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

by J. E. De Becker

Forms of Contracts between Brothels and Courtesans.

The following is the text of a form of contract used at Susaki. It is practically the same as that used in the Yoshiwara:—

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　　　　　　　　　　本人

　　　　　　　　　　�證人

　　　貸座敷　　　　　殿

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　　　　　　　　　　娼妓

　　　　　　　　　　貸座敷

The following is the text (translated) of an actual agreement which was cancelled by mutual consent:—

Memorandum of Agreement.

2 Sen Revenue stamp.

2 Sen Revenue stamp.

Yen 90. Bearing interest at the rate, of 1% (one per cent) per month.

With respect to the above, owing to unavoidable circumstances, I agree, with the consent of my relatives, to practise the profession of a courtesan in your establishment. In this connection I have borrowed from you the sum of money herein-above-written, the due receipt of which I hereby acknowledge. In consideration of the premises, and with the intention of repaying the loan to you from my earnings, I hereby agree to the following clauses of this contract:—

1.⁠—	My fee for each guest is fixed at 25 sen. Out of each fee 12 sen will appertain to myself, 3 sen being kept for my personal pocket-money while 9-1â�„2 sen will be applied to the reduction of the principal and interest of my debt. You will please deduct the (latter) amount from the total of my daily earnings when the accounts are made up.
2.⁠—	Should I contract temporary loans during the period of my service, the monies shall be promptly returned out of my earnings for the current month, and such temporary loans shall be separate and apart from, and have nothing to do with, the capital loan contracted under this agreement.
3.⁠—	As my living expenses during detention in the hospital are a charge payable by myself, you will please deduct the same from my earnings during the current month. These expenses shall have no connection with the capital loan contracted under this agreement.
4.⁠—	Should I at any time be unable to repay out of my earnings temporary advances, or living expenses while in the hospital, during the current month in which such charges are contracted, you will please add the amount to the capital loan to be accounted for as per Article 1.
5.⁠—	My professional possessions are hereby pledged for the amount of my debt, therefore I will neither carry them out elsewhere, pledge them, nor sell them to other parties.
6.⁠—	The term of service contracted for is from the 20th December, 1895, to the 9th October, 1900, and during that period I will not fail to practise my calling in your house; but should I abandon the profession, or move to another establishment during the term, it is agreed that I am to repay forthwith the whole amount of loan and interest due thereon.
7.⁠—	Should I fall ill and become unable to attend to business, I shall leave the matter in the hands of the doctor and abide by his diagnosis, and I promise not to rest from work or abandon my profession on account of arbitrary personal caprice.
8.⁠—	When this agreement expires, should there be a balance of money owing to you by reason of extraordinary advances made by you in connection with my entering the hospital, resting from business, etc.; or in connection with my flight (abscondence) or other faithless (disloyal) conduct, I am to repay to you the whole amount of such balance on the same day that I give up the profession.
9.⁠—	When I give up business on the expiration of this agreement, or should I fall sick, be disabled, or die, my guarantor will receive me and will positively not cause you any trouble or annoyance.
10.⁠—	Under the circumstance’s mentioned in Art. 9, should the amount of debt not be duly repaid, the articles held in pledge by you shall be sold, in the presence of my guarantor, and the proceeds shall be applied to the clearing off of the debt.
11.⁠—	Should I commit a breach of agreement in violation of Articles 6, 7, or 8, or should I abscond and not return within 30 days, the articles pledged shall be sold, and the proceeds applied to the clearing off of the debt. Should a balance still be left, it is specially agreed that all the persons whose names appear as joint signatories to this contract shall be liable for the repayment of the amount involved. Should any of the persons liable be unable to discharge the debt, the remaining persons shall be responsible for repayment.

Agreement entered into is as above.

20th December, 1895.

Borrower _______________ (signature)

Guarantor ______________ (signature)

(Address) ______________

To

Mr. Nishimura Etsusuke

Brothel-keeper.

