Changes

The Yoshiwara got its start when Shôji Jin'uemon was granted license in [[1617]] by the shogunate to consolidate all the brothels in the city into a certain area, the Yoshiwara neighborhood.<ref>[[Eiko Ikegami]], ''Bonds of Civility'', Cambridge University Press (2005), 268.</ref> He had applied in [[1605]] to start a brothel keepers' guild, but was denied by the shogunate. In [[1612]], he returned with a new proposition. He argued that prostitution throughout the city created opportunities for daughters from "good" families to be abducted into the sex trade, for young men to be distracted from their work & led to squander their money in brothels, and for samurai to plot rebellion in courtesans' private quarters. Jin'emon proposed that all of these social problems could be controlled if he were to be granted monopoly rights on operating brothels in the city; the shogunate could restrict all prostitution to a single pleasure district, and within that district, Jin'emon and his fellow brothel keepers could keep records of customers coming and going, and could report to the authorities on any suspicious activities.<ref>Stanley, 45.</ref>.

The Yoshiwara got its start when Shôji Jin'uemon was granted license in [[1617]] by the shogunate to consolidate all the brothels in the city into a certain area, the Yoshiwara neighborhood.<ref>[[Eiko Ikegami]], ''Bonds of Civility'', Cambridge University Press (2005), 268.</ref> He had applied in [[1605]] to start a brothel keepers' guild, but was denied by the shogunate. In [[1612]], he returned with a new proposition. He argued that prostitution throughout the city created opportunities for daughters from "good" families to be abducted into the sex trade, for young men to be distracted from their work & led to squander their money in brothels, and for samurai to plot rebellion in courtesans' private quarters. Jin'emon proposed that all of these social problems could be controlled if he were to be granted monopoly rights on operating brothels in the city; the shogunate could restrict all prostitution to a single pleasure district, and within that district, Jin'emon and his fellow brothel keepers could keep records of customers coming and going, and could report to the authorities on any suspicious activities.<ref>Stanley, 45.</ref>.

The district was quickly built over the course of the next year, opening for business in [[1618]]. Brothels and teahouses were organized along four streets, surrounded by high plaster walls, and accessible only by a single point of entrance/egress, the Great Gate, or Yoshiwara-Ômon. A sign was placed just outside the gate declaring the district's monopoly, and requiring that only physicians could enter on horseback or in a palanquin, and that all must leave spears or longswords outside. By [[1626]], the last holdouts against the Yoshiwara monopoly - brothel owners based in Sumichô - relocated to the Yoshiwara, leaving only unlicensed (and thus, illegal) prostitution in the remainder of the city. At that time, courtesans' contracts were limited to ten years; however, they would later extend over much longer periods.  

The district was quickly built over the course of the next year, opening for business in [[1618]]. Brothels and teahouses were organized along four streets, in a twenty-acre area<ref name=allenxiv>Laura Allen, "Introduction," in ''Seduction: Japan's Floating World'', San Francisco: Asian Art Museum (2015), xiv.</ref> surrounded by high plaster walls, and accessible only by a single point of entrance/egress, the Great Gate, or Yoshiwara-Ômon. A sign was placed just outside the gate declaring the district's monopoly, and requiring that only physicians could enter on horseback or in a palanquin, and that all must leave spears or longswords outside. By [[1626]], the last holdouts against the Yoshiwara monopoly - brothel owners based in Sumichô - relocated to the Yoshiwara, leaving only unlicensed (and thus, illegal) prostitution in the remainder of the city. At that time, courtesans' contracts were limited to ten years; however, they would later extend over much longer periods.  

