Whether the author’s scathing denunciations of the medical staff of the Yoshiwara are justified or otherwise is not known, but, collating the results of enquiries instituted, the writer is of the opinion that the allegations are somewhat sensational, although of course scandals may occasionally arise, and it must be remembered that the miserable salaries paid are not likely to tempt high-class practitioners to remain in the service for any great length of time. That a host of shady quacks haunt the quarters and assist the brothel-keepers to enable the women to hoodwink the regular examiners is, the writer is informed on reliable authority, a sober fact, and it is probable that in some cases the official doctors have to bear the opprobium of sins committed by these unscrupulous outside charlatans.

As to the gross inattention to sanitary methods charged against the denizens of this immense social sewer, it is probably impossible to exaggerate the mephitic abominations of the disgusting place, or to overestimate the danger of infection run by its thoughtless frequenters in consequence of the virulent disease-germs which are incubated in and infest every hole and corner of the unclean stews, vitiating the atmosphere and spreading the seeds of sickness and death far and near.

The monthly report sheets of the hospital contain blanks analysing the various forms of disease as follows:—

INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

Syphilis:

NON-INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

Medical Statistics.

The medical statistics of the Yoshiwara for seven years (1898 to 1904 inclusive) are as follows:—

The figures show that during seven years the average ratio of infection was 5.18 per 100, but whether these show the true facts of the case is hard to determine. However, they have the merit of being “official” even if somewhat erroneous.

Taking into consideration the above results, it appears that the figures for the whole Empire given in the “Annual Report of the Central Sanitary Bureau of the Home Department” (published in 1905) must be misleading, as they show the ratio in 1901 to range from only 0.43 in Kōchi Prefecture to 6.20 in Kagoshima Prefecture. In Hyōgo Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture and Aomori Prefecture the ratio is stated to be 9.69, 13.75 and 14.52, respectively, and the average for the whole country works out as only 2.75 for all the forty-six prefectures enumerated. It is hard to reconcile these differences except on the assumption that the severity of the examination varies according to the localities.

The following table shows the alleged results of examination of prostitutes throughout Japan for ten years, the average ratio being 3.31 per 100.

EXAMINATION OF PROSTITUTES FOR SYPHILIS, IN EACH OF THE LAST TEN YEARS.

General.—In December 1901, in accordance with Article 26 of the Metropolitan Police Board Notification No 37, issued in 1900, the brothel-keepers, introducing-tea-house-keepers, and prostitutes of the Yoshiwara established a Guild, and in February 1904 the rules of this Guild were revised.

Object.—The object of the association is to secure and maintain intimate relations between its members, to protect the common interests of the “trade,” and to preserve ancient picturesque customs of the quarter.

Director.—The Guild, which has its office at No. 462 Ni-chō-me, Senzoku-machi, Asakusa district, Tōkyō City, is governed by a Director (tori-shimari) and a Vice-Director (fukutori-shimari) both of whom are elected, by means of an open ballot, by the members, all of whom enjoy the “franchise.”

When the number of votes is equal the individual who is senior in birth is deemed to be elected, and when the dates of birth are identical the vote is decided by lot. The term of office is two years, and in case of a vacancy occurring a by-election is held. The Director has a staff of clerks and other employees under his control.

Undertaking by Members.—Persons joining the Guild are required to subscribe to the articles of association and to give a written promise to observe the same. Moreover the new member has to provide a guarantor who will actually make performance of his duties should he himself fail to do so. Guarantors must be persons in the same line of “business,” and the brothel-keepers have to guarantee the prostitutes belonging to their respective houses.

Contracts to be Submitted to Director.—All financial arrangements relative to contracts entered into between the brothel-keepers and prostitutes have to be reported to the Director under the joint signatures of the parties.

Pass-Books.—The brothel-keepers and the women are required to prepare and keep pass-books in the following form, and to send in the same (duly entered up) for the approval of the Director before the 10th of every month:—

Changes in Membership, Etc.—All changes in regard to membership and movements of employees are notified to the members generally through the Director, and the members are bound not to engage discharged employees except with the consent of the former employers.

Precautions Against Fire.—To guard against fire, periodical examinations are made by an expert (appointed by the Director) of the kerosene oil used in lighting, and the use of oil of under 70° (C) is forbidden.

Power to Expel.—Persons infringing the rules of the Guild may be expelled by a resolution of a general meeting.

Revision of Articles.—The articles of association of the Guild may be revised by a general meeting called by the Director at the request of thirty members.

