There is another small book (te-bikae) kept by each sh�gi which is commonly known as the “gyoku-ch�� and in which the number of her engagements is noted. As to the mode of entering up this gyoku-ch�, there appears to be no fixed rule, but according to the regulations each sh�gi must make up an account of her earnings every ten days and get the entry certified by the stamp of the brothel-keeper. This book must be kept as long as she remains in the business.
Mr. Norman, in his “The Real Japan,� observes with regard to the book-keeping methods of the Yoshiwara:—“It goes without saying that no Solomon could devise theoretical safeguards which would practically protect a girl under such circumstances from unscrupulous greed. For instance, every person in Japan has a private seal corresponding to a signature with us, with which all documents, even down to private letters, are attested, and to counterfeit or reproduce such a seal is forgery. Now the keeper of every kashi-zashihi is compelled by law to keep a big ledger in which all money transactions between himself and the sh�gi are entered, and the sh�gi is compelled to keep a similar smaller book in which the keeper makes identical entries, each of which must be attested by her private seal. This book is regularly inspected by the police with a view to prevent extortion, and it is expressly forbidden by law for the keeper to take away the girl’s seal. On one occasion I visited the largest and best kashi-zashiki in the Yoshiwara in company with my official interpreter. The keeper was a sharp-looking woman of fifty, who had 45 sh�gi in her house, which she had just built at a cost of 45,000 dollars. We were taking tea ceremoniously in her private apartments, and after a while I inquired if I might put a special question to her. “Certainly,� she replied. “Any question?� “Certainly.� “Then,� I said to the old lady through my official interpreter, “will you be so kind as to show me some of the seals belonging to your ladies, that you have at this moment in your possession.� She winced visibly and turned several colours, but after a minute got up without a word, trotted off and returned immediately with the private seal of a certain Miss Man, and I took an impression of it in my note-book, to her evident great alarm. This meant, of course, that she was in the habit of entering the accounts in all the books, attesting them herself with the seals of all her yūjo, and thus the police would be shown an immaculate record, while the sh�gi themselves would never even see the books, or know with how much they were debited and credited from week to week.�
By the way, a hypothetical specimen of the entries made in a book kept by courtesans is given in the “Share-bon� (洒�本) written by Jippensha Ikku—the ancient Mark Twain of Japan.
HOW A VISITOR’S BOOK SHOULD BE KEPT.
| 1st | • | (first) | Dearly beloved one. Oh! how I love you! come—do come! Hamanoya. |
| 2nd | ◦• | Vexing and horribly irritating. Kichisama. | |
| 3rd | • | As he does not know my real mind it is very irritating. Ryūsama. | |
| 4th | • | (second) | Oh! you sickeningly ugly brute! Your face is like that of Heisaku the Octapus! Sumiya. |
| 5th | • | (first) | The fellow looks just like Hachibei of Tamachi. (i.e. “an ass.�) Iseya |
| 6th | ◦• | (first) | I love you! Come quickly! Sumiya. |
| 7th | • | (first) | Yes you are handsome: if you want to come then come. Minatoya. |
| 8th | ◦• | Ah! what joy and gladness! Minatoya (and) Yasu Sama. |
YÅ«jo no hiki-fuda.
(Brothel advertisements.)
Up to the 20th year of Meiji, both brothels and hikite-jaya were in the habit of freely distributing hand-bills for the purpose of attracting guests, but since then all classes of advertisements, having for their object the enticing of visitors to prostitute quarters, have been strictly prohibited by the authorities. Under these circumstances, it may prove interesting to reproduce some specimens of the old hand-bills issued by enterprising brothel-keepers in past times, and accordingly they are printed below.
[Note.—The first of these two hand-bills is dated the 5th month of the 1st year of Kayei (1818), the second the 5th month of the 1st year of Ansei (May 1854) and the third the 8th year of Meiji (1875). The last-named, unlike the others, was neither “antique� nor “refined� and was printed on foreign paper with regular foreign-style type, showing that the resources of civilization are pressed into every kind of service in this go-ahead country!]
Specimen No. 1.
