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

by J. E. De Becker

Annals of a Year.

The “Yedo Kwagai Enkaku-shi� (江戶花街沿�誌 = Annals of the “Flower quarters� of Yedo) says that it will be interesting to mention the chief regular events which occur in the Yoshiwara—some of which still survive—all the year round.

Early on the morning of New Year’s day—about 4 o’clock—the bath-houses in Ageya-ch� and Sumi-ch� sent men round the five streets of the Yoshiwara calling out that the baths were ready, so the yūjo arose while it was still dark, took their baths, and spent much time over their general toilet and dressing. By and by an announcement would be made by the yarite summoning the yūjo to assemble in the hiroma (廣間 large room) where the master and mistress of the house were sitting, and here the employers and employed exchanged congratulations and wished each other a happy new year. On this occasion the company partook of toso (spiced saké) and the keeper of the brothel made presents to the inmates of his house; to each yūjo two dresses of silk crêpe, to each of the shinz� and yarite two dresses of tsumugi (pongee), to each of the kamuro a dress of cotton on which was dyed the pattern of pine-trees. After this ceremony was over, the yūjo returned to their own apartments and exchanged the compliments of the season by going to each others’ rooms and paying formal calls. In the afternoon the first promenade of the year (hatsu-d�chū) took place, the yūjo going through the Naka-no-ch� and making New Year’s presents of sets of saké cups to the tea-houses. Each saké cup was inscribed with the crest of the yūjo presenting it, and each set was packed in a tiny box of kiri (paulownia) wood on which was written the yūjo’s name and the name of the house to which she belonged. There was no special rule as to the style of the clothes which had to be worn by yūjo on the occasion, but it was an invariable custom that each kamuro attending her should carry a large battledore (�-hago-ita) handsomely decorated with oshi-e (a picture made by pasting on a board pieces of thick paper wrapped with cloth of various colours). Generally speaking, the most splendid decorations were to be seen outside the tea-houses of the Naka-no-ch�. In front of the entrances were hung ao-sūdare (green bamboo blinds), above the lintel of the door posts they hung lobsters (boiled red) and placed mochi (rice cake); and over the whole was fixed a k�mori-gasa (umbrella) bearing the signs of the respective houses, the latter being intended to ward off rain and protect the objects below. In front of every brothel larger New Year decorations were placed consisting of branches of pine and bamboo, among the dark green leaves of which were hung bright fragrant oranges. In the case of the smaller houses in the side streets the decorations were usually confined to what is called senaka-awase no matsu-kazari (pine decorations set up back to back), thus making a double decoration with a space of about three feet between the two. (This custom is said to be observed even now). No yo-misé (night exhibition in cages) was held on New Year’s day.

仲�町年礼�圖
Courtesans about to visit their friends on New Year’s Day. Period of Ki�wa (1801 to 1803).
(After the Picture by Kitagawa Utamaro.)

On the 2nd day of the 1st month the bath-house keepers again made the same announcement as they had the previous day. With the first cawing of the crow (ake-garasu no koe to tomo ni) the dealers of shell-fish thronged the quarter and cried their wares for sale in loud voices. Everyone who bought the hamaguri (clams) purchased them only from the men who were entering the quarter, and not from those who were going out and back, as it was not considered lucky to buy from departing vendors. The fishmongers, however, were smart enough to head off their patrons, and entering the gate they walked up the street shouting away until they arrived at the end of the thoroughfare. Then they quietly sneaked back to the gate and started afresh. This practice was repeated several times until the artful fellows had contrived to secure all the business in sight, and the simple buyers were happy in the belief that they had bought hamaguri from fishermen who had only just arrived in the Yoshiwara.

After this day guests began to arrive in increasing numbers, and, according to the charming little custom in vogue, yūjo used to entertain their visitors with toso (spiced saké) and make them presents of fans, towels, hanshi (paper) and other trifling articles.

The wife of a brothel-keeper always made a point of coming out, dressed in ceremonial clothes, to congratulate every guest on the New Year, and at this season the food served to patrons was better and more varied than usual. On this day, wives of the tea-house-keepers returned the congratulatory visits of the yūjo, going from room to room for that purpose.

