View source for Konpira

*''Japanese'': 金毘羅 or 金比羅 ''(Konpira)''

Konpira is a town in [[Kagawa prefecture]] ([[Sanuki province]]), best known as the home of the [[Shinto shrines|Shinto]] [[Kotohira Shrine]], and of the [[Kanamaru-za]] (aka Konpira Ôshibai or Konpira Grand Theater), the oldest still-operating [[kabuki]] theater in the world.

A major pilgrimage destination, Konpira also became a major center of entertainment. While [[Takamatsu han]] domainal authorities did not allow [[prostitution]] in most other parts of the [[han|domain]], it flourished in Konpira, alongside kabuki, [[geisha]] houses, and the like. While the owners of brothels and geisha houses employed local girls (with local regional dialects/accents and low-class bearing) as waitresses and the like, many hired more cultured geisha and [[courtesans]] from [[Osaka]] and [[Kyoto]] in order to appeal to higher-class customers. Many also patterned their establishments (e.g. including architecture and decor) after high-class Osaka and Kyoto teahouses.

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==References==
*Amy Stanley, ''Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2012), 164, 168.

==External Links==
*[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Konpira+Grand+Theatre/@34.1919393,133.8108802,14z/data=!4m5!1m2!2m1!1z6aaZ5bed55yM6YeR5q-Y576F!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0xc17b135a476e25f7 Konpira on Google Maps]

[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Cities and Towns]]