Japenese Whore
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Japenese Whore
The Honest Courtesan
Frank commentary from a semi-retired call girl
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Marriage is a woman’s grave. – Old Japanese saying
The subject of Japanese ideas about prostitution has come up in my writings, readings and discussions several times lately, so I will take that as a sign that it’s time to talk about the subject. Obviously this column only gives me room for a very limited overview of the subject, but if anyone is interested there are numerous online resources which explore it in far greater depth. The single most important thing to remember in any discussion of Japanese sexuality is that the Japanese are far more pragmatic about sex than we in the West; sex is not taboo in Shinto, and Japanese women are not brainwashed into thinking of sex as frightening, shameful or humiliating as are Western women. The result of this is that prostitution, though certainly not a choice for all women any more than it is in the West, is not viewed as an inherently degrading profession and historically might offer considerably more freedom and status to women than they would find inside the traditionally rigid and formal Japanese marriage.
Until 1617 prostitution was completely legal in Japan, but in that year the Tokugawa Shogunate issued an order restricting prostitution to certain areas on the outskirts of cities. Yujo (“women of pleasure”) were licensed and ranked according to an elaborate hierarchy, with oiran (courtesans) at the top and brothel girls (who were essentially slaves) at the bottom. These “red-light districts” were not implemented for the moralistic reasons which spurred their creation in the West, but rather to enforce taxation and keep out undesirables such as ronin (masterless samurai); prostitutes were also not allowed to leave the district except under certain rigidly-controlled circumstances. Soon the districts grew into self-contained towns which offered every kind of entertainment a man might want, all entirely run by women. Once a girl became a prostitute her birth-rank ceased to matter, and her status was determined by such factors as beauty, personality, intelligence, education and artistic skills. Even among the oiran there were ranks, of which the highest were the tayu , courtesans fit to entertain nobles. On the other end of the scale, the services of brothel girls were available even to foreigners; in earlier times these were mostly Chinese and Koreans, but later Indians and Portuguese as well. Some of these hapless whores were even sold into slavery to the Portuguese, who either used them as sex-slaves on their ships or resold them in Macau, Goa and even Brazil.
The oiran , on the other hand, enjoyed a status far greater than that of married women, just as the hetaerae of Ancient Greece and the cortigiana of Renaissance Italy did (and for the same reasons). Unlike their Occidental sisters, however, the oiran were not brought down by patriarchs jealous of their power, wealth and influence but rather by their own high standards. Because they were isolated in the “Flower and Willow World” (as their subculture was called) their customs, fashions, manners and even language remained static and became increasingly formal; they required a formal invitation from clients and would go forth to see them in elaborate processions accompanied by servants. Their costumes became more and more ornate, complex and proscribed and even the entertainments they offered were only those which had been practiced for centuries. Eventually they became so detached from the world of men that not even the nobles could relate to them any longer, and by the early 18 th century they were supplanted by a new society of courtesans, the geisha ; the last known oiran died in 1761.
Though the geisha wore simpler versions of the fashions created by the oiran, they made an effort to remain approachable by speaking in the vernacular dialect, practicing the popular entertainments favored by their clientele and making themselves available to casual visits from customers. They soon replaced the oiran entirely and became so popular by the late 18 th century that they were often hired to entertain at banquets and other events outside of the walled pleasure districts, thus running afoul of government regulations and exposing themselves to arrest and forcible return to the districts. But since their popularity continued to increase despite governmental crackdowns, laws were passed which allowed the geisha to operate outside of the districts on condition that they could not offer sexual services while outside. By the end of the century geisha were legally distinguished from prostitutes and forbidden to sell sex at all, though of course many continued to do so just as prostitutes under every prohibitionist regime do. The tradition that “legitimate” geisha do not sell sex dates from this period, and to this day many people both in Japan and abroad insist that geisha are not prostitutes, despite a controversial 1872 law which proposed to apply the term “ geisha ” to all prostitutes and the existence of diaries from the women themselves dating as late as the 1930s which speak of selling sex. The safest assumption seems to me that, though geisha were legally prohibited from prostitution and publicly avowed that they never practiced it, in actuality many of them did just as many women of every time and place do.
After Japan was opened to Western influence in the second half of the 19 th century, the Japanese began to adopt more Western notions of control over prostitutes and passed a number of new laws which made it harder to do business even in the red-light districts. This led to the trend of many young women from poor families who would once have gone to the districts seeking employment in China, Korea and Thailand instead; these women were called karayuki-san (literally, “Miss Gone-overseas”) and with them came a new profession for Japan: The pimp. These men made a career of recruiting poor young women, mostly from fishing families, and then arranging for their travel to Asian brothels (some even went as far as Zanzibar, Hawaii and California). Thus as so often happens when governments enact laws to “protect” whores, it actually opens them up for exploitation by unprincipled men. By the 1910s the Japanese government began to see this asjoshigun (“army of girls”) as shameful and damaging to Japanese prestige, and so enacted a series of initiatives throughout the ‘10s and ‘20s to bring expatriate Japanese prostitutes home.