From the 2nd day, until the end of the 1st month, as well as on the first horse-day (hatsu-uma) of February, and on the 8th day of the same month, the Daikoku-mai dancers came to every brothel and the yūjo vied with each other in giving them tips.

Only Tsuta-ya of Yedo-ch� formed an exception to this rule, as it was the habit of that house not to grant admittance to the dancers.

On the 7th day the nanakusa-no-iwai (ceremony when a soup compounded of seven kinds of greens is eaten on the 7th day of the first month) was performed, and on the 11th day came the ceremony of opening store-houses for the first time in the year (kurabiraki). On the 14th followed the toshikoshi,[44] while on the 15th, 18th, and 20th there were some further ceremonies observed. The date of celebrating the Ebisuk�[45] was not uniform, and each brothel had its own methods. In ancient times it was a universal custom to observe this ceremony twice a year, viz—in January and October. In the era of Bunsei (1818–1829) the ceremony in the 1st month became greatly curtailed, and finally the Ebisuk� was only observed in the 10th month.

The yūjo did not all appear in the cages until the 20th of the 1st month, so the night aspect of the Yoshiwara did not resume its normal appearance until this date. The saruhiki and dai-kagura[46] began to pour into the Yoshiwara from the 1st day of the 2nd month: on the night of the first “horse day� the front of every brothel in the first and seconds wards of Yedo-ch� and of Ky�-machi was illuminated by a large lantern on which was written the names of the yūjo in the house. Votive offerings of red rice, fried bean-curd, and fruit were made to the family shrines of the god Inari.

Many of the yūjo, accompanied by their guests, visited the four temples in or near the quarter dedicated to Inari Sama,[47] viz.—Kurosuké Inari, Akashi Inari, Kai-un Inari and Enomoto Inari. Kagura dances[48] were performed in the Jishimban (guard or watchman’s office) at Yedo-ch� Ni-ch�-me, and all was bustle and confusion in the Yoshiwara. The following day the brothel-keepers contributed to the shrine of Inari the large lanterns which had been hung before their establishments the previous evening. On and after the 3rd day of the 3rd month cherry-planting (hana-ue) commenced.[49] Cherry-trees were planted on both sides of the streets of the Naka-no-ch�, and these drew a multitude of sight-seers who gazed with delight on the delicate pink and white blossoms which smothered the branches in a rolling mist of fairy-like florescence. The origin of this custom is mentioned elsewhere.

In April the cherry-blossoms had already fallen, green leaves had appeared on the trees, and everything foretold the rapid approach of Summer. Towards the end of this month fire-fly dealers (hotaru-uri) began to perambulate the Naka-no-ch�, exhibiting their luminous wares as if in mockery of those who scorched their bodies in the fire of lust and dissipation!

On the 5th day of the 5th month the yūjo changed their winter clothes for those of summer, and used to present new summer dresses to shinz� and kamuro, but it seems that the cost of these latter was defrayed by guests of the house out of compliment to the yūjo with whom they were acquainted. There is a comic song which runs:—“Those guests who ran away during the last days of the old year, and returned in the Spring, have again fed on account of the utsuri-gae (change of garments).� It is rather laughable that the yūjo themselves would tease guest by reciting these lines. On this day, as on New Year’s Day, the yūjo visited the tea-houses of Naka-no-ch� to wish them the compliments of the season. Later on, it became a custom to plant iris blossoms in the quarter, after this day, as a means of attracting visitors. After the beginning of the doy� season in June, yūjo made presents of fans to their familiar guests, and to tea-houses, as a token that they solicited continued patronage at the hands of their friends.

On the 7th day of the 7th month the festival of the weaver was celebrated in the quarter by yūjo tying branches of bamboo (with white fans, on which poems were written, fixed to them) before their doors. Even the inmates of smaller brothels observed this time-honoured custom. In some houses the keepers, acting on the advice of guests, took advantage of the opportunity to make a display of rare curios and furniture, and consequently the Yoshiwara was thronged with visitors.

On the 10th day the festival of the Asakusa Kwannon took place. This day was called the “shi-man-roku-sen-nichi (46,000 days) the idea being that he who visited the temple on that day performed as meritorious an action as if he made a pilgrimage there on 46,000 occasions, and consequently it follows that one visit to the Asakusa Kwannon on the 10th day of the 7th month ensured the pilgrim a life-long blessing from Buddha.

