Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-10-20

with the private seal OF a certain Miss Man aud I
took an impression of t In my note book 10 her
evident great alarm. This meant, OF course, that
she was In the habit OF entering the accounts IN
all the books attesting them herself with the seals
OF all her y1yo, and thus the police would be shown
an Immaculate financial record, while the girls
themselves would never even see the books, or
know with how much they were debited and
creuiteu nom week TO week. IL Is very unusual.
py the way, Tor one OF these great houses 20 be
owned by the keeper: such profitable property Is
generally owned In Japan as elsewhere by mighty
,S Sele capitalists who are never heard OF.
ana prontaole Indeed 10 must be, for the market
value OF land inside the Noshiwara as compared
VII MIsn the general average In Tokyo is as TOUR 20
sdshtka and about l,s5o shooL The government
TAX upon each house is three dollars a month, and
upon each girl from half dollar 10 three dollars
month, according 10 her class.
lheIe are four classes or grades I'm the occupa-
tion, the enumeration OF each bling prescribed by
law, law; AS everywhere else, the position is poyonO
nous, o,rdn beng the pollIest NAME sho1i the
most frequent toro the most accurate and severe.
anu anu g9o-'pAe de ,oieT-the prettiesL Each has
ner own servant and her own apartment, often
charmingly decorated with PAINTINGS ana screens
ana ADORNED with little carvings and porcelain
anu DIS OF silver work and lacquer, the gins OF
sraleiul admirers And there Is nearly always q
iarse MIitten and framed scroll In a conspicuous
posuoh, exhibiting some scrap OF appropriate
Characters one remember had he four charac-
eeis ndtsn ktku mao sonsa, literally spine chry-
san,nenium stll are, e., the pine and the cnry-
WIN, wln1ef when other flowers die, and, by implica-
tlon, my charms are everlasting, ike the pine
ana the chry santhemum-"
PLEASING BELIEFS AMONG FoREIeSERa
There are some pleasing beliefs current among
Foreigners here and which have been circulated In
several recent books on Japan to the effect that it
Is common act OF nlial devotion for girl 90
volunteer unasked 10 devote herself TO this life for
10 eKtricate them from some other embarrassment
or even 10 lay by Lutte money for hers II; and
snat TINS done, she returns 10 the bosom OF her
had nad
the added halo OF hlial piety. All this Is unmiti-
gated rubbish. Major knoiys X. A. In his recent
Chapman ana Hail. 1850 has attained the climax
OF aosurdity In this Respect "Many girls" he says
Up. 223l, devote themselves TO three or four years
immortality OF SET purpose amass comfortable little
sums OF money are warmly welcomed back into
the domestic circle, and are regarded models Of
lial duty IN having thus toiled for the support OF
their parents In fact the landmarks between viz
tue and vice are obliterated.p This Is such gro
sque mlsstatement as TO BE- little better than
ldiotic. What Major knollys' sources OF inforrna-
ton during his few days Ia Tokyo may have been
! do not know, but have made searching inQuir-
les on THIS point In ali quarters and from ali sorts
OF people. from the high officers OF the department
or police down TO the ylUo themselves. and have
no hesitation In characlerizing his statement as
preposlerous. II Is true that The majority OF the
girls Who enter foshiwara are there that their
parents may have money In consequences, but
there Is not one case In hundreds where they are
not unwilling and unhappy victims
FIIIAL OBEDIENCE
The influence OF Confucianism has been 70 Inn
plant the duty OF rlal obedience as the primal
and imperative virtue among the lower classes OF
Japan. A daughter yields absolute unQuestionlng
obedience TO her parents under al circumstances
Therefore when they say 70 her, You Will marry
so-and-so, she does not dream OF Directing. No
more does she when they Say 10 her, "You must
asked at the department OF police ssDo you take
this step OF your own free Wilt" she replies 81
do" but the Case is exactly parallel 70 the con-
gallows OF his own free WILL As for the notion
that life OF prostitution Is not considered by the
japanese TO Involve any particular dlscredit or
disgrace, that is almost equally silly. The reason
that such life here is regarded differently
fiom a similar life In other countries Is SIM
ence between a person who becomes immoral
under compulson and one VINO is immoral
from choice. The Japanese have their
own view OF all sexual matters, including this one.