Brothel-Keepers Consultation Committee.—To protect their mutual benefit the brothel-keepers appoint a consultation committee (kyōgi-in) the members of which are elected in the same manner as the Directors. This committee may request the Director to call a meeting at any time.

Reports of Income.—Every day each brothel keeper is obliged to report his gross income, and number of guests entertained, to the Director.

Charges.—An entertainments tariff, legibly written, must be conspicuously displayed in every guest-chamber. This table must also include the prices of various refreshments provided. Persons who accompany guests, but who do not engage a woman, are charged half the amount of the highest fee charged for a woman.

Exhibition of Women.—Women may not be publicly exhibited in the “cages” after 1 o’clock a.m. from November to April, or after 2 o’clock a.m. from May to October; and in case of pregnancy are forbidden to practice their calling for three months before and after parturition.

Medical Expenses.—Brothel-keepers are required to pay daily to the accountant of the Guild for transmission to the hospital the charges incurred in consequence of any of their women undergoing medical treatment.

Brothels who may use Tea-Houses.—Brothels employing women whose fee is Yen 1.50 (U.S. $.75 or 3/- sterling) may do their business through tea-houses, but they are obliged to pay a commission to the latter.

Insurance of Accounts.—As an insurance against loss the brothel-keepers pay to a separately organized office, called the “Uke-harai-jo” one per cent of the amount of money received from tea-houses, and in return for this premium the “Uke-harai-jo” guarantees the tea-house accounts. All monies due to the brothels by tea-houses are paid to the “Uke-harai-jo” and not direct, and should any tea-house fail to meet its liabilities all business with such defaulting establishment is discontinued until settlement is made. In case of the tea-house people having committed any improper act, the brothel-keepers may boycott the tea-house and refuse to do business with its proprietors.

Expenses to be Defrayed by Brothel-Keepers.—Brothel-keepers have to bear the following expenses: (1) of the Yoshiwara Hospital; (2) of the office for the inspection of venereal diseases; (3) of the Director’s office; (4) of emergencies; (5) of displays and shows; (6) of meetings; (7) of salaries of Director and employees; (8) reserve fund. These expenses are estimated and passed by the Consulting Committee in May and November each year, and notified to the brothel-keepers through the Director. In January and July of every year the Director prepares and submits accounts for the previous term. A supplementary budget may be passed by the Consulting Committee, but if the expenditure is for an object not contemplated in the eight items mentioned above, the sanction of a general meeting of brothel-keepers must be obtained.

Accounts for Medicines.—Accounts for medicine must be settled at the latest by the 25th of each following month, but these drugs are supplied to members at half-price as compared with the prices charged by ordinary physicians to the general public.

Tea-house-keepers.—Introducing-tea-house-keepers appoint by ballot a Consulting Committee, two accountants and several nemban (“year guards.”) General meetings of tea-house-keepers are convened by the Director in accordance with resolutions of the Consulting Committee. Members of the tea-house fraternity deposit Yen 50 as a guarantee that they will pay accounts due to the brothels with whom they deal. The members must join the Uke-harai-jo or “clearing house” of the Guild, and all monies are paid to the brothels through its medium, and not direct. A commission of 10 (ten)% is charged to brothel-keepers on the gross sums of money paid to the latter by the tea-houses, but this is subject to alteration by agreement between the Committee and the brothel-keepers. Monthly statements of accounts relative to the number of guests, money received for refreshments and geisha fees, etc., must be sent to the Director by the 3rd of each following month. When tea-houses fail to meet their liabilities in respect to brothel accounts, the “clearing-house” (uke-harai-jo) makes good the amount, and the defaulter is either suspended or expelled.

Duties of Prostitutes.—Prostitutes belonging to the Guild are required to “take care of their health, be economical, and use their leisure time in study, sewing, etc., to the end that they may be prepared to resume their normal position in society.” They are expected to dress like ordinary women when outside the brothel-quarter, to maintain good relations with their comrades, to treat their guests fairly and show proper respect towards them, and not to refuse acceptance of guests unless for “valid reasons.”

The Validity of Debts.