Soon after this the Japanese began expanding their empire into Asia, and almost immediately discovered that sexually frustrated soldiers far from home have a tendency to rape local women and thereby breed resentment in the occupied territories; to prevent this it was decided to open military brothels (euphemistically referred to as “comfort stations”) staffed with Japanese prostitutes (“comfort women”). But as Japan continued to expand its Asian presence, the military soon ran out of volunteers and began actively recruiting prostitutes in China and Korea. When this strategy failed to obtain whores in the required numbers officials resorted first to misrepresentation (recruiting poor women as prostitutes throughout the Empire by greatly overstating the pay they would receive), then to deception (women were told they were being recruited as nurses or factory workers), and eventually to straightforward abduction. It is estimated that about 200,000 women were enslaved in these wartime brothels, though many Japanese propagandists both in and out of the government claim the number was much lower (some claim as few as 20,000) and deny that any women were ever forced despite the testimony of thousands of victims. Only 25% of the victims survived, and most of the survivors were rendered sterile by disease and physical trauma. The issue remains controversial to this day, and historical revisionism of the Holocaust Denial type has become quite popular in recent years.
“Geisha girls” at a Tokyo brothel, 1948
One aspect of the “comfort station” practice which is rarely discussed, though, is that it did not end when the war did; its staff and clientele merely changed. The Japanese government recognized that just as its own horny soldiers had tended to rape women in territories they had occupied, so the Allied troops now posed the same danger in Japan. A government bureau whose English name was the Recreation and Amusement Association was therefore formed to set up and administrate “comfort stations” to service the occupying army. The official declaration stated that “…we shall construct a dike to hold back the mad frenzy of the occupation troops and cultivate and preserve the purity of our race long into the future…” The stations were abolished a year later, then in 1947 the act of recruiting women as prostitutes was made illegal despite the fact that the government itself was doing so the year before! Though the official brothels were gone, independent Japanese prostitutes (who often dressed as geishas and styled themselves “geisha girls”) continued to do brisk business with the troops; the idea of injecting silicone gel into a woman’s breasts to enlarge them was first developed by Japanese doctors after repeated requests from hookers eager to enhance their desirability to American customers. But whether because of rape, amateur activities or Japanese prostitutes being less scrupulous about condom use than their Western sisters, venereal disease rates among American troops soared and under intense pressure from the US, the Japanese government legally banned prostitution for the very first time in 1956.
Even in this case, however, Japan did things differently from Western nations. Prostitution was defined only as vaginal intercourse for pay; every other form of commercial sex (including oral and anal sex) is completely legal! Besides the usual array of call girls, escorts, brothels (including themed brothels where the girls dress as popular anime characters), strip clubs and massage parlors there are also spas and bathhouses where sexual services are available in addition to the mundane ones. And though there are still a small number of geisha , the exclusive modern practitioners of the art absolutely disdain sexual services (unless kept by a patron) due to the desire to maintain tradition and to keep for themselves and the men who appreciate them a pale remnant of the once-extensive “Flower and Willow World” separate and distinct from the noise and bustle of the thriving Japanese sex trade.
So to put it in blunt and vulgar terms: legally I can’t fuck Sailor Mercury for X yen, but I could get a blowjob from her.
I’d like to point out that the above reply was from the point of view of a hypothetical customer: I might want more, but I know that I’m damned lucky to be getting anything at all, and I’m more than willing to settle for what I can get, especially if what I can get is a blowjob from a Japanese cutie dressed as Sailor Mercury.
As a person, I think that the narrow restriction is silly. It seems to suggest that the vagina is sacrosanct, above mere commercialism, in a way that the hands, mouth, or anus are not. This doesn’t seem to be a part of Shinto or Buddhism, or it would have been that way all along.
No, it isn’t that; it was a venereal disease issue. Apparently the American authorities felt that oral or anal transmission was not a problem and accepted the compromise, though why the ban is still in place long after the occupation ended is a mystery to me.
From what I can tell, the Japanese government is essentially a Bureaucracy – even more so than most modern governments. Bureaucracies do not scuttle regulations, ever. They develop Byzantine systems for applying them selectively, since that puts more power in the hands of the cockroaches (iI mean Bureaucrats).
Interesting. It seems to me that this would be more about female-to-male transmission. I might be wrong about that, though.
Quite a few places around the world have held on to some of the western varieties of prudery, apparently out of a desire to counter the notion that they were morally inferior to western culture. The problem with this of course is that it assumes that western notions of morality are the standard against which everyone else should be judged.
Some of the excesses* of the Japanese during the War shamed the populace somewhat (which is why the people supported a new constitution which banned them having a military), and maybe they felt they had to prove themselves. I don’t really know.
It seems to me that this would be more about female-to-male transmission.
That makes sense, considering it was the US who forced it on them because of VD among the troops.