This festival attracted crowds of people to the Yoshiwara and “trade� boomed up on account of the large number of visitors seeking “blessings�! From the dawn of the 12th day until 9 o’clock on the following day the stalls of dealers in articles necessary for celebrating the festival of the dead were erected between the Ō-mon and Suid�-jiri. This festival was called the “Kusa-ichi� (Grass-market). Toilet articles and toys were also sold on this occasion. On the night of the 13th day no guests were received, and the yūjo roamed about the quarter, as they choose, in groups of threes or fives. In their rooms the i-hai (a wooden tablet bearing the posthumous name of dead persons) of their parents were placed on their wardrobes and before these improvised altars yūjo offered tearful prayers from aching hearts. A Japanese stanza says:—

Ushi uma no tsunagare-nagara nagare-keri, chiisai toki wo hanasu keisei.

“Courtesans separated from their parents in early childhood and drifting over the sea of life tethered together like dumb driven cattle.�

On the 15th day the yūjo paid another complimentary visit to the tea-houses, in the same way as they were wont to do on New’ Year’s Day. From the last day of the 6th month, and during the 7th month, while the “Feast of Lanterns� continued, the hikite-ja-ya (tea-houses) of the Naka-no-ch� hung lanterns, generally square in shape, inside and outside their houses, but on the 13th and 14th this practice was suspended and after the 15th new lanterns were substituted. The lighting of bon-d�r� (memorial lanterns) during the bon (feast in memory of the dead) is a universal custom in Japan, and originally lanterns of various shapes were used in the Yoshiwara. But since the lighting of a special kind of lantern in the 7th month of the 13th year of the Ky�h� era (1728) in memory of the third anniversary of the death of Tamagiku of the Manji-ya, the pattern has become more uniform and the custom more general in the quarter.

On the 1st day of the 8th month (hassaku) the yūjo went in procession through the Yoshiwara wearing shiro-muku no kosude (wadded clothes of white silk). In ancient times yūjo wore lined clothes (awase) of dyed stuffs on the tango no sekku (the festival of the sweet flag celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month) and similar clothes of white silk on the 1st day of the 8th month. One year, in the beginning of the Kwambun era (1661–1672), it happened to be extraordinarily cold and a yūjo named Yūgiri (evening mist) belonging to the S�gyoku wore wadded clothes on the 1st of August, thus making a departure from the established usage. Her costume attracted universal attention, and she looked more beautiful and happier in it than the other women, who appeared chilly and uncomfortable in their lighter garments. Two years later, on the 1st day of the 8th month, all the yūjo turned out in wadded clothes in spite of the fact that the season was unusually warm, and henceforth this costume was generally adopted. Another version attributes its origin to the fact that during the Genroku period (1688–1703) a yūjo named Takahashi, of the Tomoeya, went to an ageya in response to the invitation of an intimate guest, despite her illness, attired in her night-garment of white wadded silk. This version of the origin of the custom is of doubtful authority. During the same period a yūjo belonging to the My�go-ya, named Ōshū, used to promenade wearing clothes of white silk on which were depicted human skulls and susuki (eularia japonica: “reed-grass�) painted in India ink, greatly surprising spectators with her extraordinary taste. On the 14th, 15th, and 16th, the ceremony of “viewing the moon� (tsuki-mi) was observed. On those nights sambo (wooden stands) were stood out and loaded with dumplings, chestnuts, beans in pods, sweet potatoes, persimmons, lespedeza blossoms (hagi), eularia grass (sususki), aster blossoms (shion) etc., as offerings to the moon. They also set out vessels filled with sacred wine, and burnt altar-lamps in her honour.

八朔之圖
Gathering of Courtesans at the “Hassaku� (1st day of the 8th month).
(After the Picture by Kitagawa Utamaro.)

In the rooms of the yūjo were set out artificial representations of the seven kinds of autumn flowers to represent an autumnal field, or a sudare of glass was hung in front of the shelf by way of ornament. At first liliputian (boy) actors, and puppet showmen, etc., were called into brothels to give entertainments on these nights, but later on this custom disappeared. During the greater part of the eighth month, commencing on the 1st day, the festival of Kurosuke Inari was celebrated, and the Yoshiwara then presented a very lively spectacle in consequence of the exhibition of cars, filled with dancers and musicians (neri mono), which were drawn about the streets. Up to the Bunkwa era (1804–1817) bamboo branches were set up on either side of the �-mon (great gateway) and shime-nawa[50] were hung upon them. Throughout this month yūjo who were proficient in singing and dancing took part in niwaka[51] dancing for the amusement of the general public whenever the weather was fine.

