Changes

335 bytes added ,  19:23, 2 January 2016
no edit summary
Line 6: Line 6:  
The district, already operating in the Maruyama and Yoriai neighborhoods of the port city in [[1642]], was in that year more officially established, and the women of the district granted access to the Dutch community of Dejima, which had not seen any women for several years.
 
The district, already operating in the Maruyama and Yoriai neighborhoods of the port city in [[1642]], was in that year more officially established, and the women of the district granted access to the Dutch community of Dejima, which had not seen any women for several years.
   −
The courtesans of the Maruyama pleasure district were the only Japanese, other than shogunate officials, permitted to enter the Dutch neighborhood on [[Dejima]]; they also served the Chinese merchants of the city, Japanese residents, and Japanese visitors to Nagasaki from other parts of the archipelago. Initially, the courtesans were officially required to return from Dejima in the morning, and were not permitted to stay overnight in the [[Tojin yashiki|Chinese district]] at all. However, these rules were not strictly enforced, and grew lax over the course of the Edo period, until before long courtesans were able to stay in either foreign settlement indefinitely, so long as their client continued to pay, and the courtesan wished to do so.<ref>Stanley, 79.</ref> The girls serving each community came to be separated, so they could not aid in any smuggling or conspiracy between the Dutch and Chinese communities. Thus, some Maruyama courtesans came to be known as ''karayuki'' ("going to China"), and served only Chinese and Japanese clients, while others, known as ''orandayuki'' ("going to Holland"), served only Dutch and Japanese clients. A small group of the most elite Maruyama courtesans served only Japanese clients, and were known as ''nihonyuki'' ("going to Japan"). Though they could not smuggle goods, money, or information between the Dutch and the Chinese, the women of the pleasure quarters were able to carry things between the foreign districts and the Japanese townsmen of Nagasaki, thus circumventing the shogunate's [[Nagasaki kaisho|clearinghouse]], which claimed monopolies on a variety of trade goods, and charged high tariffs. Girls also received personal gifts from their clients, some of which were quite exotic and precious, such as white [[sugar]] from Indonesian plantations, or various sorts of textiles; while the authorities required these to be reported, in order to stem smuggling, they also asserted that such gifts became the personal property of the courtesan and could not be confiscated by brothel owners.
+
The courtesans of the Maruyama pleasure district were the only Japanese, other than shogunate officials, permitted to enter the Dutch neighborhood on [[Dejima]]; they also served the Chinese merchants of the city, Japanese residents, and Japanese visitors to Nagasaki from other parts of the archipelago.<ref>Though they served Europeans and Chinese, the girls of the Maruyama were forbidden from taking Africans or (dark-skinned) Javanese - a number of whom were resident in Dejima as servants to the Dutch - as patrons. Gary Leupp, ''Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900'', A&C Black (2003), 94.</ref> Initially, the courtesans were officially required to return from Dejima in the morning, and were not permitted to stay overnight in the [[Tojin yashiki|Chinese district]] at all. However, these rules were not strictly enforced, and grew lax over the course of the Edo period, until before long courtesans were able to stay in either foreign settlement indefinitely, so long as their client continued to pay, and the courtesan wished to do so.<ref>Stanley, 79.</ref> The girls serving each community came to be separated, so they could not aid in any smuggling or conspiracy between the Dutch and Chinese communities. Thus, some Maruyama courtesans came to be known as ''karayuki'' ("going to China"), and served only Chinese and Japanese clients, while others, known as ''orandayuki'' ("going to Holland"), served only Dutch and Japanese clients. A small group of the most elite Maruyama courtesans served only Japanese clients, and were known as ''nihonyuki'' ("going to Japan"). Though they could not smuggle goods, money, or information between the Dutch and the Chinese, the women of the pleasure quarters were able to carry things between the foreign districts and the Japanese townsmen of Nagasaki, thus circumventing the shogunate's [[Nagasaki kaisho|clearinghouse]], which claimed monopolies on a variety of trade goods, and charged high tariffs. Girls also received personal gifts from their clients, some of which were quite exotic and precious, such as white [[sugar]] from Indonesian plantations, or various sorts of textiles; while the authorities required these to be reported, in order to stem smuggling, they also asserted that such gifts became the personal property of the courtesan and could not be confiscated by brothel owners.
    
The courtesans are said to have preferred the company of the Chinese, since the Dutch were so much more foreign, with different sexual predilections, personal hygiene habits, and culture besides; as a result, the ''orandayuki'' charged higher rates to their Dutch customers than the ''karayuki'' did to their Chinese clients.<ref>[[Marius Jansen]], ''China in the Tokugawa World'', Harvard University Press (1992), 32.</ref> Enforcement of restrictions on the island were quite lax at times, and on occasion, courtesans even escorted Dutchmen off Dejima (into Nagasaki proper), or accompanied them out of the country.<ref>Hiroko Johnson, ''Western Influences on Japanese Art: The Akita Ranga Art School and Foreign Books'', Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing (2005), 22.</ref> A number of Maruyama courtesans also had children with members of the Dejima community. Some of these children came to be regarded as "Japanese," being raised either within the Maruyama, or by the courtesan's parents, being accepted and incorporated into Japanese society, and remained in Japan for the rest of their lives, banned from leaving just like any other Japanese; other children of Maruyama courtesans were deemed foreigners, and lived on Dejima or outside of Japan the remainder of their lives, banned from entering or traveling freely within the archipelago like any other foreigner.  
 
The courtesans are said to have preferred the company of the Chinese, since the Dutch were so much more foreign, with different sexual predilections, personal hygiene habits, and culture besides; as a result, the ''orandayuki'' charged higher rates to their Dutch customers than the ''karayuki'' did to their Chinese clients.<ref>[[Marius Jansen]], ''China in the Tokugawa World'', Harvard University Press (1992), 32.</ref> Enforcement of restrictions on the island were quite lax at times, and on occasion, courtesans even escorted Dutchmen off Dejima (into Nagasaki proper), or accompanied them out of the country.<ref>Hiroko Johnson, ''Western Influences on Japanese Art: The Akita Ranga Art School and Foreign Books'', Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing (2005), 22.</ref> A number of Maruyama courtesans also had children with members of the Dejima community. Some of these children came to be regarded as "Japanese," being raised either within the Maruyama, or by the courtesan's parents, being accepted and incorporated into Japanese society, and remained in Japan for the rest of their lives, banned from leaving just like any other Japanese; other children of Maruyama courtesans were deemed foreigners, and lived on Dejima or outside of Japan the remainder of their lives, banned from entering or traveling freely within the archipelago like any other foreigner.  
contributor
26,977

edits