In the 8th year of Kwambun (1668) a raid was made on the “jigoku� (unlicensed prostitutes) and the captives were transported to the Yoshiwara, but as they numbered 512 souls it was difficult to find accommodation for them and apparently there was not enough room in the quarter to erect new brothels. Under these circumstances, a little plot of ground was requisitioned at the back of each brothel in Yedo-ch� Ni-ch�me, and some seventy-five small houses were built there for the reception of the new immigrants to this earthly paradise. As the majority of the these fresh arrivals were natives of Fushimi and Sakai, the streets where their houses stood were called Fushimi-ch� and Sakai-machi. Sakai-machi was destroyed by fire during the era of Meiwa (1764–1771) and has ceased to exist, but Fushimi-ch� is to be seen to this day.
At first the five streets of the Shin-Yoshiwara consisted wholly of brothels, Ageya-machi of “age-ya� and Naka-no-ch� of tradesmen’s stores, but as time rolled away the “age-ya� ceased to exist and in their place sprang up “cha-ya� (tea-houses). Gradually, also, the shopkeepers in Naka-no-ch� removed elsewhere and their stores were turned into tea-houses. Subsequently tea-houses began to increase in number at Ageya-machi, and nowadays there are even many brothels to be seen in this street.
The following extract from the “Tsuik� Yoshiwara Taizen� (追考�原大全 an old descriptive book on these matters) may be of interest to my readers:—
“The corner between Maka-no-ch� and Yedo-ch� It-ch�-me and Ni-ch�-me is called “Machi-ai no tsuji, or “Waiting lane� because the women used to sit down here before their houses waiting for guests. * * * * * The corner of Yedo-ch� Ni-ch�-me was called the Ao-mono Ichiba (Vegetable Market) and that of Sumi-ch� the “Sakana Ichiba� (Fish Market) because during the day-time green-grocers and fishmongers were in the habit of assembling in those places. In the summer evenings dealers in fire-flies (hotaru-uri) would also be found hanging around these streets. As to the origin of the Suido-jiri (“End of the Aqueduct�) it is said that formerly there were no wells in the Yoshiwara and that all the water used there had to be carried from the wells at Jariba and Tambo, but in the eras of Genroku (1688–1703) and H�yei (1704–1710) the famous Yedo merchant prince—Kinokuni-ya Bunzayemon—caused a well to be sunk in the compound of Owari-ya Seijūr� in Ageya-machi for the first time, with the result that a plentiful supply of water was provided. * * * * * As the pipes in which this water was conducted to the various portions of the Yoshiwara terminated at the end of Naka-no-ch�, the name “Suid�-jiri� (see above) was given to that spot.� The “Jisekig�k�� 事蹟�考 (another book) says:—“The name of Suid�-jiri did not originate in the Moto-Yoshiwara, but in the Shin-Yoshiwara. In the plans of the old Yoshiwara, however, it would seem that a place with a similar name did actually exist, and so it is mentioned here for the sake of reference. The street, along the creek at Ky�-machi It-ch�-me is called J�nen-gashi which name is said to have been derived from the name of a son of the Headman, Sh�ji Jinyemon, who formerly had his residence there.�
娼舗張付彩工圖
Artist Painting Mural Decorations in a Brothel.
“The “Kiyū Sh�ran� 嬉�笑覽 (another book) says:—During the era of Kwanbun (1661–1672) the “san-cha� (a class of low and cheap prostitutes about whom an explanation is given elsewhere) came into existence, and at the same period, on the application of Genyemon, headman of Ky�-machi, new houses were built at Sakai-machi, Fushimi-ch�, and Minami-ch�. The first street was so named because it was situated on the border (sakai) of Sumi-ch� Ni-ch�-me, the second on account of the forefathers of the elders of the street[10] (Yamada-ya Yamazabur�, Yamaguchi-ya Shichiroemon, Adzuma-ya Jihei, and Okada-ya Kichizaemon) having come over to the Yoshiwara from Kotobuki-ch�, Bungo-bashi, etc., in Fushimi, at the time of the founding of the Yoshiwara. The street along the creek at Ky�-machi It-ch�-me is called the Nishi-gashi in remembrance of a younger brother of Sh�ji Jinyemon, (founder of the Yoshiwara) named Tachibana-ya Sainen, having lived there.[11] The street along the creek at Ky�-machi Ni-ch�-me, known as Rash�mon-gashi—or more commonly as “Waru-gashi� (the wicked creek-side)—was so-called owing to the fact that there was a small brothel there—named “Ibaraki-ya�—the inmates of which used to accost passers-by and clutch tenaciously at their sleeves, somewhat after the fashion of the warrior Watanabe no Tsuna who seized the arm of an ogre and cut it off in the course of his well-known adventures at the Rash�-mon, near Ky�to.[12] The Tenjin-gashi. was situated at Suid�-jiri, and here there were some 25 low brothels established. This creek-side was called “Tenjin-gashi� after Sugawara-no-Michizane, a great scholar who had been deified and whose festival fell on the 25th of each month.�[13]
Nihon-dsutsumi.
(The Dyke of Japan.)
It is mentioned in the “D�b� Goyen� 洞房語園 that there was an hereditary farmer at Minowa named Shibazaki Yohei, and according to his story he had heard from his grandfather that the Nihon-dsutsumi was constructed about a hundred years ago in the year of the “large monkey.� Now countrymen often call the year of K�shin the “year of the large monkey,� so the year referred to by Yohei’s grandfather may be the 7th year of Genna (1621). It is also mentioned, in a supplement to the book, that the characters formerly used in writing the name were 二本 (ni hon = 2 lines) and not 日本 (Nihon = Japan), because there were two roads one of which led from Sh�den-ch� to Sanya-bashi. As, however, Yedo increased in prosperity, hills were levelled and canals dug, after a while the road to Sanya-bashi disappeared as part of the changes made in the city; and accordingly the characters 二本 were altered to 日本 in describing the remaining road. At the time of the construction of the Nihon-dsutsumi, a large number of lacquer-trees (urushi-no-ki) were planted on both sides of the road, forming a veritable avenue,[14] and it was a common joke to warn an habitué of the Yoshiwara by saying significantly—“When you pass along the Sanya road, mind you don’t get poisoned by lacquer!� The bank commenced at Sh�den-ch� in the West and Yoshino-machi (Asakusa) in the East, and extended to Harajuku (Shitaya), the total length being 834 Ken (5004 feet), the width of the road 10 Ken (60 feet) and the horse-path 5 Ken on the average (30 feet).