The first day of the 9th month being considered a day of good omen (kashin) every brothel celebrated it in an appropriate manner. On the 9th day of the same month, another day of good omen, called the ch�y� no sekku,[52] chrysanthemum blossoms soaked in saké were eaten. This custom was borrowed from China.

On the 12th, 13th, and 14th, moon-viewing parties were held as in the previous month, and those guests who had been present at a party on the eighth month were under obligation to again take part in this second observance, as the yūjo evinced much aversion to kata-mi-dzuki (a partial moon-viewing). The second “moon-viewing� was known as (nochi no tsuki-mi). In the 9th year of Bunkwa (1812) chrysanthemums were planted in the Naka-no-ch� for the first time: this was repeated several times in succeeding years but, probably owing to the show not being sufficiently interesting to draw any large number of fresh guests, it was eventually abandoned as too expensive a practice.

On and after the first “wild boar� day of the 10th month the big braziers (�-hibachi) were brought out in every brothel, and summer clothing was changed to that of winter. The festival of Ebisuk� fell on the 20th day, and banquets were giving throughout the quarter: the yūjo had a holiday on this occasion, but some of the most popular of them were accustomed to invite certain familiar guests as they were proud enough to consider it rather a disgrace to allow such an interruption of the exercise of their profession.

The hi-busé, or “fire preventing festival� took place on the 8th day of the 11th month, when oranges were scattered about the gardens of the j�roya and scrambled for by children. 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 Suid�-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 the quarter. On this night large numbers of persons thronged the quarter and formed an immense and surging crowd. The origin of the Tori-no-ichi festival is stated in another chapter.

On the 8th day of the 12th month “kotohajime�, or New Year’s preparations, began, and on the 13th was the regular susu-harai or general house-cleaning, but, as a matter of fact, the susu-harai was generally finished earlier than that date. The 17th and 18th days of the 12th month being “market days� (ichi) of the Asakusa Kwannon, a larger number of persons than usual visited the Yoshiwara, and the brothel keepers sent men to the market to purchase paper images of Daruma which they placed on the main pillars of their houses for good-luck. After the 20th, the making of mochi (rice-cake) commenced at each house, and firemen from Minowa, Kanasugi, Sanya, Imado, and vicinity, came to render assistance in pounding the mochi of those brothels which usually patronized them. In return for this assistance, the yūjo were in the habit of giving these firemen new hanten, momohiki and tenugui as presents of the season. This custom is said to have been originated by Ch�zan of Ch�ji-ya during the H�reki era (1751–1763). The following verses of a song while pounding mochi may be of interest:—

“I can hear your voice but cannot see you. You are really like a cricket that chirps in the field.�

“If you live in Owari while your wife lives in Mino, you will naturally long for the latter province even though there be no rain.�[53]

“Even a ship which is slowly sailing on the sea quickens its speed if beckoned by a courtesan.�

餅���圖
Preparing “Mochi� (Rice Flour Cake) for the New Year in the Yoshiwara. Period of Ki�wa (1801 to 1803).
(After the Picture by Kitagawa Utamaro.)

From the 20th day of the 12th month the night exhibition of yūjo ceased for the year in the best houses, and even the other brothels followed this example after the 20th day.

From about the 22nd day of the 12th month, until the 7th day of the 1st month, a hole was dug in the open space within the brothel entrance, and in this a fire was kindled by shinz� and kamuro. This hole was called niwa-gama (garden furnace), and the custom of lighting a fire in such a position was observed until the era of Bunkwa, when it gradually fell into desuetude.

The above were the principal events in the life of yūjo in former days, but besides these there were days called maru-bi and mom-bi: on these days guests were obliged to pay the agedai for both day and night, although their stay might be limited to only one of those two general divisions of time. The marubi included the first seven days of the first month, also the 14th, 15th, and 25th days—in all 10 days. The mom-bi (crest-days) consisted of the five sekku days (as mentioned in an earlier part of this book) and they were so named because there were five crests dyed on ceremonial clothes. Some people pronounced this word mono-bi.

