so as to represent a frog, write the name of your guest on its back, stick a pin through it and put the frog where no one can see it: the person desired is sure to turn up. After his arrival, however, the pin should be removed and the paper frog thrown into the river.

Ditto (another method):—Cut a sheet of white paper to a size of 2 inches square, fold it in two, place it in a white envelope and address it to the desired guest. This charm is much in vogue in the brothels of Ky�machi though it has not yet spread to Yedo-ch�. In Masur� this charm has been especially successful.

How to ascertain whether an expected guest will come or not:—Draw out a thread from the end of a towel. If this feat be successfully performed the guest is sure to come, but if the thread breaks he will not turn up.

A peculiar charm. Take one equal part of saké, vinegar, soy, oil, ohaguro (mixture for blackening teeth), water, and a handful of t�shin (wick of a lamp made from vegetable pith). Boil these seven ingredients together and add a piece of paper on which is depicted the private parts of your lover. Boil again for a short time, and the charm is sure to cure the man’s fickleness.

At present nobody seems to be acquainted with the charms mentioned above, they have fallen into disuse nowadays.

Below will be found a description of charms now in vogue. These are most important occult secrets and should not be lightly revealed to the vulgar!

To attract a person. Write the first letter of the name of the person, together with the date of his birth, on a piece of paper. Paste this under a staircase on the third step from the bottom, but do it secretly so that nobody will detect it. If a person misses his footing and falls from this stairway the charm will certainly be effective.

Ditto. When there is any particular guest whom a courtesan wishes to call, a letter supposed to be addressed to him should be prepared, and on the cover should be written the words—“Kogaruru kimi ye.� (To my beloved prince) and “Go zonji yori� (From—you know who). This missive must be dropped at a cross-way, and if it be picked up by somebody the charm will work.

Ditto. Take a sheet of hanshi paper and cut it in the style of a noren (curtain hung before a shop) and on each leaf write the Chinese character � (kitsune = “fox�). Stick this on the inside of a cupboard or drawer so that nobody will know about it, and then offer up a prayer for the speedy advent of the person for whom you are waiting. When he arrives you must secretly remove the paper and throw it away.

Ditto. There is a game called en-musubi (marrying) which is played by making a couple of koyori (soft Japanese paper twisted into a string) and holding them in the middle while a person ties both ends together. The koyori are now stretched by pulling, and if they become entangled in the process the marriage is supposed to be assured. If you tie the paper strings which have been used for this purpose to a tobacco pipe-stem, or to the mouth of a teapot, this will certainly cause the appearance of the party whose presence you desire.

Ditto. Seven paper-strings (koyori) are bundled together and held by the centre, while four of them are fastened at one end in pairs; the remaining three are also fastened, two with one string. Of the last two strings, one represents the girl’s lover, and is to be marked as such. When all these strings are pulled, sometimes none of them get tangled, but now and then one of the three strings tied together may entangle itself with the others in a curious fashion. Taking this as the “boundary� the length of the remaining two strings should be compared, presuming the one that is marked to be the man and the other to be the woman. If the male string is longer it means that the man’s love is deeper, and vice versa. When the paper strings have entangled themselves in an auspicious manner, such strings should be fastened to the end of the woman’s koshi-maki (kind of waist-cloth) and they will prove to be an irresistible charm for attracting men. When the person longed for finally arrives, this koyori must be secretly removed and thrown away so as not to be detected by anyone. Should this once be forgotten, and the woman go to bed with her lover while the strings are still attached to her waistcloth, the charm will lose its efficacy in future.

Ditto. The woman must concentrate her mind and think of the abode of her lover (if the street, number, etc. is not clearly known a hypothesis will suffice), the route to be taken in going there, and the distance. She must then imagine herself departing from her own house, and on her way to that of the lover, counting her steps as she goes. Then she will shortly suppose that she has reached her destination, that she has met with the man she was seeking, and that she is urging him to visit her in the evening without fail. After obtaining his consent she must mentally commence her return journey, going through the same process as she did on her outward journey. Of course all this labour of love is mentally performed, so that it may be done even in the presence of another guest without arousing the slightest suspicion in the minds of outsiders. This practice of telepathy is said to be startlingly effective in its results.

Ditto. Take a sheet of hanshi paper and from it cut out seven human figures, all joined together. Then fill in the eyes, noses, and mouths, but do not complete these in each figure: let some be without a nose or mouth, or minus one eye, etc. On the abdomen of the central figure should be written three times the first letter of the man’s name, and on the remaining six figures it should be written five times. The central letter on the central figure should be pierced with a needle in an upward direction, and all the figures should then be solemnly promised that if the desired party turns up, their organs shall be completed and that they shall be thrown into a stream and allowed to float away. The figures should then be pasted in a place where they will not be detected. In the event of the person whose presence is desired actually appearing, the organs of the figures should be completed, and then the paper men should be thrown either into the moat or the W.C.

Ditto. In the small hours of the morning, enter a room which faces the street and which is not usually occupied by anybody. Shut up the paper shutters (sh�ji) and place your sandals in the room with the bottoms upwards. Then pass through the room out into the verandah, place your hands in the bosom of your dress and shutting your eyes repeat an old well-known poem three times in succession. If you then listen very carefully you will hear a human voice which, speaking in an undertone, will tell you whether “he� will come or not. This is a very doubtful charm!