A typical contract, as of circa 1800, is signed by the girl's father or legal guardian, who receives a lump sum in exchange for her indentured servitude for a set period (e.g. 25 ''[[currency|ryô]]'' for five years of service); the contract assures the brothel that the girl is not [[Christianity|Christian]], and notes her registration with a Buddhist temple. Other terms include that the family is responsible for any expenses or losses the girl may incur during her period of service (thus putting strict expectations on her behavior), that if she dies the brothel may bury her as they choose (without the family's involvement), and that if the parents/guardians should die before the term of indenture is up, the brothel may sell the girl into service elsewhere or marry her off. Further, if someone should wish to buy out the girl's contract, so long as the girl is not entered into sex work again, she may be sold in that manner to anyone, anywhere, without the parents' involvement. Amy Stanley notes that this bears much similarities with, for example, a contract for indentured service for a housemaid, though there are key differences including that a housemaid could not be sold further, married off, or buried by the employers but would instead be returned to her family.<ref>Stanley, 57-58. Such contracts bear strong resemblance as well to those for girls sold by their families into work in silk mills and other factory work in the [[Meiji period]], showing that the exploitation of poor peasant families by strict contracts of indentured servitude, which held the family responsible for any expenses or losses caused by the girl, did not end with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the advent of "modernity." Such girls, whether in the Yoshiwara or in the silk mills of more modern times, were seen as virtuous filial daughters, working hard for the sake of their parents, but were also under incredible pressure to not do anything wrong - let alone try to escape - for fear of impoverishing her family even further. The case of the silk mill women is vividly depicted in the 1979 film ''Aa, Nomugi Toge''.</ref>

A typical contract, as of circa 1800, is signed by the girl's father or legal guardian, who receives a lump sum in exchange for her indentured servitude for a set period (e.g. 25 ''[[currency|ryô]]'' for five years of service); the contract assures the brothel that the girl is not [[Christianity|Christian]], and notes her registration with a Buddhist temple. Other terms include that the family is responsible for any expenses or losses the girl may incur during her period of service (thus putting strict expectations on her behavior), that if she dies the brothel may bury her as they choose (without the family's involvement), and that if the parents/guardians should die before the term of indenture is up, the brothel may sell the girl into service elsewhere or marry her off. Further, if someone should wish to buy out the girl's contract, so long as the girl is not entered into sex work again, she may be sold in that manner to anyone, anywhere, without the parents' involvement. Amy Stanley notes that this bears much similarities with, for example, a contract for indentured service for a housemaid, though there are key differences including that a housemaid could not be sold further, married off, or buried by the employers but would instead be returned to her family.<ref>Stanley, 57-58. Such contracts bear strong resemblance as well to those for girls sold by their families into work in silk mills and other factory work in the [[Meiji period]], showing that the exploitation of poor peasant families by strict contracts of indentured servitude, which held the family responsible for any expenses or losses caused by the girl, did not end with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the advent of "modernity." Such girls, whether in the Yoshiwara or in the silk mills of more modern times, were seen as virtuous filial daughters, working hard for the sake of their parents, but were also under incredible pressure to not do anything wrong - let alone try to escape - for fear of impoverishing her family even further. The case of the silk mill women is vividly depicted in the 1979 film ''Aa, Nomugi Toge''.</ref>

The Yoshiwara was the only licensed district in Edo. The authorities attempted to control prostitution and other such unsavory activities by giving them somewhere legal to be, and limiting them to that space. For a time from the 1660s onward, Yoshiwara brothel proprietors were even entrusted with leading raids on clandestine prostitution operations outside of the district, enforcing their monopoly firsthand; still, despite their oppositional nature, the proprietors of operations within and outside of the Yoshiwara were actually very well-connected with one another, in terms of information, recruiting, and so forth, and thus to a certain extent were supportive of one another's activities. By the end of the Edo period, in fact, the Yoshiwara proprietors were supportive of the reestablishment of the [[Fukagawa]] district, despite the competition it would create, seeing the Fukagawa proprietors, rather, as allies in expanding their business.<ref>Stanley, 63-65.</ref>  

The Yoshiwara was the only licensed district in Edo. The authorities attempted to control prostitution and other such unsavory activities by giving them somewhere legal to be, and limiting them to that space. For a time from the 1660s onward, Yoshiwara brothel proprietors were even entrusted with leading raids on clandestine prostitution operations outside of the district, enforcing their monopoly firsthand; still, despite their oppositional nature, the proprietors of operations within and outside of the Yoshiwara were actually very well-connected with one another, in terms of information, recruiting, and so forth, and thus to a certain extent were supportive of one another's activities. By the end of the Edo period, in fact, the Yoshiwara proprietors were supportive of the reestablishment of the [[Fukagawa]] district, despite the competition it would create, seeing the Fukagawa proprietors, rather, as allies in expanding their business.<ref>Stanley, 63-65.</ref>  