” …especially if what I can get is a blowjob from a Japanese cutie dressed as Sailor Mercury.”
…I’m mildly embarrassed to realize that I would be able to point S. Barsoom to about a dozen photo-galleries of exactly that. (Granted, they’re on a single website, but still… :P)
I’m familiar with hentai. Are these actual our-world women so dressed? Feel free to point.
A fascinating tale, willow pattern plates will never seem the same.
Wasn’t it after the 1956 ban that the Japanese invented Bukkake?
And did you ever read the sexual offences figures for Tokyo after the Japanese ban? They shot up to 225%. The ban was actually implemented on April 1, 1958. Scan down here until you get to the 50 years ago section:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080921ec.html
Wasn’t it after the 1956 ban that the Japanese invented Bukkake ?
Very possible, unless it’s a video-era phenomenon.
And did you ever read the sexual offences figures for Tokyo after the Japanese ban? They shot up to 225%.
It doesn’t surprise me at all, given that rates de crease when prostitution is de criminalized. Didn’t the sex-crime rates dramatically increase in Sweden after its anti-customer crusade began?
I’m unsure. Certainly its rape figures rose a lot, but the complication is that I think the same radfems who criminalised the clients also radically shook up their definition of rape. I understand Swedish rape doesn’t require penetration, for example. God knows what it does involve. Saying “Hello” in a sarcy tone, probably.
I’m not going to ask how a man can accomplish rape without penetrating a woman; in the United States, he can sometimes accomplish it even if she consents AND is of legal age.
Swedish law doesn’t have the concept that we call “rape”. The offence literally translates as something like “violation of sexual integrity”, and encompasses both what we call “rape” and what we call “sexual assault”.
Grabbing a woman and kissing her forcibly would be the same crime as a violent rape.
Swedish law makes fewer distinctions (they only have one homicide crime, rather than separate murder and manslaughter) and leaves the judge with a lot more discretion on sentencing.
One result is that rather than being charged with a crime in the Anglo-American sense, you get a detailed description of what you’re being accused of having done – after which you have the choice of admitting it (equivalent to pleading guilty, but you still have to be tried and the evidence tested in court to determine the sentence) or disputing details, or rejecting the whole thing (equivalent to pleading not guilty).
Though I found this an interesting read, I think your view of Geisha is somewhat distorted. Yes, many sold sex but that was often because they had been sold into the profession and had debts (their training and clothes) to pay off. So, yes, though, there denied it, they did often sell sex because they were forced to. They didn’t make the choice to become prostitues. They were sold into a profession that was in many ways that of an artist, but one which forced them to do with their bodies whatever their owners saw as fit.
I would advise anyone interested in the subject of Geishas to look a bit deeper than just their early start. Modern Geishas are in many ways the dream come true of former Geishas, meaning they have the freedom (and ability to say “no”) that those before them didn’t have.
By the way, I’d like to add that you forgot to mention that the very first Geishas were men, nor the fact that many sources (most, in fact) say that oiran were so jealous they made it illegal for Geisha to sell sex even within the pleasure quarters. Of course, I am sure many continued to do so, but I do think that says something about how early many Geishas became seperated on the question of “do we sell sex or not”. You also didn’t mention “hot springs Geisha” which are usually full on prostitues who only pose as Geisha.
I know your article wasn’t limited to Geishas, but I find it a little disturbing that you use them as examples as Japanese prostitues but give so few facts about them or even admit that, yes, there are many Geishas who never had any dealing with sex for money at all. You are feeding a western fantasy by doing that, not upholding legit sex workers or honoring what all those who were forced into that line of work had to endure.
Jessica, my columns are never intended to exhaust a subject, but rather to serve as an introduction to it. I always encourage my readers to delve more deeply into subjects on which they are interested because my space simply doesn’t allow deep exploration of any single concept.
“I’d like to add that you forgot to mention that the very first Geishas were men”
I suspect she slipped that in very subtle. Is it my eyes, or does that Geisha in the photograph have an unusually thick neck for a woman? :S
Sure there’s more detail she could have gone into about Geisha. She could have cut&pasted entire chapters of “Memoirs” if so inclined, but I think she covered quite enough to get her essay’s points across.
Well, that whole “the first geishas were men” thing is very misleading. Since the word “geisha” literally means something like “entertainer”, that would be equivalent to an escort saying “most escorts are male”, using the word “escort” in its more generic sense. Geishas in the specific sense the word is now used throughout the world were never male.
I can understand that and I thank you for the reply. I myself am writing a book on Geishas (my great grandmother was once one) and so I know a bit more on the topic than what is generally given to the public (both Western and Japanese). I know that sex work was often forced upon the women who worked as Geishas, which another reason that so many modern Geisha try to push that aspect of the past away, sometimes even deny it.
I’d also like to mention that the law you mention (which would have grouped all prostitues as Geisha) actually, in its very wording, keeps them seperate. However, because they were mentioned together, many thought they were the same thing. What they m
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