Although the sale of persons has been forbidden from olden days yet persons are hired for periods under various names, but in reality this “hiring� constitutes a “sale� and it is considered that the capital of persons hiring prostitutes, singing girls, &c., is equivalent to stolen money, therefore should any person complain about the foregoing, upon investigation the whole of the money in dispute shall be confiscated by the Government.
As stated above, prostitutes and singing girls having lost the rights of human beings, they may likened to cattle (gyū-ba ni kotonarazu = they do not differ from oxen and horses.) There is no sense for human beings to endeavour to exact repayment from cattle!
Therefore no payment shall be demanded from prostitutes or singing girls for any moneys lent or debts due and in arrear hitherto, but it is provided that as regards transactions subsequent to the 2nd day of the present month, such prohibition ceases.
Persons who for money considerations cause girls to become prostitutes and singing girls under the pretext that such girls are their adopted daughters, are actually trafficking in human bodies, and will hereafter be severely dealt with.�
[Since then, detailed regulations have been established relating to the profession of prostitutes and are still in operation]. The losses sustained by the brothel-keepers at the time of this wholesale liberation of women are said to have been simply enormous. The “T�ky�-Kwaika Hanj�-shi� (�京開化�昌誌) has the following under the caption of “Liberation of Courtesans�:—“In the winter of 1872, all the prostitutes and geisha who had been engaged in the brothels and inns throughout the country were unconditionally set free. * * * * * Thousands of wretched women (whose lives might be compared to those of birds cooped up in cages) having been suddenly liberated, the confusion caused by the crowds of delighted parents and daughters who thronged the prostitute quarters beggars description. * * * * * Notwithstanding the general rejoicing, owing to being in debt, or to other circumstances, a large number of these unfortunates were compelled to apply for new licenses and to continue their calling in the brothels which were now re-named kashi-zashiki (貸座敷 = a house with rooms to let).� From the above remarks the actual condition of affairs at the time may well be imagined.
The old fashioned style of zegen (procurer) have now disappeared, and most of the women desirous of becoming courtesans are hired through yatoinin-kuchi-ire-jo (Registry offices for persons seeking situations). By law these registry offices are forbidden to negotiate such transactions, but it is well known that this prohibition cannot be enforced in practice. The brothel-keeper, or his substitute, attends to the engaging of women, and is always on the look out for “bargains.� In the same manner that vultures swoop down to feast on the dead bodies of soldiers after a sanguinary battle, so these rascally fellows turn the misfortunes of others to their own profit by visiting localities which have been overtaken by terrible natural calamity. Earthquakes, fires, floods, and bad crops are the natural allies, of the brothel-keepers, as is proved by actual statistics. For instance, out of the present 3,000 inmates of the Yoshiwara fully 40 per cent. are natives of Gifu and Aichi Prefectures, and we know quite well that these localities have suffered severely from earthquakes, floods, and bad seasons of late years. It is said that when a particular district is visited by some serious misfortune the various brothel-keepers proceed to the spot in order to see what game they can bag at cheap rates.
The Dress of Courtesans.
Nowadays there is no fixed rule as to the dress of these women, and they dress themselves in accordance with the wishes of the brothel-keepers or according to the dictates their own taste. Thus we find some of the modern courtesans dressed in gold or silver embroidered brocades after the fashion of oiran of bygone days, others are clad in gaudy red crêpe (hi-jirimen) with embroidered collars, and wear gigantic satin sashes (obi) tied in front, while others again try and make themselves look younger and prettier by wearing yūzen stuff (generally silk crêpe decorated with various beautiful figures) purple satin collars and maki-obi (a narrow sash wound round and round the waist: this sash is not tied into a bow but the end is merely tucked in to hold it in place). Other women wear plain crested clothes, or imitate the style of geisha (singing girls) or of Court ladies, and others even go so far as to ape the (save the mark!) European style! In low-class houses a long loose robe (shikake) of striped stuff and an under garment (naga-juban) of mousseline (merensu) compose the whole stock of the wardrobe of a prostitute. At present a long loose robe (shikake) of black colour is only worn by the chief courtesans (o shoku kabu) of the best houses. Compared with the luxurious costumes of former years, the present holiday clothes of the women only correspond in quality to those of the ordinary every-day garments worn by their predecessors: from this statement the comparatively inferior nature of the present costumes may be inferred. It is the custom of prostitutes nowadays to wear clothes of striped material (shima-mono) when they are in their own rooms with intimate guests. In the � mise (best house) after her introduction (hikitsuke) to a strange guest (shokwai no kyaku) the servants cry “o meshi-kae� (honourable change of garments), and immediately the courtesan goes to her room, changes her clothes, returns clad in a dress made of some figured material (moy� mono), and waits on the visitor during the feasting and wine-bibbing which follows. At the time of “o hiké� (honourable retirement, i.e.—the time to go to bed) she again changes her clothes for a costume of striped stuff. In the medium and lower class houses the women only change their dress once, and the material employed in their wearing apparel is exclusively crêpe (chirimen).