By the era of Ky�h� (1716–1735) the number of the mom-bi had greatly increased and reached ten every month, but then they gradually decreased and there are only three or four observed at present.

Naka-no-ch� no Hana-ue.
(Flower-planting in the Naka-no-ch�.)

Every year, on and after the 3rd day of the 3rd month (old style), notice of the opening of the flower season (hana-biraki no fuda) is posted at the �-mon (great gateway), and in the middle of Naka-no-ch� fences of green bamboo are constructed within which are planted blooming cherry-trees. The commingling cherry-blossoms, blending together into one dense mass of soft fleecy rolling cloud which braids the trees with visible poetry and transforms the avenue into a veritable fairy bower of pink and white florescence, the dazzling glory of the electric lights, and the flashing brilliance of thousands of crested lanterns, makes up a sight which baffles description and must be seen to be appreciated. The garish splendour and blazing radiance of the Yoshiwara at this time is such as to have earned for it the appropriate name of Fuyaj� (�夜城 = “Nightless castle�).[54] Besides the actual flowers, artificial is added to natural beauty, and curtains with a cherry pattern dyed upon them are hung up in the second story of the tea-houses. There they gently wave in the soft spring zephyr, beckoning the passer-by alluringly and enticing him to exploit the secrets of dreamland which they veil so cunningly and suggestively. Of late years plum-trees are planted in the second month, iris in the 5th month, and chrysanthemums in the 9th month (old calendar), and on one occasion the figures of well-known actors made of chrysanthemum flowers—the work of the noted Yasumoto Kamehachi—were also shown. But of all the flowers planted none can equal those of Naka-no-ch� “Yo-zakura� (“night-cherries�) which have become famous throughout the length and breadth of Japan, and whose praises have been sung in song and told in story generation after generation by enthusiastic poets and writers during more than fifteen decades.[55] The origin of flower-planting was that in the second year of Kwamp� (1742) cherry-flowers in pots were exhibited in front of the tea-houses, and this having been noised about the city of Yedo, multitudes of persons visited the Yoshiwara nightly in consequence. The Yoshiwara people were not slow at taking the hint, and the following year several hundred cherry-trees were planted at Naka-no-ch�.

仲�町花盛之圖
Courtesans and Guests viewing the Cherry-blossoms in the Naka-no-ch�. Period of Ki�wa (1801 to 1803).
(After the Picture by Kitagawa Utamaro.)

Later, in the 2nd year of En-ky� (1745), cherry-trees were planted between the �mon and Suido-jiri, bamboo fences being built around and bright lanterns being lit under them to enhance the effect. This departure attracted a large number of persons to the quarter.

In those times the expense of the enterprise was fixed at 150 ry� every year, 40 per cent being paid by the Kembansho, 40 per cent by the miscellaneous traders in the Yoshiwara, and 20 per cent by the tea-houses. The subscriptions were made in the shape of daily or monthly deposits by those interested, and it appears that this practice is still in vogue.

In front of the tea-houses on either side of the street curtains dyed with fantastic designs were hung, and in the front rooms red carpets were placed, these practices being observed even at the present day.

In ancient times, kamuro and shinz� were allowed to visit Ueno, Asuka-yama, Muk�jima, and other places to view the cherry-blossoms during this month; and another holiday was taken by the inmates of brothels, including yūjo, wakaimono, etc., who spent a day in giving saké parties and viewing the blossoms in the Naka-no-ch�. One year the following song was composed by Ki-no-kuni-ya Bunzaemon and Kikaku conjointly:—“Like silvery haze the cherry-blossoms reflect the setting sun; they are like a mountain strewn with golden flowers.�

The prosperity of the Yoshiwara was at its zenith at this period, and the quarter was counted as one of the places in Yedo which was “worth a thousand ry� per day.�

T�r� no koto.
(Lanterns.)

