Changes

[[Courtesans]], especially of the [[Yoshiwara]], were highly romanticized in the popular publications (''[[ukiyo-e]]'' woodblock prints, [[printing and publishing|illustrated books]], etc.) of the Edo period, and had a dramatic impact on popular culture and fashion. Courtesans' fashions were the inspiration for fashions among both commoners and elites, and they were seen as models of cultured elegance and refinement. As a result, much modern scholarship, especially in art history, has similarly emphasized the Yoshiwara as a site of great cultural dynamism and activity, and as a wellspring of popular culture. However, scholars such as Amy Stanley point out how oppressive life in the Yoshiwara was for the women living and working there, the vast majority of whom were indentured servants.

[[Courtesans]], especially of the [[Yoshiwara]], were highly romanticized in the popular publications (''[[ukiyo-e]]'' woodblock prints, [[printing and publishing|illustrated books]], etc.) of the Edo period, and had a dramatic impact on popular culture and fashion. Courtesans' fashions were the inspiration for fashions among both commoners and elites, and they were seen as models of cultured elegance and refinement. As a result, much modern scholarship, especially in art history, has similarly emphasized the Yoshiwara as a site of great cultural dynamism and activity, and as a wellspring of popular culture. However, scholars such as Amy Stanley point out how oppressive life in the Yoshiwara was for the women living and working there, the vast majority of whom were indentured servants.

There were also male prostitutes in pre-modern and early modern Japan. However, they operated in very different circles and circumstances; in the early modern period, male prostitutes were closely tied to the theater, operating out of ''kagema jaya'' teahouses attached to theaters, and not out of brothels. Male prostitutes do not appear in official economic records the way female prostitutes do, and discussions about their moral impact upon communities centered on rather different concerns.

There were also male prostitutes in pre-modern and early modern Japan. However, they operated in very different circles and circumstances; in the early modern period, male prostitutes were closely tied to the theater, operating out of ''[[kagema]] jaya'' teahouses attached to theaters, and not out of brothels. Male prostitutes do not appear in official economic records the way female prostitutes do, and discussions about their moral impact upon communities centered on rather different concerns.

==History==

==History==

Historian [[Amy Stanley]] argues that this set of attitudes in Edo period Japan represents an ironic reversal from many feminists' attitudes today regarding prostitution. Whereas many feminists today might celebrate a woman's agency, her freedom and power to choose to do what she wishes with her body, it was that self-same agency that made Edo period prostitutes the object of stigma.

Historian [[Amy Stanley]] argues that this set of attitudes in Edo period Japan represents an ironic reversal from many feminists' attitudes today regarding prostitution. Whereas many feminists today might celebrate a woman's agency, her freedom and power to choose to do what she wishes with her body, it was that self-same agency that made Edo period prostitutes the object of stigma.

In the 17th century, prostitution was concentrated chiefly in urban centers, as those cities emerged and grew into some of the largest in the world. The shogunate established licensed quarters in several of the major cities, restricting licensed, legal prostitution to designated areas including the Yoshiwara in Edo, the [[Shimabara (Kyoto)|Shimabara]] in Kyoto, and the [[Maruyama]] district in Nagasaki. All other prostitution in those cities was considered illegal, and was occasionally powerfully suppressed, but continued nevertheless. Unlicensed prostitutes in Edo were known as ''kakushi baijo'' ("hidden prostitutes") or simply as ''baita'' (whores), and included women who solicited clients along the riverbanks, or met them out on riverboats. Many of these women were of the most marginal sections of society, and led this life because they had no other choice; they included the daughters of outcastes, prostitutes who had fallen out of more stable brothel work because of their age, illness, or for other reasons, and women who worked for gangsters, gamblers, and the like, often paying a very considerable portion of their proceeds to their pimps.

In the 17th century, prostitution was concentrated chiefly in urban centers, as those cities emerged and grew into some of the largest in the world. As merchants and others moved to the cities for work, and as the cities also became centers of samurai activity, severe gender imbalances emerged. In the 1730s, Edo may have had as many as 175 men for each 100 women, among the commoner class alone; other cities may have had similar ratios, and in Edo in particular the ratio among the samurai class would have been even more imbalanced. Demand among this disproportionately male population, combined with the widespread belief that sexual release was required for good health, led to the flourishing of prostitution in many of the big cities.<ref>Gary Leupp, ''Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900'', A&C Black (2003), 102.</ref>

Many others operated out of unlicensed districts known in Edo as ''okabasho'' ("hill places"), and in Osaka as ''shima'' ("islands"). In Edo, such places numbered around twenty-seven at the end of the Edo period, and included brothels near the approaches to [[Eko-in|Ekô-in]] in the Honjô neighborhood and to [[Nezu Shrine]], and areas surrounding [[Eitai-ji]] in [[Fukagawa]] and [[Kanno-ji|Kannô-ji]] in Yanaka, among others. Four additional neighborhoods in Edo were home to male prostitution, and female prostitution was actively at four post-stations on highways leading out of the city (Naitô Shinjuku, Itabashi, Senju, and [[Shinagawa]]). Temple and shrine magistrates (''[[jisha bugyo|jisha bugyô]]'') generally looked the other way when prostitution took place within their jurisdictions, as it helped attract pilgrims, and therefore donations. ''[[Dochu bugyo|Dôchû bugyô]]'' who oversaw the post-stations allowed brothels to operate in their jurisdictions as well, for similar reasons of economic benefit. In the 1770s, Shinagawa was home to around 500 "serving girls," and Senju and Itabashi home to 150 girls each. While the authorities in the city of Edo did not officially condone these ''okabasho'', and occasionally launched raids to shut them down, authorities in Osaka were more forthright about supporting and encouraging these ''shima'' districts, even going so far as to encourage brothels and teahouses to set up shop when riparian projects created new landfill.<ref>Stanley, 61-62.</ref> Edo authorities tried this with a neighborhood called [[Nakasu]] in the 1770s-1790, but after the fall of [[Tanuma Okitsugu]] and his replacement by [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]], an end was put to that particular district.<ref>Segawa Seigle, 162-163.</ref>