Iroke 10 kdsdke they quote philosophicaly, ndi
m0nOUa MAJ And prostitution among themselves
sney estimate At precisely its true Value An IN =;
personal dignity they know II 10 be, but they
know also that there are not q few cases In which
IL leaves the moral character untouched The
biography OF famous and beautiful hariot named
MurAsaki says OF her, "She denied her body but
not her heart" and describes her tenderly and
prettily deichiu hdsu-" a lotus In the mud"
Consequently many an 0irdn, understanding this,
looks forward 10 a respectable marriage With a
man whose acquaintance she has made In the
Yoshiwara, and q Few OF them are thus fortunate
every year, though perhaps not larger proper
ton Than In other countries. And as Tor returning
they never do.
WHAT THEY THINK OF THEIR OWN CALLING
may be judged from the TACT that when girl
leaves her kashi-sashiki TO be married or 10 make
any attempt 10 live differently, nothing would In
duce her TO take with her a scrap OF the clothing
she has worn there an article OF the furniture OF
her room, or even one or her knick-knacks from
IL, although she has paid for them all Ten times
over. she would regard their presence elsewhere
as q constant reproach and shame, so she leaves
for no E.Aap IN sail At far limo fhQir
value TO the next conner. "Mhsn she leaves, 1" i
say, out does she often leave? / fear that the
naarIx All npinI One way sWnas arr me cpief
determining causes that recruit the ranks OF the
yujos" 1 asked my informants at the depart
ment OF police. .'There are only two was the re-
ply, "poverty and natural inclination" Precisely
the same causes that make journalists with US y
remarked "And all other professions added the
director. "Bul putting sentiment and theoretical
legal safeguards aside, what proportion OF ygto
ever return TO respectable lfe?" unfortunately
very few was the reply; I'VE have proserS 10
Ichtdo dOrO-nstdau ni diidrd, tssho ma Uo didy-
enoi-'once get into dirty water. ana you Will
never be washed clean again as long as you i've"
A. few get married occasionally one commits sui
eide with her lover because ne has not the means
wherewith TO pay her debts anu JAKE hef away,
and occasional one returns 10 Independence and re-
spectabiity, but tine great majority either dle or
descend In the scale as they get olser and uglier
till they end by being seryants In the houses OF
which they were formerly the ornaments
IL goes without saying that In so strange COM
munlty-among these ..iOtus IN the mud"-theIe Is
q vast deal OF romance, necessarily much more
than among the similar classes OF countries where
vice comes chiefly from choice Hundreds or
novels tell the stories OF denizens OF the foshi-
wara-or their beauty, their misfortuns s. their
goodness, their romantic passion and devotion,
and their triumph ana happiness or despair ana
suicide. some OF these would be well worth tell
ing II SPACE permitted. As the clearest-sighted
or men said IN Palestine long ago, there are often
more virtues 20 be found In The harlot class than
IN our own highly respectable circle, and should
Imagine this 70 be even truer OF Japan tnan OF
Jerusalem.
THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY SPECTACLE
OF the Yoshiwara takes place for q lew afternoons
al 5 O'Clock three times year, when the flowers
In the long streets gardens are changed. First In
spring comes the pink glory or the cherry blossoms:
then In summer the purple OF the iris then In au.
tumn the hundred coors OF the chry SAINT hemum
the national nower OF Japan. When the new
flowers are planted the ladies OF pleasure pay
these a state visit. From each OF the principal
houses half q dozen Of the most beautiful are
chosen and arrayed IN gorgeous clothes, their
hair dressed fundamentally, combs three feet
long stuck In from side 10 side, and then they
are mounted upon black lacQuered gefa or pat
tens a foot high. When they are ready to start
q score OF servants accompany them: two or
three precede them TO put the crowd AWAY.
one holds the hand OF each shoof upon either
side and solennly and very slowly, step minute
the wonderful procession moves round the GARDEN
other professions issue from the other houses ana
meet and pass, and by-and-by the whole main
street OF Yoshiwara Is packed with an open-
mouthed crowd, over whose heads the facos OF the
professionals can De seen here ana there. The
atk<ss. ~ Ia