With regard to the sumptuary regulations relative to restrictions on the dress of prostitutes, among the five items of the notification given to Sh�ji Jinyemon by Honda Lord of Sado in the 3rd year of Genna (1617) it was provided that “prostitutes are forbidden to wear clothes with gold and silver embroidery on them; they are to wear ordinary dyed stuffs.� This policy of enforcing simplicity of dress was adopted by the authorities at the time when the establishment of the old (Moto) Yoshiwara was permitted, and the courtesans therefore used to wear either plain kenchū (pongee?) or striped clothes: their obi (sashes) were broader than those of ordinary women, but never exceeded 4 sun (if this is cloth measure it will equal 6 inches English) whereas in those times the usual obi did not exceed 2 sun (say 3 inches English) in width. The sleeves also were much shorter at that time, but later on they were gradually made longer as the sumptuary laws fell into desuetude. Since the founding of the Shin Yoshiwara luxurious habits of dress gradually spread in the quarter, and bye and bye extravagance was carried to its utmost point. In the Kwambun and Emp� eras (1661–1680) the tayū usually wore rinzu (figured satin) or habutaye (a superior kind of pongee) dresses. In the “D�b� Go-en� (洞房語園) we read about the narrative of an old gentleman named Muramatsu Sh�-a who said that in the era of Kwambun (1661–1672) a certain person met the Tayū Takao of Mi-ura-ya D�-an’s house in Ky�machi and saw one of her new costumes: the lining was of pale blue silk, the face of the dress black habutae, and the whole garment so made as to be suitable for a man’s wear. In the “Saikaku Ichida i-Otoko� (西鶴一代男), published in the 2nd year of Tenna (1682) it is mentioned that the clothes of some women were made of shiro rinzu (white figured satin) for underwear, over which were worn two dresses, the under one of scarlet kanoko (material dyed with minute white spots) and the upper one of pale-blue Hachijo-silk. These clothes were used when the wearers attended to parties of guests, the taste of the period demanding stuffs costly as regarded price but plain and simple in appearance as compared with the brilliant gold and silver embroideries and the velvets used in later days. In the Teiky� (1684–1687) and Genroku (1688–1703) periods it had become a general custom to use plain purple materials (murasaki-mu-ji) for the shikake (cloak). In the H�yei era (1704–1710)—fifty years after the opening of the Shin Yoshiwara—magnificent embroidered clothes came into fashion, and in the era of Gembun (1736–1740), some thirty-years later, a courtesan named Shigasaki introduced the custom of wearing a broad obi (sash) she herself having worn one 33″ (kujira 2 shaku 2 sun) in width (sic). This sash was worn and tied in a style known as “Karuta-musubi,� and the woman who first set the fashion was known as “Obi Shigasaki� or “Obi-goku-mon.� (The first means simply “Sash� Shigasaki: the second “Sash-exposing-a-criminal’s head.� The latter has a joking reference to the ancient custom of exposing the severed head of an executed criminal to public gaze: the sash was supposed to be so broad that only the head was visible above it.) Since then, a luxurious and extravagant tendency in the dress of courtesans manifested itself so strongly that in the 7th year of Kwansei (1795) the authorities again considered it necessary to impose restrictions on this rage for idle show: it was therefore announced that dresses should be of plain stuffs (according to ancient custom) and that date-mon (伊�紋 ornamental crests) should not exceed 6 sun (if ordinary measure = 7.1586 inches: if “kujira�—cloth measure—about 9 inches) in diameter. The tide of luxury, however, could no more be stemmed by a mere notification than could the waters of the ocean be dammed by a man’s hand, and in the eras of An-ei and Bunsei (1772–1829) the zenith of barbaric splendour was attained. Costumes of crêpe, velvet, figured satin, plain satin, habutae, etc., were freely used, while obi (sashes) were made of velvet, gold-brocade, silk-brocade, damask, etc. As to colours and patterns, these were chosen according to the taste of the individual courtesan and were by no means uniform. In a book called “Nishiki-no-Ura� (錦ノ� “Behind the Brocades�) published in the 3rd year of Kwansei (1791) a very elaborate description of an elegant costume of the time is given. The upper garment consisted of white nanako dyed with purple clouds among which peeped out some tasteful pattern: every here and there were flowers embroidered in silk and finished by handpainting representing in vivid colours the four seasons, while the crest consisted of a wistaria flower sewn upon the dress with purple silk-thread. The underwear consisted of a figured satin garment bordered with plain brown Hachij� silk and embroidered with the same pattern in coloured silk, and of a lower girdle of claret-coloured figured satin lined with bright scarlet silk crêpe. As an instance of the beauty and costliness of the night-gown of a certain young miss, the “Keisei-kai Shi-ju-hat-te� (“Forty-eight methods of buying courtesans�) mentions:—“The garment was of scarlet crêpe, trimmed with purple figured satin and edged with gold and silver threads so as to give the effect of waves breaking upon the sea-shore, while her night-sash was of kabe-ch�ro (wrinkled silk.�) In the eras of Bunkwa and Bunsei (1804–1829) the costumes were simply gorgeous. The pattern of the shikake or cloak generally represented a cloud with lightning and a golden dragon, or rocks with peonies, and a tiger chasing a butterfly; the embroidery being silver and gold. That the dresses of the “j�ro� of these later periods were gorgeous, the paintings of Utamaro, Eizan, Kunisada, and others, clearly show. It appears that in those times there was a fixed rule in every brothel appointing the make, stuff, colour, and pattern of the dresses to be worn by the respective grades of women, and that this rule was strictly adhered to. No courtesan, therefore, was permitted to wear a dress unsuitable to her particular rank in the brothel, even though she could afford it, but nowadays the girls are at liberty to wear any clothes they choose and can pay for, especially if they are popular and beautiful women. There are various arrangements made as to defraying the expenses of dress in different brothels, and the clothes of modern sh�gi are divided into awase (worn in May, June and October), hitoemono (worn in July, August and September), wata-ire worn (November to April,) etc., according to the season, in the same way as with ordinary persons.