 

Many others operated out of unlicensed districts known in Edo as ''okabasho'' ("hill places"), and in Osaka as ''shima'' ("islands"). In Edo, such places numbered around twenty-seven at the end of the Edo period, and included brothels near the approaches to [[Eko-in|Ekô-in]] in the Honjô neighborhood and to [[Nezu Shrine]], and areas surrounding [[Eitai-ji]] in [[Fukagawa]] and [[Yanaka Tenno-ji|Kannô-ji]] in Yanaka, among others. Four additional neighborhoods in Edo were home to male prostitution, and female prostitution was actively at four post-stations on highways leading out of the city (Naitô Shinjuku, Itabashi, Senju, and [[Shinagawa]]). Temple and shrine magistrates (''[[jisha bugyo|jisha bugyô]]'') generally looked the other way when prostitution took place within their jurisdictions, as it helped attract pilgrims, and therefore donations. ''[[Dochu bugyo|Dôchû bugyô]]'' who oversaw the post-stations allowed brothels to operate in their jurisdictions as well, for similar reasons of economic benefit. Further, girls operating out of post-stations, and at teahouses near temples and shrines, though somewhat ambiguous in their status, could at least (unlike streetwalkers, who could not be pinned down) be identified with a set place of residence, and hierarchical authorities (i.e. under the innkeeper, post-station officials or the temple or shrine itself, and the requisite ''bugyô'' magistrates).

 

In the 1770s, Shinagawa was home to around 500 "[[meshimori onna|serving girls]]," and Senju and Itabashi home to 150 girls each. While the authorities in the city of Edo did not officially condone these ''okabasho'', and occasionally launched raids to shut them down, authorities in Osaka were more forthright about supporting and encouraging these ''shima'' districts, even going so far as to encourage brothels and teahouses to set up shop when riparian projects created new landfill.<ref>Stanley, 61-62.</ref> Edo authorities tried this with a neighborhood called [[Nakasu]] in the 1770s-1790, but after the fall of [[Tanuma Okitsugu]] and his replacement by [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]], an end was put to that particular district.<ref>Segawa Seigle, 162-163.</ref> [[Geisha]], meanwhile, were similarly tolerated or overlooked by the authorities; though the line could be quite blurry between those who sold sex as their primary occupation, and those who only did so on occasion, in personal/private arrangements with individual clients, the primary occupation of geisha was to entertain (through song, dance, and lively company), and so they fell into a different status category.

The [[Kabuki]] theater, as it emerged in the early 17th century, was originally closely connected to prostitution, with most if not all of the performers available for sexual services, and with the dances and skits serving, essentially, as advertisement of their bodies. After women were banned from the kabuki stage in [[1629]] (along with young men in [[1642]], though they were later allowed to return), the theater became more distanced from brothel prostitution, though male-male prostitution continued to be available chiefly through the theater world.

The [[Kabuki]] theater, as it emerged in the early 17th century, was originally closely connected to prostitution, with most if not all of the performers available for sexual services, and with the dances and skits serving, essentially, as advertisement of their bodies. After women were banned from the kabuki stage in [[1629]] (along with young men in [[1642]], though they were later allowed to return), the theater became more distanced from brothel prostitution, though male-male prostitution continued to be available chiefly through the theater world.

In the 18th-19th centuries, with the licensed quarters of [[Edo]], [[Kyoto]], [[Osaka]], and [[Nagasaki]] well-established, the expansion of prostitution was seen mainly in other areas, including [[shukuba|post stations]], port towns, mining towns, regional villages, and so forth, fueled by the growth of travel culture and the expansion of commercial/trading networks.

In the 18th-19th centuries, with the licensed quarters of [[Edo]], [[Kyoto]], [[Osaka]], and [[Nagasaki]] well-established, the expansion of prostitution was seen mainly in other areas, including [[shukuba|post stations]], port towns, mining towns, regional villages, and so forth, fueled by the growth of travel culture and the expansion of commercial/trading networks. In many of these more rural areas, prostitutes operating independent of any brothel or master but only for their own individual livelihoods or profit came to be known as ''goke'' (後家), or "widows," after the idea of a fisherman's wife, or villager's wife otherwise, who sells sex as a way to support herself after the death of her husband; not all ''goke'' were actually widows, however.

 

The shogunate lifted in [[1718]] a ban on prostitution in post-stations, allowing at that time two serving girls per inn. Inns at many post-stations quickly began to resemble brothels, and those post-stations which engaged in prostitution quickly came to enjoy greater economic prosperity than those which didn't. At some, women went so far as to literally drag travelers into their establishments; some travelers sought out stations with such lively activity, but confraternities (''[[tanomoshi ko|kô]]'') also published travel guides helping travelers avoid such harassment. Most post-stations flaunted a far greater number of prostitutes than the two girls per establishment limit, but as with most such things in Edo period Japan, it was hardly enforced. Urban post-stations, such as at [[Kanagawa-juku]] and [[Kawasaki-juku]] (not far from Edo), which served a somewhat more urbanite and sophisticated clientele, often recruited from ''shitamachi'' (low class) neighborhoods of the city. However, at more rural post stations, such as those along the [[Nakasendo|Nakasendô]], many of the girls came from more rural regions, especially [[Echigo province]].

===Meiji Period===

===Meiji Period===