I have witnessed the above agreement.

(signed) Sunaga Yonez�

Vice-Superintendent of the brothels, tea-houses, and courtesans of Susaki.

No. 453.

The following is a specimen of an average contract from an actual document and will serve to illustrate the matter. This contract is one used by the Kanagawa brothel called “Jimpur�� (commonly known as “No. 9.�)

Memorandum of Agreement.
Relative to a Loan of Money.

Yen—Four hundred.

Provided that interest on the above shall be in accordance with the Government Regulations.

With respect to the above I hereby acknowledge that as I have no means of livelihood, and practice the profession of a courtesan by official sanction, I have borrowed from you the above-written sum of money, and in consideration thereof I hereby agree to the following clauses of this contract:

1.⁠—	I will strictly comply with the regulations relative to courtesans.
2.⁠—	I will commence business on the ____________ year ____________ month ____________ day of Meiji, and continue until the ____________ year ____________ month ____________ day of Meiji, and on the completion of this term of three years will forthwith return my license to the Government. It is understood that should I enter the Lock hospital during the term, the number of days shall be clearly noted in writing, and I shall apply for official sanction to continue longer in the business for a corresponding period of days. Should I not have repaid the loan when the time comes to return my license, I will enter into an agreement to repay the same entirely.
3.⁠—	I will gradually repay the loan from my earnings as a courtesan, and while the same is not all repaid, I will work faithfully and diligently. I will never rest from work without good reason, neither will I do anything calculated to interfere with or hurt your business.
4.⁠—	I will pay the prostitute tax provided by the regulations from my own earnings.
5.⁠—	I will divide the amount of my earnings into two portions, one of which I will give up to you as room-hire and other sundry expenses. From the remaining half I will repay the loan to you at the rate of 15 per cent of my receipts, and the balance (35 per cent) will be taken by me as my own. It is understood that having agreed to halve the money as above, even should the amount of my earnings be insufficient to pay the expenses of my board, I shall not pay out any other money.
6.⁠—	The account of repayments of the loan shall be balanced twice a month, for which purpose the landlord and the courtesan shall both keep books of the account wherein shall be set down entries to agree the one with the other, and at the end of each month such entries shall be stamped by both parties in each other’s presence. With regard to the clothes which I use in the profession, and also my other effects as per separate list attached herewith, I hereby pledge and mortgage the same to you as security for the hereinbefore-mentioned debt.
7.⁠—	Should the owner of the prostitute house consider that the coming of any particular guest will be unprofitable, even although he (she) should send such guest away with a refusal I shall certainly not complain, but comply with his (her) wishes.
8.⁠—	Should I abscond during the term of engagement, fall sick, or desire to discontinue the business and change my residence owing to certain circumstances, but be unable to repay the above-written debt, I will not remove or cease practising the business until my guarantor has paid the entire amount.
9.⁠—	Any special debts which may be contracted by private arrangement between the parties shall have no connection with the present agreement. It is nevertheless understood that should I be unable to pay the fees and expenses while in the Lock hospital, any money I may borrow from you under that head will be added to the amount of the present loan.
10.⁠—	In respect to the monthly balancing of account as per above-written (Art. 6), in order that there may be no objection or dispute, the books of both parties shall be submitted to the Director of the “Three Professions,â€� who shall be requested to seal the same officially after inspection.

In Witness whereof we the undersigned have hereunto set our seals together with those of the guarantors, in order that there may be no breach of the foregoing agreement hereafter.
Meiji _________ year _________ month _________ day.

Borrower ____________________________ L.S.

Guarantor (father) __________________ L.S.

Address ______________________

Guarantor (mother) __________________ L.S.

Address ______________________

To the Mistress of the Brothel.

I hereby seal the foregoing instrument in witness that its contents are in order.

Kanagawa Tachibana-g�ri,
Kanagawa-Eki,

(Signed) Shimazaki Kyujir�.