At present, debts contracted by prostitutes are held to be valid and legally recoverable, although contracts binding women to serve in brothels in consideration of a loan would probably be held illegal. The leading case on the question is Ōkuma Kin (and two others) v. Watanabe Mase decided in the First Civil Division of the Supreme Court of Japan (Case “O” 398 of 1901) on the 6th February, 1902. The principles enunciated are thus stated in the digests:—“Prostitution being a publicly recognized business, it is not in the least contrary to public order or good morals for a prostitute to enter into an agreement with her creditors to devote the profits arising from her own business to the satisfaction of her debt towards them.” It is the writer’s strong opinion that the Judges have committed a very serious blunder in interpreting the law as stated above, as they appear to have overlooked the distinct intention of the legislature. Prostitution, even in Japan, is not intended to be authorized as a legitimate business, and, while it is tolerated by the law, this toleration is the outcome of a desire to control and regulate the evil for considerations of public policy. Public and personal safety require a constant inspection, and Japanese experience has shown that such inspection can be best enforced when the brothels are all gathered together in one central locality, but to dignify the infamous and ruinous calling by placing it upon a level with other permitted callings is tantamount to protecting the business itself by affording the security of the law to persons engaged in earning money by means of leading and encouraging a notoriously profligate course of life. There can be no doubt but that the Japanese system is excellent so far as it goes, but for the courts to virtually hold that the mere fact that brothel-keepers and prostitutes are tolerated and taxed entitles them to be ranked as ordinary worthy citizens, and their disgusting transactions protected by the Imperial laws, suggests a somewhat loose idea of morality in the Judges, and a wrong perception of the proper status of a class of persons whose professed business is to foster vice and pander to the libidinous desires of the multitude. Eradicate the evil we cannot, regulate it we can and ought, but surely the law goes far enough when it imposes certain obligations upon the unholy trade without going to the length of upholding claims based upon what is—no matter how plausibly you argue it—an immoral consideration!

Yarō.
“Peccatum illud horribile, inter Christianos non nominandum.”

The subject is so horribly repulsive and distasteful that the writer would have preferred to close his eyes to the existence of this awful phase of human depravity and pass it by in silence, but friends, in whose judgment he places entire confidence, have pointed out that the very nature of this work demands at least a passing allusion to one terrible form of venery which prevailed in Japan in the later Middle Ages.

In the early part of the Yedo period (commenced 1587,) traces of the surviving customs of the preceding civil wars lingered on, and as unnatural practices (which had grown up in armed camps) had been introduced into the metropolis, and were rife in the city, there were, of course depraved persons who provided accommodation to gratify the infamous tastes of the times. Among the play-actors were a number of vicious and wholly abandoned characters who did not hesitate to pander to their patrons and submit to outrageous physical indignities for hire.

After the performance of theatrical representations in the province of Idzumo, female actors became all the rage, and, as society was corrupted and injured in consequence, the authorities forbade actresses to appear on the stage in future. This interdiction brought young men-actors into vogue, and the performances of these handsome looking young fellows also fascinated and charmed the minds of the public and captivated a large class of voluptuaries. The fearful evil which subsequently developed having become prevalent, male actors were also prohibited in the 1st year of Shō-ō (1652), but in the 2nd year of the same period (1653) in accordance with the petition of certain persons, permission was granted for dramatic performances to be held under the name of mono-mané-kyōgen-zukushi (various comic plays).

Warned by experience, and in order to prevent the recurrence of the vicious practice, the authorities caused all actors to shave the hair above their foreheads, and the cognomen of “wakashu” (“lad”) was officially changed into that of yarō (“a low fellow”). To circumvent the law and nullify its operation, actors who took the part of women wore towels arranged so as to conceal their shaven pates, and, hitting upon a further expedient, wore hats made of floss silk or purple crêpe. The prepossessing appearance of these men so greatly outrivalled the beauty of real women that, far from the regulations effecting any reform, the habit of enjoying unnatural pleasure spread through the city. Following the trend of prevailing tastes, games known as “yaro-karuta” (cards with figures of yarō upon them), and yarō-sugoroku (yarō backgammon) were invented and hawked around for sale, while some enterprising people manufactured pictures of yarō for sale and others published a hyōban-ki (Notes and criticism) about them. To such an extreme did the craze run that some insensate fanatics even went so far as to present votive tablets to shrines and temples bearing representations of these disgusting yarō!

The resorts of this vile fraternity were in Yedo (Tōkyō), Negimachi; in Kyōto, Miyagawa-machi; and in Ōsaka, Dōtonbori. The houses in which yarō were kept were colloquially known as “Kodomo-ya” (children’s houses). These establishments hired and offered to their patrons the services of attractive boys much in the same manner as the regular brothels dealt in women. The youths were taught various accomplishments, and after they had become proficient as actors they were placed on the stage. Those who performed in plays were styled butai-ko (stage children), those who only waited at entertainments were called kagema, and those who travelled about the country were known as tobi-ko (jumping or “flying” children).