The district grew rapidly from just under 550 prostitutes in [[1661]], right after the rebuilding following the Meireki Fire, up to over 2,700 by [[1689]], the second year of [[Genroku]]. These numbers remained fairly stable, in fact dropping a bit, to remain around 2,200 to 2,400 for the next hundred years, until the 1770s or so, when the number of prostitutes operating in the Yoshiwara began to grow rapidly again. In 1800, the district boasted just under 5,500 women, a figure which rose to just under 5,800 by the 1830s, and to an all-time peak of 7,144 around [[1845]], before falling back down to around 4,500 in the 1850s-1860s.<ref>Gallery labels, ''Yûjo no jitsuzô'', Edo-Tokyo Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9340221433/sizes/h/]</ref> Historian Amy Stanley estimates that including both the Yoshiwara and beyond, there may have been a total of 10-15,000 operating within the greater Edo area, at the peak in the 1840s, including roughly one thousand ''[[meshimori onna]]'' (serving girls) at post-station inns, and whatever number of prostitutes operating in unlicensed districts.<ref>Stanley, 2.</ref> From time to time, the shogunate would crack down on illegal prostitution operating elsewhere in the city. Sometimes, as in [[1842]] when over 4,000 prostitutes were arrested, they were simply relocated to the Yoshiwara; other times, of course, the penalties were harsher. On one occasion, in [[1639]], eleven managers of bathhouses and other Yoshiwara operations were crucified outside the Great Gate of the district for illegal activities committed outside the quarter. By the 19th century, however, prostitution outside the Yoshiwara's walls was established enough, and supported or ignored enough by the authorities, that the division between legal and illegal prostitution came to be defined less by the walls of the Yoshiwara, and more by the quality of the prostitutes' contracts; those properly associated with an inn or teahouse came to be largely tolerated, while those with no contract, such as women operating independently, or being pimped out by their husbands, became the chief target of arrests.<ref>Stanley, 65.</ref>

The district grew rapidly from just under 550 prostitutes in [[1661]], right after the rebuilding following the Meireki Fire, up to over 2,700 by [[1689]], the second year of [[Genroku]]. These numbers remained fairly stable, in fact dropping a bit, to remain around 2,200 to 2,400 for the next hundred years, until the 1770s or so, when the number of prostitutes operating in the Yoshiwara began to grow rapidly again. Around this time, the largest brothels in the district housed some forty to fifty courtesans, plus maids, kitchen staff, and so forth.<ref name=allenxiv/> In 1800, the district boasted just under 5,500 women, a figure which rose to just under 5,800 by the 1830s, and to an all-time peak of 7,144 around [[1845]], before falling back down to around 4,500 in the 1850s-1860s.<ref>Gallery labels, ''Yûjo no jitsuzô'', Edo-Tokyo Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9340221433/sizes/h/]</ref> Historian Amy Stanley estimates that including both the Yoshiwara and beyond, there may have been a total of 10-15,000 operating within the greater Edo area, at the peak in the 1840s, including roughly one thousand ''[[meshimori onna]]'' (serving girls) at post-station inns, and whatever number of prostitutes operating in unlicensed districts.<ref>Stanley, 2.</ref> From time to time, the shogunate would crack down on illegal prostitution operating elsewhere in the city. Sometimes, as in [[1842]] when over 4,000 prostitutes were arrested, they were simply relocated to the Yoshiwara; other times, of course, the penalties were harsher. On one occasion, in [[1639]], eleven managers of bathhouses and other Yoshiwara operations were crucified outside the Great Gate of the district for illegal activities committed outside the quarter. By the 19th century, however, prostitution outside the Yoshiwara's walls was established enough, and supported or ignored enough by the authorities, that the division between legal and illegal prostitution came to be defined less by the walls of the Yoshiwara, and more by the quality of the prostitutes' contracts; those properly associated with an inn or teahouse came to be largely tolerated, while those with no contract, such as women operating independently, or being pimped out by their husbands, became the chief target of arrests.<ref>Stanley, 65.</ref>

