The Yoshiwara

During the early years of the 17th century, the Shogun Hideyoshi and later Tokugawa authorities in Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka passed reforms that licensed and consolidated brothels into a single area of the city which was initially remote from the center. In Kyoto this quarter became known as the Shimabara; in Osaka, the Shimmachi; and in Edo, the Yoshiwara. Although all three quarters were organized in the same basic fashion, it was the name yoshiwara that became synonymous with the concept of a "pleasure quarter." The brothels were surrounded by earthen walls, and in Kyoto, a moat three meters wide. A single entrance gate ensured surveillance of those entering the quarter in an attempt at preventing ronin, masterless samurai, from seeking refuge within. The intent was also to prevent prostitutes from plying their trade outside the walls of the designated precincts of the city. Business districts for the supporting trades and other forms of entertainment rapidly developed around the designated districts, and this secluded quarter of the city, free of the traditional class distinctions, was governed by a free-market economy under standards and ethics developed by its residents.

A system of alternate residence had been established by the shogun in the 1630s when daimyo and their vassals were required to maintain residences in the capital city of Edo. A period of rapid growth followed, with estimates of the numbers of retainers, merchants, and servants during this period above a half-million. The Yoshiwara in Edo, a nearly independent luxury city, is reported at one time to have encompassed over 3,000 women from all over Japan, and statistics exist that place the number of prostitutes in Edo at more than 1,750 circa 1700.

More than 200 guidebooks and maps were printed by 1700 showing the location of the various establishments, their ranking within the yoshiwara, and artistic accomplishments of the women offered and prices for their services. These in themselves became items of vicarious interest to collectors. Woodblock prints, similar to those used by theater directors as publicity material for the actors of the Kabuki Theater, were produced to promote a certain tayu or a certain "green house", a pleasure house. Emphasis both in the guidebooks and in the publicity materials was on the finest houses and the most accomplished courtesans. Many of the prints bear the names of the women and the houses in which they worked, and all of the woodblock artists at one time represented the "beauties" of the "green houses." However, while Tokugawa regulations attempted to center prostitution in a specified regulated district, the Yoshiwara, Shimabara, or Shimmachi, this was never the real situation, and accommodating attendants could be found in other public establishments outside of the district: teahouses and bathhouses being two of the most popular.

A yoshiwara maintained a hierarchy and strict ceremonial code. Its rules of etiquette and its established rituals imbued the quarter with an aura of refinement, mystery, and anticipation. The women there lived both at the extremes of poverty and enormous wealth and were ranked according to their beauty, character, educational level and accomplishments. A courtesan of the highest ranking was designated a tayu, and she was worthy of being a companion to a daimyo, and was in fact known as daimyo dogo, or "daimyo's goods". A tayu received the education of a great lady, with emphasis on her calligraphy, poetry, and grammar, and was given an elegant name and addressed by her maids in the formal language of deference established at the court. A tayu did not meet her clients in the "green houses" but was summoned to a client's residence by formal invitation, sometimes for a duration of up to a week. Her transit to her assignation was a matter of public display, as she formally processed through the streets accompanied by maids, kamuro, and parasol bearers. In many respects, a tayu was a cult figure in the yoshiwara and was the supreme ideal of femininity. Skilled in calligraphy, accomplished at poetry and the tea ceremony, witty and self-confident but also soft and yielding, innocent but experienced, available and faithful, a tayu was peerless and priceless. Lust was never associated with a tayu; therein lay her value and the challenge. The hereditary names of the most famous tayu in a "green house" were often drawn from classical literature or from the names of famous locales, and were passed down only to succeeding generations of courtesans worthy of the name.

Accomplishment at the samisen or other musical instrument was desirable for a courtesan and could determine her rank. More than musical ability, though, skill in literary composition and expertise in the use of literary allusion and witty word play were the most important indicators of a courtesan's worth. The expectation that a woman of merit be educated, first established by the Fugiwara family during the Heian Period, continued to be the standard by which a courtesan was judged in the Tokugawa period. As a contemporary writer comments:

It is unfortunate for anyone not to be able to write, but for a courtesan it is a disasterÉAs long as a courtesan writes well, it does not matter if she is incompetent at the samisen, but even for a samisen virtuoso it would be unfortunate if people said she wrote a bad hand or that her grammar was shaky.

 

The extremes of wealth and poverty, popularity and obscurity that were experienced by women from tayu to hashijoro and tsubone rank served as inspiration for, and were celebrated by the ukiyoe artists. A large portion of the Sweet Briar collection is focused on women of the yoshiwara, for this was the primary focus of these artists. Some of the designs depict a simple bathhouse woman, while others are of feminine types with such dignity and complexity of demeanor and attire that they resemble a western madonna rather than a courtesan. All are sketches from life, and most are without facial expression or definitive facial features, as it is considered rude for anyone, other than perhaps an actor, to be shown expressing emotion. All convey the essence of the social stratification, lifestyle, or expectations and disappointments of a woman's life in the yoshiwara.