makoi

geimaiko:

Hello there, thank you very much for your question.

I’m really happy this was asked as i was thinking on writing about it so better sooner than later, right? 

Some side notes: The pleasure districts used to be a closed districts and the idea was to control who went in and how much time was spent in there. For more humble visitors, we explored this before, a night in the pleasure quarters meant many different attractions and a visit to his favorite prostitute. 

When talking about Oiran and Tayuu, they were the main attraction so the visit was coordinated around their time and availability. But for important men, the Tayuu not only offered her own conversation and prestige but also a setting for meetings with other important men. The Tayuu’s salons were also a place for the wealthy and important to parley in peace, knowing that the Tayuu would be discreet about what was discussed.

So for sure the daily life of the ladies in the pleasure quarters differed greatly depending on status. Since the lowest status girls’ fate isn’t as well documented as that of a visitor, we will have to construct the Tayuu’s life through the lens of a patron or in this case of an artist that idolized her. Sadly, there are no published autobiographies of historic Tayuu, so this narrative will never be objective to the subject at hand but it’s what we got.

That being said, i would like to offer some visual media to explore a day in the pleasure quarters and decided to go with Utamaro’s  Seirō Jūnitoki Tsuzuki’ “Twelve Hours in Yoshiwara”.

A Day in the Life of a Courtesan of the Yoshiwara

U no koku 6 O’Clock in the morning

We see a beautiful Courtesan dressed in her finest. She appears to be very young and her hair, though perfectly coiffed is on the simple side with less combs than often depicted. We see her holding the haori of a client and because we cannot see her company, the artist has put us, the observers into this role. We have paid for her time, probably invested in a few meetings before we are even allowed to propose a deeper relationship, but here we are finally. She was worth every penny as she is a budding beauty, even though it is very late already, this Courtesan still looks fresh and rosy faced, evidently the artist has framed this Tayuu in the most flattering way but it also is not indicative of her real feelings. We don’t see her tired or squinty eyed or matted from hours of partying. But don’t be fooled, this is the end of the day for this Courtesan, not the beginning so she holds the haori as a sign for us to leave.

Tatsu no koku 8 O’Clock in the morning

Two Courtesans prepare for sleep. These girls are probably not higher Courtesans or even Oiran as those would have had a futon to themselves and even more than one or two rooms in their apartments in the brothels for themselves and their Kamuro. Shinzo usually lived like the girls above, sharing quarters and even futons. We see a screen in the corner, indicating that this room has more purposes or more inhabitants to shield off. Tucked under the futon is a roll of tissues, the unmistakable sign of a prostitute, they would be used during or after an encounter with a client. The girl on the right is plucking out a hairpin while she lays her head on a takamakura. Even though the girl on the left has disheveled hair and her kimono is a little loose, she still looks very pretty and this image reduces us to a voyeur as these working girls get ready for sleep and the sun rises outside.

Mi no koku 10 O’Clock in the morning

It is hard to say if these two just got up from their short night or if they are still awake. We see a higher Courtesan standing, wiping her face with the sleeve of her dripping kimono. Utamaro famously painted fabrics like water, very delicate and flowy. The colors of the garments are on the subdued side with fine patterns and the idea that Courtesans used to be the height of fashion is evident with these prints. The girl holding the cup has a less ornate hairdo, maybe she is a Shinzo, we get a glimpse at her thigh through her unadjusted kimono while the standing girl is barely dressed. I assume this is the bath scene where these two have gotten out of the bath and threw on something quick while getting a simple breakfast at the same time. We have to assume that these two have not slept more than 3 or 4 hours.

Uma no koku 12 O’Clock, midday

A Courtesan and her entourage get their hair done. The girl in the middle is getting her pipe ready while she is handed a letter, probably from one of her patrons or her lover. From her casual look over the shoulder we can assume that she gets these types of letters all the time, the girl on her side doesn’t even interrupt her task of getting ready to listen in on the romantic notice. The Courtesan will probably read a few words and then let the scroll lay around somewhere until some one else picks it up and throws it away. The girl in vibrant red has her hair already done so she must have woken up earlier, she is probably a Shinzo to the Courtesan, comb in hand, she waits to groom her onesan and style her hair for the day.

Hitsuji no koku 2 O’Clock in the afternoon

The Courtesan on the left is probably of higher status while we see a new blossom in the middle and a Kamuro on the right. Note how the Kamuro wears a type of Shimada already but we see the obi is tied in the back still. The bamboo divination sticks and the pouches of offerings on the floor hint to a consultation with a fortune teller, probably to decide when the Shinzo is to debut. She is emulating palm reading on her little sister. See how the Oiran is wearing a gorgeous susohiki with her own kamon, Utamaro captured the gauze like transparency of the fabric perfectly.

