| 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.