At present, in the month of August every year, a large lantern, on which is a painting from the brush of some well-known artist, is exhibited in the centre of the Yoshiwara at Naka-no-ch� for the purpose of attracting people. Besides this show-piece, revolving and other lanterns of various shapes and designs are hung in front of the tea-houses and lit up nightly. 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. The general style of lantern is vertically long but narrow in breadth, it being made of silk stretched on black-lacquered frames. It is supported by a pair of cedar poles covered with an ichimatsu sh�ji by way of a roof. Each house is provided with a pair of these lanterns, one facing the street and the other the interior of the building, so that one can be seen from either side: this arrangement has nullified the old saying “t�r� wa ura kara miro, niwaka wa mae kara miro� “(look at the lanterns from behind and the niwaka dance from the front�). One writer observes that as late as the 20th year of Meiji (1887) the lanterns placed in front of tea-houses faced the streets, and were therefore only seen to advantage by pedestrians, while actual guests who went up into the second story of a tea-house had to content themselves with looking at the rear of these lanterns. 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-ch� 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. From time to time the tea-house-keepers have shown themselves very ingenious in getting up new schemes to attract visitors, and on one occasion they displayed an artificial moon on a screen so contrived as to show the movement of clouds flitting across its face: all these displays are reckoned as making up one of the notable events which take place in the Yoshiwara yearly.

Illuminated lanterns in the Naka-no-ch�

Illuminating Tea-houses with Lanterns in the Ki�wa period (1801 to 1803).
(After the Picture by Kitagawa Utamaro.)

According to the old custom, every year, from the last day of the sixth month to the last day of the seventh month, bon-d�r� (lanterns erected at the festival of the dead) were shown by all the tea-houses in the Naka-no-ch�, but they were not exhibited in front of the small brothels in side streets as at present. The exhibition was suspended on the 13th and 14th days, and after the 15th day new lanterns called ni no kaeri-d�r� were substituted. The lighting of lanterns in the 7th month of the year, during the festival of the dead, was a universal custom in Japan from olden times, and therefore lanterns of various shapes and sizes were used in the Yoshiwara also. The “Yoshiwara Taizen� (�原大全) says that one summer a popular yūjo named Tamagiku was taken suddenly ill, and that after lingering for a little while she passed away at the beginning of the 7th month.

In order to console her spirit, and as a sacrifice to the manes of the dead, the tea-houses who had been friendly with her hung up before their doors lanterns which were called “kiriko-d�r�� (a lantern of a cubical form with its corners squared). This illumination attracted considerable attention and drew many guests, so “business� flourished exceedingly that season, and accordingly in the following year (1716) the practice was followed by all the tea-houses. About that time an expert in fancy hand-work, named Ha-ryū, made a prettily contrived fantastic lantern which he gave to a certain tea-house, and this drew a large number of interested and admiring spectators. In this connection a story is told to the effect that on the 4th day of the 7th month of the 1st year of Gembun (10th August, 1736) a teacher of the samisen, named Kayei, who lived in Ageya-ch�, held a service in his house in memory of Tamagiku and at the same time a new tune named midzu-ch�shi (水調�) was played. In the room were hung a number of lanterns bearing the kaimy� (posthumous name) of Tamagiku, and every guest was presented with one on his return home. As it was considered as unlucky to have lanterns inside the houses bearing the Buddhistic name of a dead person they were hung up outside the tea-houses. [It is said that on the lower part of these lanterns lines of a green colour were traced.] A request to be allowed to exhibit these lanterns was preferred by the tea-houses to the monthly managers of the Yoshiwara, but as the latter refused their consent the tea-house keepers carried out the idea without obtaining permission. D�jo of Yedo-ch�, and Tamaya D�kaku, who were then monthly managers, were greatly enraged at the independent action of the tea-house-keepers, and struck down the lanterns of Sumiyoshi-ya and three or four other establishments. The matter was however settled up quite amicably by the tea-house-keepers apologizing, and the authorities granting permission, so after the next year the lantern show commenced and has been continued down to this very day, though the religious aspect of the observance has been completely lost sight of. In former days it seems that besides the lantern show, acting by boys, circus-feats, juggling, etc., took place, but they ceased later. In some years the lanterns displayed have been very fine artistic creations, bearing pictures painted by well-known painters; and anyone who saw the Yoshiwara between the middle of July and the middle of August 1886 will never forget the historical drawings of H�nen and Eitaku then exhibited on the lanterns.

Night scene in the Yoshiwara during the “Feast of Lanterns