Saru no koku 4 O’Clock in the afternoon

The Oiran parades around with her apprentice and one can really see the difference in attire and how they are depicted for posterity. The Courtesan is dressed in a myriad of layers, dragging on the ground like no big deal. On her uchikake we see the nadeshiko flowers and fans hinting to the Courtesan’s name or brothel. She is clearly the best this house has to offer and her attire is designed to display her ideal beauty. On her side we see her Shinzo, she is not shown fully, only in profile, as is the norm for new girls in direct competition with the queens of the Yoshiwara. Her furisode hint to her junior status but the obi tied in front lets us know that she is taking her own customers or at least open for business soon. Just a glimpse of the Kamuro behind the Courtesan, we see her kanzashi and bit of her hair but the Kamuro is shielded from the observer as the girls were exempted from sex work.

Tori no koku 6 O’Clock in the evening

The Courtesan converses with a maid or someone from her retinue holding a lantern with a three fan kamon. The Courtesan herself does not share this kamon as evident on her uchikake. The scene probably displays the lifting up of the lanterns at the brothels entrance essentially opening up the business for the evening. The servant takes a submissive stance towards the Courtesan while she gazes solemnly past her. Truly these women would have been treated like nobility by the employees of the brothel and inhabitants of the quarters but the Courtesan knows that in the end, the lighting of the lantern meant the beginning of another busy evening for her too.

Inu no koku 8 O’Clock in the evening

I have shown this print before, it is a display of interaction between the Courtesan and a Kamuro. The Kamuro in her green kimono and tabied feet kneels down to get instructions or orders from her onesan. We are probably witnessing a scene from the viewing booths, we the observers are standing outside the latticed windows while the Courtesan and her Kamuro sit on display. The felt rug suggests this and we also see the pipe box and the Courtesan writing a letter. Indeed this might be the reply to the patron’s message from earlier in the day and the girls were encouraged to write to their clients often to keep them interested. Only the highest ranking Oiran, the Tayuu were exempted from these viewing boxes as they did not need the attention from new patrons and were probably doing other things.

I no koku 10 O’Clock in the evening

This is more like what an Oiran or Tayuu would have looked like. She is dressed very formally and Utamaro, who usually opts to show his Courtesans in mauvey and mild colors has gone all out to indicate the status of this Courtesan during her engagement. The Kamuro before her is clearly very tired, barely keeping it together while she grasps the pot. Behind her her onesan holds a saucer, a sakecup either for her patron or herself. Tayuu and Oiran did not serve their patrons like Oshaku, Minarai, Maiko or Geiko do. They were just as much viewed as guests at the party as their patrons who displayed their wealth by orchestrating these banquets. More often than not, these banquets were more akin to parties with a group of friends and a host of Courtesans and Kamuro, Shinzo and Geisha or Taikomochi. These banquets were a huge expense for the patrons as they would only opt for the best their status and purse could afford.

Ne no koku Midnight

The Courtesan on the left has changed into her sleeping clothes while her apprentice folds her uchikake to put away. See the kamon is a different one from the other two we saw earlier. Another thing to note is the amount of hairpins for both girls. The apprentice has four while the Courtesan sports 6 in her hair announcing her superior status. The apprentice is not dressed for bed yet, she might have some more chores to do or maybe she might have to attend other parties after her onesan has retired for the evening. Since we are the observers in the role of the patron, she will probably leave us alone and see a last client of her own.

Ushi no koku 2 O’Clock in the morning

We are at last in a more intimate setting as the Courtesan kicks her leg to reach for her zori. She has a twisted paper string to light her way and in her hand she holds her roll of tissue paper. Her posture is designed to allude to her exhaustion after a long evening but she still looks immaculate in this very human situation, another hint to the framing of the life of these women through the patrons perspective.

Tora no koku 4 O’Clock in the morning

Two Courtesans huddle together in the early morning hours after their clients have left. They look somewhat tired and cold, specially the one on the right with her tussled hair. She whispers to her friend, probably badmouthing the patrons or talkig smack about some other Courtesan while she discards the roll of tissues in the fire bowl. In front of her we see some pots and the first and only evidence of food of the day maybe an indication that these girls were not eating throughout or that it was not considered classy for them to eat in public. I feel exhausted for them, i was witness to their long day and am now enjoying my pipe in the early morning too.

So what was a day of a Courtesan like? For sure we can see a very idealized version of a their day: No eating, no grooming outside of the play with hairstyles, no unpleasant interaction. Also, we don’t see any artistic endeavor, no cultivation of artistic training, there is no dancing and no playing of instruments. The only evidence of knowledge is the writing of the letter while the Courtesan was on display and waiting for a client. And this was the ideal for these ladies, they were supposed to be stoic and regal. But it hints to the Oiran and Tayuu’s artistic decline in the Yoshiwara. Idolized like stars in these tableaus, they don’t actually do anything, just look lush and live a life of leisure, indoors and away from manual work. Another thing we can take away is that one day might look completely different from the next for these girls and that it certainly differed from rank to rank. In the end these depictions draw a very sympathetic image of these girls, and make no mistake about it, we are still talking about preteens and teenagers as young as 12 living in golden cages. They might look like princesses but remember when you were 12? What were your interests then? How did your day look like?

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”

― L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between