Illuminating Tea-houses with Lanterns in the Ki�wa period (1801 to 1803).
(After the Picture by Kitagawa Utamaro.)

According to the old custom, every year, from the last day of the sixth month to the last day of the seventh month, bon-d�r� (lanterns erected at the festival of the dead) were shown by all the tea-houses in the Naka-no-ch�, but they were not exhibited in front of the small brothels in side streets as at present. The exhibition was suspended on the 13th and 14th days, and after the 15th day new lanterns called ni no kaeri-d�r� were substituted. The lighting of lanterns in the 7th month of the year, during the festival of the dead, was a universal custom in Japan from olden times, and therefore lanterns of various shapes and sizes were used in the Yoshiwara also. The “Yoshiwara Taizen� (�原大全) says that one summer a popular yūjo named Tamagiku was taken suddenly ill, and that after lingering for a little while she passed away at the beginning of the 7th month.

In order to console her spirit, and as a sacrifice to the manes of the dead, the tea-houses who had been friendly with her hung up before their doors lanterns which were called “kiriko-d�r�� (a lantern of a cubical form with its corners squared). This illumination attracted considerable attention and drew many guests, so “business� flourished exceedingly that season, and accordingly in the following year (1716) the practice was followed by all the tea-houses. About that time an expert in fancy hand-work, named Ha-ryū, made a prettily contrived fantastic lantern which he gave to a certain tea-house, and this drew a large number of interested and admiring spectators. In this connection a story is told to the effect that on the 4th day of the 7th month of the 1st year of Gembun (10th August, 1736) a teacher of the samisen, named Kayei, who lived in Ageya-ch�, held a service in his house in memory of Tamagiku and at the same time a new tune named midzu-ch�shi (水調�) was played. In the room were hung a number of lanterns bearing the kaimy� (posthumous name) of Tamagiku, and every guest was presented with one on his return home. As it was considered as unlucky to have lanterns inside the houses bearing the Buddhistic name of a dead person they were hung up outside the tea-houses. [It is said that on the lower part of these lanterns lines of a green colour were traced.] A request to be allowed to exhibit these lanterns was preferred by the tea-houses to the monthly managers of the Yoshiwara, but as the latter refused their consent the tea-house keepers carried out the idea without obtaining permission. D�jo of Yedo-ch�, and Tamaya D�kaku, who were then monthly managers, were greatly enraged at the independent action of the tea-house-keepers, and struck down the lanterns of Sumiyoshi-ya and three or four other establishments. The matter was however settled up quite amicably by the tea-house-keepers apologizing, and the authorities granting permission, so after the next year the lantern show commenced and has been continued down to this very day, though the religious aspect of the observance has been completely lost sight of. In former days it seems that besides the lantern show, acting by boys, circus-feats, juggling, etc., took place, but they ceased later. In some years the lanterns displayed have been very fine artistic creations, bearing pictures painted by well-known painters; and anyone who saw the Yoshiwara between the middle of July and the middle of August 1886 will never forget the historical drawings of H�nen and Eitaku then exhibited on the lanterns.

Night scene in the Yoshiwara during the “Feast of Lanterns�

“Niwaka� Dancing.

The performance of “Niwaka� dancing is considered to be one of the most interesting features in the life of the Yoshiwara. It consists of a kind of dramatic representation given by the professional buffoons (h�kan) and singing girls (geisha) of the quarter, and it takes place about August or September each year. When this comic dance takes place the performers visit all the tea-houses giving an exhibition of their buffoonery, and it is said that this entertainment is given in return for the patronage all the members of the troupe usually receive from chaya (tea-houses) and kashi-zashiki (brothels). During the continuance of the “Niwaka� dancing wooden railings are put up on both sides of the Naka-no-ch� for the purpose of demarkation, and in front of the tea-houses lanterns shaped like asagao (“morning glory�), bearing the respective house names, are hung up and lit. On either side of the Ō-mon are placed a pair of very large lanterns (takahari-ch�chin) on which are written the letters 全盛� (Zensei-asobi = Magnificent Entertainment). To carry out this dance involves considerable trouble and much preparation, and the very first step which has to be taken is to obtain the permission of the police authorities. After official sanction has been granted preparations are commenced, and the h�kan and geisha all repair to the manager’s office where they draw lots as to whether they shall take part in the first fifteen days’ performances or the second fifteen days’ dances.

Those older geisha who undertake the “lion� dancing and “kiyari� songs draw special lots for that purpose, but unless a geisha is a masculine looking woman she will not be admitted into this company, and admittance is earnestly desired by many of the professional singers who compete strenuously for the honour. The performance of “lion� dancing and “kiyari� singing is limited to the first half month, and the geisha who are picked out for this coveted company are experts in their line: those who are new to the quarter give way to their predecessors in order of precedence. When their order has been fixed, by means of lots, a dozen women are formed into a troupe, and for ten days the “hiyari� is practiced from morning till evening. For many years a man named “Kichi� (who was also known in the Yoshiwara by the nick-name of Chigeinei no Kichi San) acted as a teacher of the “Kiyari� songs, but at present one of his pupils, named Ch� is undertaking the task of tuition. The mode of training is for the first half dozen geisha to start a song and the remaining half dozen to follow them under the direction of the teacher.