Ebisu (The God of Wealth).
Mu-sen yū-ky�, or going on a gay frolic without being possessed of the necessary means, is locally known in the Yoshiwara as “Ebisu-k�� or H�ritsu (“Law�). The former term has been brought into use because the majority of those who intentionally go “on the spree� without money attire themselves in the garb of wealthy people and so resemble the God of Wealth (Ebisu), who is much en evidence at the festival of “Ebisuk�� (in honor of the God of Wealth), although in reality they haven’t a “red cent� (bita-ichi-mon) with which to bless themselves when the time for squaring up accounts comes. The latter term has been coined owing to the fact that a large number of law (h�ritsu) students have been guilty of swindling, but they generally contrive to evade their liabilities by means of ingenious arguments and managing to force their victims into committing technically illegal acts of which they take mean advantage and which they use as a weapon against creditors. As a matter of fact, the brothel-keepers sometimes find it impossible to appeal to the police, and are often forced to “grin and bear� their losses in silence owing to the “cuteness� and sophistry of the “h�ritsu.� It is not uncommon for men belonging to the shokunin (artisan) class to enter a brothel under the influence of liquor without consulting the state of their purses, and consequently to find themselves confronted next morning with a long bill which they cannot settle. These fellows are taken in hand by professional “fixers� (shimatsuya = one who “fixes up� and settles matters) called “uma-ya� (horse-houses) who undertake to collect the bill on commission. The “fixers,� or “uma-ya,� send a messenger, known as an “uma� (horse), home with such defaulting guest, and this “uma� will dog the footsteps of the debtor until the latter pays his bill. Cases have however been known where the guest conducted a “horse� (uma) to a certain house, which he pretended was his own, entered on the pretext of obtaining some money, and walking through quietly, slid out of the back-door and escaped. But even when a guest temporarily escapes in this way, he is generally detected, and then, if he can’t pay, the “uma� levy a squeeze of 50 sen per day on their victims.
(Daruma.)
The “Ebisu-k�� plan of having a “good time� gratuitously is made a kind of profession of by some rascals, and it is said that in T�ky� there are several societies or bands (kumi or gumi) of expert swindlers in this line. Thus there are the Hongo-gumi, Kanda-gumi, Shitaya-gumi, Shiba-gumi, Fukagawa-gumi, etc., each kumi taking its name from the district to which it belongs. There is also a special kumi called “Daruma-gumi,� because its members have the figure of Daruma tatooed on their forearms, and carry on their fraudulent operations in a delightfully free and easy manner. The figure of Daruma is supposed to represent the celebrated prince and priest of Southern India—Dahma. This holy patriarch sat for nine years in profound abstraction till his legs fell off, therefore he is described in Japanese as “o ashi no nai� (“being without any august legs�) but this, by a pun on the words, can be understood as “being without any august cash.� Considering that the members of this “Daruma-gumi� never pay for anything, the “trade-mark� they have adopted is certainly very appropriate! Among the members of these beautiful societies, the act of evading payment of bills is known as “Kipparai� (Kipparau = to cut right through an obstruction) or “Nakaseru� (“to cause to weep�).
Yoshiwara-gayoi no Jinrikisha.
(The jinrikisha traffic of the Yoshiwara.)
The use of tsuji-kago (palanquin) by the general public was permitted from the Genroku era (1688–1703), but the number of these conveyances in Yedo was limited to one hundred only! People, therefore, were in the habit of visiting the Yoshiwara on horseback. [The name of a street in the Yoshiwara—Uma-michi (Horse-street)—testifies to the fact that horses used to pass to and from the quarter.] Later on the palanquin traffic increased, but with the appearance of the Meiji (present) period, kago dropped out of fashion.
The jinrikisha-men who ply between the Yoshiwara and Uma-michi are called among themselves “yonashi� (an abbreviation of yonabe-shi = night-workers), owing to the fact that they sleep during the day-time and go to work at night. The best known jinrikisha houses (“Ban� 番) in the neighbourhood of the Yoshiwara are called:—“Tatsu-shin,� “Hage-gumi,� “Honch�-ban,� “Dote-gumi,� “Misawa,� etc. The men belonging to these houses come out to pick up fares about dusk, and fortified with a “helmet of saké� chase after any likely pedestrian, accosting him with the words:—“Danna, naka madé ikaga desu?� (“Master, how would you like to go as far as the Yoshiwara?�). At first these knights of the jinrikisha demand an exorbitant fare, but reduce the same, after some haggling on the part of the would-be riders, to about 15 sen per ri. As soon as the man has settled terms, he will probably exclaim “oi kita! hora yo!� (almost untranslatable) and picking up the shafts of the vehicle start off as fast as his legs can carry him, brandishing his lantern (they call it a “kamban� among the jinrikisha fraternity) as he speeds along. A coolie who aims to secure a tip will probably ask his customer “Danna, dochira ye tsukemasu?� (“Master, to which house shall I take you?�) and if the reply is “Nani, �-mon de yoroshii� (“Oh, just put me down at the great gate�) the rider is probably only bent on a stroll through the Yoshiwara for the purpose of sight-seeing. If, on the contrary, a fare replies “Emon-zaka de orosé� (“Put me down at Emon-zaka�), he is generally a cowardly fellow who is desirous of protecting himself from the jinrikisha-puller’s demand for additional payment by means of the close vicinity of the police-box on the hill.
Jinrikisha (“Kuruma�) with puller and pusher (at�shi).