It was chiefly members of the military class and priests who came to houses of assignation (age-ya) and engaged these young men, but their services were also requisitioned by not a few women. At first the lads only appeared at banquets as pages in waiting on the guests, danced for the amusement of the company, and were engaged by enthusiastic patrons in the ordinary way, but eventually their exclusive business led them to become as familiar with their guests as ordinary female prostitutes. They aped the style of females, blackened their teeth with ohaguro (like the women of those times), and gave themselves languid effeminate airs in imitation of the fair sex. Originally they dressed in a distinctive costume, and their get-up was known as wakashu-sugata (young man style), but gradually their mode of dress underwent a change, and in the Meiwa and An-ei periods (1704 to 1780) they attired themselves in graceful garments dyed in rich designs, adopted long flowing sleeves such as were worn by females, wore wide girdles around their waists, and did their hair up woman-fashion.

In the Genroku period (1688 to 1703) the common practice of the vice had declined, but the custom of hiring yarō was as popular as that of hiring courtesans, and in the Meiwa and An-ei periods (1704 to 1780) it had reached its zenith. At that time there were as many as ten places in Yedo where yarō could be hired—namely in Yoshi-chō, Kobiki-chō, Hatehō-bori in Kanda, in the grounds of the Shrine of Yushima Tenjin (!), in front of the Shimmei Shrine (!) in Shiba near the Hirakawa Tenjin Shrine (!) in Kōjimachi, near the Hachiman Shrine (!) at Ichi-ga-ya, etc. The number of yarō carrying on their infamous calling in the city was two hundred and thirty at this period.

Before long, nature either began to assert itself or the laws against the vice passed in Kwansei period (1789 to 1800) were severely applied, for in the Tempō period (1830 to 1843) only four places remained where yarō could be found.68 Of these Yushima was patronized most extensively, but only twenty-two lads were kept there. In the 13th year of Tempō (1842), in the time of Ieyoshi, the 12th Tokugawa Shogun, the vice was utterly rooted out in consequence of searching reforms instituted by Midzuno Tadakuni, Lord of Ichizen, and from that year unnatural sexuality ceased almost entirely in Yedo. In the Kwan-ei period (1624 to 1643) a number of so-called “incense-dealers” (Kōgu-uri) appeared in Yedo who offered unnatural services to their customers, and by the era of Genroku (1688 to 1703) the business was firmly established and the practice prevailed far and wide. Beautifully dressed, handsome, and effeminate looking young men wandered through the city carrying about with them various kinds of incense in kiri-wood boxes wrapped in light-blue silk cloths, and, under the guise of selling incense, wormed their way into the mansions of the nobility and gentry, but in course of time the custom was abolished. In those days it was quite general for lewd and abandoned women to hire actors and indulge in immoral pleasure. Such women, when they attended a play, would call actors to the tea-houses and there enjoy themselves with the players in the same way that male libertines were wont to call courtesans.

The above description of yarō is condensed from the Nikon-Fuzoku-Shi (日本風俗史), but the writer desires to add that the literature of the Genroku period, as typified in several ancient volumes in his possession, clearly reveal the fact that the vice was practised quite openly, and apparently without any sense of shame, in the 17th century. Curious readers are referred to the Danshoku Ō-kagami (published in 1687) and the Danshoku Ki-no-me-dzuke (published in 1703) as specimens of this precious literature.69

The following sad description of the last hours, death, and burial of an inmate of the Yoshiwara is gleaned from the “Yūkwaku no Rimen” (遊廓の裏面) published in 1903:—

“Even in the case of a courtesan who for a time has been famous as the star of her brothel, and who has become so skilful that she has robbed many men of their very souls, what will her ultimate fate probably be when suddenly attacked by a serious disease? I believe that there is no fate more piteous than that of a courtesan whose body has been sold to this prostitute quarter from a distant province, and who finds herself, sad and lonely, without a single acquaintance or relative, and with none to whom she can look for aid!

“Now that she is sick and has given up her business for one or two months, the myriads of guests, who formerly came crowding to see her in a never-ending stream while she was yet elegantly attired and beautiful to behold with her comely face and perfectly pencilled eyebrows, do not send her even a single letter. The servants who called her ‘Oiran, Oiran’70 when she was in the zenith of her pride and popularity, and who served her obsequiously in consideration of the many gifts she lavished upon them, gradually become unaccommodating and churlish. But that is by no means all, for they even speak ill of her and backbite her. Then she falls into low spirits, and alone by herself she writhes in solitary agony. Her debit account for medicine increases. There is no one to soothe or comfort her, and indeed it is impossible to imagine how great is her misery as she dozes uneasily upon her pillow, in this unhappy place, among things hard to bear and painful to hear.