Not only a center of prostitution and related activities, the Yoshiwara was also a center of cultural production. While most novelists, artists, publishers and the like made their homes in the commercial districts closer to the center of the city, some lived in or just outside the Yoshiwara, taking the environment as a muse, and the Yoshiwara customers and residents as patrons. [[Tsutaya Juzaburo|Tsutaya Jûzaburô]], likely the most famous of Edo period publishers today, was born and raised in the district; he was the son of a brothel owner, and was adopted as a child by the owner of a teahouse. As an adult, he maintained his shop just outside the Yoshiwara's gates for ten years, from [[1773]]-[[1783]], after which he moved to Toriabura-chô, where most other publishers were located. The author [[Santo Kyoden|Santô Kyôden]] ([[1761]]-[[1816]]) similarly lived much of his life in the Yoshiwara, running a tobacco shop there, and marrying two ''[[shinzo|shinzô]]''<ref>Teenage attendants who had not yet become full-fledged courtesans, or those who wouldn't or couldn't become full-fledged courtesans on account of not possessing the beauty, wit, and/or various skills necessary.</ref> over the course of his lifetime.<ref>Segawa Seigle, 150.</ref> There is also evidence of popular discourses, whether tongue-in-cheek or relatively sincere, regarding the Yoshiwara as a liminal or alternative space; at least one map of the district names it "Geppon" (The Land of the Rising Moon), in parody and contrast to the regular world of Nippon (The Land of the Rising Sun). [[Timon Screech]] has also written of the symbolic or metaphorical association of various landmarks along the river route to the pleasure districts as parts of an imagination of the journey as one from the "hell" of everyday life to the "heaven" or "paradise" of the Yoshiwara.<ref>Timon Screech, Morishita Masaaki (trans.), ''Edo no daifushin'' 江戸の大普請, Kodansha, 2007.</ref>

Not only a center of prostitution and related activities, the Yoshiwara was also a center of cultural production. While most novelists, artists, publishers and the like made their homes in the commercial districts closer to the center of the city, some lived in or just outside the Yoshiwara, taking the environment as a muse, and the Yoshiwara customers and residents as patrons. [[Tsutaya Juzaburo|Tsutaya Jûzaburô]], likely the most famous of Edo period publishers today, was born and raised in the district; he was the son of a brothel owner, and was adopted as a child by the owner of a teahouse. As an adult, he maintained his shop just outside the Yoshiwara's gates for ten years, from [[1773]]-[[1783]], after which he moved to Toriabura-chô, where most other publishers were located. The author [[Santo Kyoden|Santô Kyôden]] ([[1761]]-[[1816]]) similarly lived much of his life in the Yoshiwara, running a tobacco shop there, and marrying two ''[[shinzo|shinzô]]''<ref>Teenage attendants who had not yet become full-fledged courtesans, or those who wouldn't or couldn't become full-fledged courtesans on account of not possessing the beauty, wit, and/or various skills necessary.</ref> over the course of his lifetime.<ref>Segawa Seigle, 150.</ref> There is also evidence of popular discourses, whether tongue-in-cheek or relatively sincere, regarding the Yoshiwara as a liminal or alternative space; at least one map of the district names it "Geppon" (The Land of the Rising Moon), in parody and contrast to the regular world of Nippon (The Land of the Rising Sun). [[Timon Screech]] has also written of the symbolic or metaphorical association of various landmarks along the river route to the pleasure districts as parts of an imagination of the journey as one from the "hell" of everyday life to the "heaven" or "paradise" of the Yoshiwara.<ref>Timon Screech, Morishita Masaaki (trans.), ''Edo no daifushin'' 江戸の大普請, Kodansha, 2007.</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> While sitting there, courtesans freely chatted with one another, including talking about clients, and about scheduled engagements and past ones; they were not obligated to avoid such talk, let alone to avoid chatting entirely.<ref>Laura Allen, "Introduction," in ''Seduction: Japan's Floating World'', San Francisco: Asian Art Museum (2015), xiii.</ref>

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> While sitting there, courtesans freely chatted with one another, including talking about clients, and about scheduled engagements and past ones; they were not obligated to avoid such talk, let alone to avoid chatting entirely.<ref>Allen, xiii.</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.