Ditto. Write on a sheet of hanshi paper the well-known poem:— “Konu hito wo Matsuo no ura no yū-nagi ni yakuya moshiwo no mi wo kogashi-tsutsu� [this has been translated by Mr. F.V. Dickins (with a slight verbal alteration) as follows:—

On Matsuo’s shore, our meeting place,

At dusky hour of night, I wait

My longed-for loved one to embrace;

Ah, why linger’st thou so late!

My ardent passion, than the fire

That heats the salt-pans, rages higher.

or “Waiting for he who comes not with a passion fervent as the heat which bakes salt,�] and at the end of the papers—“Tare sama itsu made ni kuru y� ni tonomi-age-mairase-s�r�� (I beg that Mr. _______ will come by ________ (date) ________) as well as the name of the God or Buddha which you usually worship. Stick this paper on the wall upside down.

Charm for attracting guests when “trade� is dull. Either burn a large moxa on the bottom of the wooden pillow you generally use, or tie two pillows securely together with an obi (sash) and fling them into an unlighted room. The charm is said to be extraordinarily effective.

Charm for attracting an unfaithful man. When you desire to see an unfaithful man for the purpose of upbraiding him for his insincerity, first write everything you wish to tell him and pour out all your wrath upon him in the letter. Then procure a frog, stick a needle in its back, and putting your letter before the reptile tell it to take the missive to the addressee, promising that if it be successful in conveying the letter into the man’s sleeve-pocket the needle shall be extracted. The frog will assuredly deliver the letter into the man’s sleeve-pocket, come back, and immediately die. The faithless one, finding the letter in his sleeve, will certainly visit you to seek an explanation of the mystery.

Charm to send away a guest. Take a ko-yori (a paper string or “spill�) and with it form the shape of a dog. Place this on the wardrobe or mirror-stand in a room next to the one in which the guest is, making the paper animal face him. Ask the doggie in a whisper to quickly answer you whether the guest will go away or stop. It is said that this charm is so extraordinarily efficacious that a guest who is thinking of taking his departure goes away forthwith, while one who wishes to stay immediately expresses his intention of renewing the engagement and prolonging his visit.

Ditto. If the end of the underfold of your waistcloth or “petticoat� (koshi-maki) be tied in a knot the guest will leave immediately.

Ditto. Wrap up a small quantity of luke-warm ashes in a piece of paper and place the packet under the night-clothes (bedding) of the guest near his feet. He will immediately go away.

Ditto. Stand a broom on end in the room next to your guest’s room, and laying out a pair of sandals before it, say in a whisper—“There now, do please go away quickly.� The guest will leave at once.

How to know whether “he� is coming or not. This charm is a somewhat indelicate and disgusting one, but it runs as follows:—In the small hours of the morning enter the W.C., carrying a piece of red paper and a box of matches. Light the paper by means of a match and glance down into the W.C. pan, and you will see the face of the person you are thinking about appear mysteriously. If the face is smiling your relations are at an end, and you must resign yourself to the situation; but if, on the other hand, it betrays signs of anger, the man will visit you ere long. When the charm has worked, put out the light and throw the remains of the paper down the W.C. If you accidentally drop the burning paper on the face of your ghostly visitant a scar is said to be left on the face of the real man.

To ascertain about the health a of man. Very early in the morning enter an unoccupied room which contains eight mats. Take a broom with you, dress it up with clothes as if it were a person, then tie an obi round its supposed waist, and cover the head with a towel after the fashion of h�kamuri. Now place a letter addressed to your friend in the bosom of the figure, instructing the dummy to deliver the missive to the addressee, obtain a reply from him, and place same in a certain specified drawer. Then stand the dressed-up broom in a corner of the room against the wall, and without looking back quit the chamber. Sometimes the broom topples over by itself without there being a puff of wind to cause the fall. If it falls down the charm will work, a reply be found in the drawer mentioned, and you will receive news of the person about whom you wish to know. (This is an exceedingly doubtful charm.)

How to read a man’s mind. While your guest is asleep, crawl secretly out of bed very early in the morning, and getting a single sandal from the W.C. get into bed again without awakening the man. If the guest is sound asleep, rub his chest very gently with this sandal and at the same time ask him his read mind towards you. He will, under these conditions, answer, as if in a dream, any question you may put to him, and thus unbosom all his secrets. When the charm is completed, you must return the sandal to its original place, and coming back go to bed again.

To call in money. If you have asked a guest for money and failed to obtain it, dress a broom up with clothes like a human figure, and standing it upside down complain to it of the non-fulfilment of promises just as if it were a human being: then knock the figure down, telling it to bring the money without fail on the following day. This will cause the man to dream of your indignation at his breach of promise and he will visit you forthwith, bringing with him the necessary money.

To arrest the menstrual flow. Before retiring at night, float some t�shin (pith wick of a lamp) or ashes on water and drink the mixture. This is said to be wonderfully effective in arresting the courses.