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The Yoshiwara was the chief licensed pleasure district in [[Edo]], and the largest/most prominent such district in Tokugawa Japan, followed by the [[Shimabara]] in Kyoto, and [[Furuichi]] in [[Ise]]. As such, it was the center or subject of much popular culture, with many ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' prints depicting Yoshiwara subjects, many [[kabuki]] plays and popular literature set there, and many illustrated guidebooks to the district being published. [[Courtesans|Courtesans']] fashions also had a strong influence upon women's fashions in Edo, and Tokugawa Japan more broadly.
The Yoshiwara was the chief licensed pleasure district in [[Edo]], and the largest/most prominent such district in Tokugawa Japan, followed by the [[Shimabara]] in Kyoto, and [[Furuichi]] in [[Ise]]. As such, it was the center or subject of much popular culture, with many ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' prints depicting Yoshiwara subjects, many [[kabuki]] plays and popular literature set there, and many illustrated guidebooks to the district being published. [[Courtesans|Courtesans']] fashions also had a strong influence upon women's fashions in Edo, and Tokugawa Japan more broadly.
While some scholars have quite rightfully emphasized the restrictive and oppressive nature of life & work in the Yoshiwara for the women who had been sold into service there, others (also rightfully) emphasize the district's refined, elegant cultural character, and significance as a site of incredible cultural efflorescence, and cultural activity beyond simply the sex trade alone. As [[Cecilia Segawa Seigle]] has written, "As the early Yoshiwara was primarily a place of entertainment and socializing, sex was a discreet and secondary aspect of the business. Indeed, [[Edward Seidensticker]] has gone so far as to liken an evening at the Yoshiwara to an afternoon of tea."<ref>Segawa Seigle, 152.</ref>
==History==
==History==
::''See [[Courtesans]] for more on this subject.''
::''See [[Courtesans]] for more on this subject.''
Like any other town ward of Edo, the Yoshiwara was governed by a headman and group of elders (''toshiyori''). While the courtesans engaged in cultural activity unique to the district, including courtesan processions and affected language (''arinsu kotoba''), the few thousand people who lived in the district were in many ways subject to the same hierarchical and administrative relationships as townsmen anywhere else in the city.<ref>Stanley, 53.</ref>
Like any other town ward of Edo, the Yoshiwara was governed by a headman and group of elders (''toshiyori''). While the courtesans engaged in cultural activity unique to the district, including courtesan processions and affected language (''arinsu kotoba''), the few thousand people who lived in the district were in many ways subject to the same hierarchical and administrative relationships as townsmen anywhere else in the city.<ref>Stanley, 53.</ref>
Courtesan processions were a major sight within the district, providing an opportunity to see even the most expensive & exclusive courtesans in lavish kimono and hair styles, walking elegantly through the streets, accompanied by their entourages. As the Edo period progressed, the cleats of a courtesans’ ''[[geta]]'' grew in height and their kimono became increasingly heavy, making the choreographed “figure-eight” walk they were required to perform extremely challenging. Occasionally, a courtesan would stumble and fall during a procession, in which case she would be required to retreat to the nearest teahouse, send her attendant home for a new set of clothes, change into the new outfit, donate her previous outfit to the teahouse, and later pay the teahouse staff an additional fee for their assistance. For courtesans whose daily income was unpredictable and who were struggling to meet expenses for their ''shinzô'', ''kamuro'', and themselves, the mere possibility of such an accident must have been a source of intense anxiety.<ref>"[http://shunga.honolulumuseum.org/2012/index.php Arts of the Bedchamber: Japanese Shunga]," Honolulu Museum of Art, exhibition website, 2012. Accessed 16 December 2014.</ref>
Partaking of what the Yoshiwara had to offer could be incredibly expensive. And it required more than just money to get in the door; one needed connections (networking, i.e. knowing people), and a reputation for cultural capital. At the time of the Yoshiwara's cultural height, prior to 1750 or so, only the most ''[[tsu|tsû]]'', that is, those with the greatest reputation for familiarity with the Yoshiwara, its etiquette, and so forth, could secure an appointment with the top courtesans; even then, few could afford it, as the prices for a night with even a middling-ranking courtesan were quite expensive, serving as the source of income not only for the courtesan one was hiring, but for her entire entourage (i.e. attendants, younger courtesans-in-training) as well. A first visit could cost on average 10 ''[[currency|ryô]]'', including tips for the ''[[nakai]]'' and ''[[taikomochi]]'' (servants/assistants). Yet, some managed to afford not only this, but on occasion, a very few merchants are known to have even rented out the entire Yoshiwara for themselves for a night or two.
Partaking of what the Yoshiwara had to offer could be incredibly expensive. And it required more than just money to get in the door; one needed connections (networking, i.e. knowing people), and a reputation for cultural capital. At the time of the Yoshiwara's cultural height, prior to 1750 or so, only the most ''[[tsu|tsû]]'', that is, those with the greatest reputation for familiarity with the Yoshiwara, its etiquette, and so forth, could secure an appointment with the top courtesans; even then, few could afford it, as the prices for a night with even a middling-ranking courtesan were quite expensive, serving as the source of income not only for the courtesan one was hiring, but for her entire entourage (i.e. attendants, younger courtesans-in-training) as well. A first visit could cost on average 10 ''[[currency|ryô]]'', including tips for the ''[[nakai]]'' and ''[[taikomochi]]'' (servants/assistants). Yet, some managed to afford not only this, but on occasion, a very few merchants are known to have even rented out the entire Yoshiwara for themselves for a night or two.
While the higher-ranking (and thus more famous and more highly demanded) courtesans might not need to advertise themselves, lower- and mid-ranking courtesans often sat in the ''harimise''<!--張見世--> of the teahouse, a latticed display window facing the street. They might typically sit in three rows, and perform a concert from roughly dusk (the sixth hour) until midnight (the 9th hour).<ref>[[Kobayashi Tadashi]] and [[Julie Nelson Davis]], "The Floating World in Light and Shadow: Ukiyo-e Paintings by Hokusai's Daughter Oi," in [[John Carpenter]] et al (eds), ''Hokusai and his Age'', Hotei Publishing (2005), 96.</ref>
Getting to the Yoshiwara typically involved a river journey, on swiftboats called ''choki''. One typically departed from [[Azuma-bashi]], in Asakusa.
Getting to the Yoshiwara typically involved a river journey, on swiftboats called ''choki''. One typically departed from [[Azuma-bashi]], in Asakusa.
==References==
==References==
*Segawa Seigle, Cecilia. ''Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
*Cecilia Segawa Seigle, ''Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan'', Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
*Amy Stanley, ''Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2012), 45-71.
*Amy Stanley, ''Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2012), 45-71.
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