Director of the “Three Professions.�[61]

The Medical Aspect.[62]

According to a report of an investigation of venereal diseases, drawn up by Dr. Takai Hayao in 1892, and published in No. 4 of the “Medical Monthly Reportâ€� (é†«å‹™æœˆå ±) for that year, the percentage of infection in the six prostitute quarters of TÅ�kyÅ� was, during 1891, as follows:—

Shin-Yoshiwara	1.67	Senji	1.35
Susaki	1.88	Shinjiku	1.99
Shinagawa	1.47	Itabashi	1.98

the stated average being 1.67509 per 100 women.

In Kanagawa Prefecture (including the prostitute quarters of Yokohama and Yokosuka) among 2634 women the average percentage of disease for 1898 was officially stated as 2.771. These very low figures must be regarded with great suspicion, as they are not only against the experience of medical practitioners in other countries but are clearly proven to be misleading by the latest statistics of the Yoshiwara hospital. In March 1899 the percentage of patients in the Yoshiwara rose to about 6-1�2%, and this appears to be a more reliable figure. It is curious to note that in a work by Dr. O. Commenge (Recherche sur les Maladies véneriennes a Paris, dans leur Rapports avec la Prostitution réglementaire de 1878 à 1887) the percentage of prostitutes (registered by cards) suffering from syphilis alone was 7.3% while those registered in houses were diseased to the extent of 12.0%. In view of these figures, one cannot help regarding the Japanese statistics, which are supposed to include all venereal diseases, as somewhat untrustworthy and misleading, and to conclude that this trouble arises from the superficial nature of the inspection.

At the same time, it must not be forgotten that segregation of prostitutes in regularly appointed quarters may cause a difference in the percentage of disease, as this system gives a greater control over the licensed women.

According to the records of the Yokohama General Hospital (from 1868) the ratio of syphilitic cases treated diminished considerably after the present system of inspection and control was inaugurated in Yokohama. European medical practitioners states that it is a decided mistake to consider the form of syphilis in Japan as a peculiarly virulent or severe type. Among Japanese it is exceptionally mild, the more severe and deeper lesions being somewhat rare. It may be more severe in the comparatively pure-blooded European, but even with foreigners it is as amenable to treatment as in Europe or America.

Many Japanese doctors affirm that since the introduction of inspection and enforced hospitalization the more severe types of syphilis have become less common. Prior to the Meiji (present) era it was quite an ordinary thing to see noses eaten away by syphilis, whereas such a sight is comparatively rare nowadays.

Although there are a great many conflicting opinions on the subject, the concensus of opinion among Japanese medical men is that public prostitution is an unfortunate but necessary evil. They say that the present system is a safety-valve for society and that repressive measures would increase the number of cases of rape, seduction, adultery, unnatural vice, and illicit prostitution;[63] and that to abandon medical inspection would certainly tend to increase the ratio and virulence of venereal diseases.

One of the greatest evils of the system is that of permitting the custom called “mawashi� by which a woman accepts several guests and goes round from one to the other in turn all night. It is stated that the women wash themselves after each connection for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease, but unless the cleansing is done very thoroughly there can be no doubt but that infection is communicated to guests by this disgusting practice of accommodating several men at the same time. It appears that great trouble is experienced by the women when washing themselves in summer: the skin is apt to become inflamed and excoriated by excessive washing, and although iodoform would be an excellent antiseptic if applied, the smell of iodoform is offensive to guests, and this precludes its use.

The doctors, recognizing the one-sided feature of dealing with women alone, recommend that men entering houses of prostitution should be examined by a matron, so that all who are diseased can be eliminated, but they admit that this examination would not be infallible and that certain diseases would pass undetected: the brothel-keepers say that such a system would drive away guests and tend to encourage secret prostitution, and besides that the cost of medical attendance would be greatly increased.

There are a great many cases of heart disease, kakké (beri-beri), dyspepsia and hysteria among the inmates of the Yoshiwara, and also some cases of consumption.