“In this manner her sickness increases in severity, and finally, falling into a state which offers no hope of recovery, she can only await the awful approach of death. Our imaginations fails to picture the unhappy state of the wretched courtesan who is about to draw her last breath, lying on a cold hard thin mattress in a miserable and lonely little room beneath the back staircase of the brothel, without a soul in the world to help the absolutely forsaken creature. When death is about to enter through the torn paper-covered windows of her room, there is no light in the chamber, and all is dark as pitch. In the upper portion of the house singing girls are probably playing merrily upon their samisen (banjo), while dancing-girls are dancing and frisking to the music. The sounds of boisterous laughter, music, and cheerful voices pierce the ears of the sick woman and grate upon her nerves, and she, lying in misery at the very point of death, with none to attend or nurse her, totters on the brink of the grave writhing and struggling in pain and anguish, and when she breathes her last she is mocked in the hour of her mortal agony by the babel of voices telling of licentious joy and happiness and voluptuous pleasure. Her limbs grow cold and rigid, her eyes, which have lost the light of life, become dull and glazed, and, remaining wide open, stare horribly into the darkness. Just at this moment some courtesan who has come down the stairs for a sitz-bath, or a brothel hag (yarite) coming along the passage, noticing that the faint noise of breathing has ceased, and wondering if anything has happened, may open the door and look in and exclaim—‘Ah! all is over.’ That is about all the expression of astonishment which will be ejaculated, and although perchance two or three of her courtesan friends may shed a few tears of sympathy and pity, this ends the matter. The brothel keeper immediately states that there is no one to take delivery of the corpse, and, without even waiting for the dawn, the mortal remains are hurriedly born away to the crematorium and disappear forever in the smoke of the furnace. Ah! what a fearful and cruel thing this is to contemplate!

“And to where are the calcined bones carried, and where are they interred?

“If there be any person who desires to know where the white bones of the miserable courtesan are going, and who wishes to follow the unhappy woman to the end of her terrible fate, I beg that he will go out of the great gateway of the Yoshiwara—where the flower has withered and fallen—past the Go-jikken-dōri road, up the Emon-zaka hill, and grope his way along to the left of the dike at Dote-Hatchō.

“Before the eyes of the traveller spreads out on both sides of the dike a vista of beautiful fields and gardens. On the right, so far as the eye can see, separated by vast stretches of irrigated rice-fields, rise to varying heights the rows of the roofs of the brothels of Kotsugappara and Senju. Passing by this cluster of habitations, there are clumps of green trees and bamboo groves. Further on, if the weather be clear and fair, the white sails of craft on the upper part of the stream of the Sumida river can be faintly discerned, and, of course, the purple mountain of Tsukuba-yama can be seen among the clouds. Glancing around to the left of the dike, there will be noticed towns composed of tenant houses lately erected on ground reclaimed from the fields. Between the trees may be seen here and there the high roofs of various temples. The sight of the forest which crowns the high ridge of land reaching from Ueno to Higurashi and on to Dōkwan-yama creates a pleasing sensation in the mind. As one goes on among this beautiful scenery, he at length nears the gate of the slaughter-houses, and his nostrils are assailed by the scent of blood borne on the breeze. Going on a little further beyond the dike, a road commences which forms an old fashioned avenue with rows of trees on both sides. Having arrived at this point, if one turns round and glances back he will be able to see, between the trees, just the numerous roofs of the Yoshiwara prostitute-quarter stretching out all over. The lofty buildings of the quarter, such as the clock-tower of the “Ebi-ya,” “Hikota,” and the “Shinagawa” rise up in such conspicuous majesty that one imagines that he is looking at some great castle-town. Quickening one’s steps, and going on one or two chō more, the dike disappears, and you see the railway embankment crossing diagonally in front. Beneath this railroad line stands a temple, and this temple is indeed the place where the unfortunate courtesan is doomed to have her bones decay and rot! By the left side of the bank oozes a little dirty ditch-like stream, spanned by a small old-fashioned stone bridge. This stream skirts the temple grounds, and, washing the luxuriant growth of wild bamboo grass which overgrows into boundaries, disappears at the back of the railway track. Pleased with the extreme quietness and privacy of the place, you cross the little bridge and come to a black gateway which you recognize as that of the Jō-Kan-ji temple. Ah! the Jo-Kan-ji at Minowa! Men of the world with their loves and hates, even if they have not already explored the actual place itself, have probably become acquainted with its name through the various books they have read.