The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-15


at the moment expressing itself by
a strenuous fight against the rebuild
ing Of the licensed vice district IN
Toxic, which was burned down a few
months ago. The YOshlWara. as TINS
region is called. is knoWn all over the
world as the most famous Of licensed
places for the carrying on of the So
cial evil. 1t is far more amOus than
the gayest quarter Of Paris, and, be-
cause the West has not in the past
taken the japanese seriously, people
have felt free to talk about the Yos-
hiWara who would ont mention the
red light district in Chicago or Phil
adelphia. Tourists visit it as natur-
ally as they visit the Shiba Temples,
and they ara not always content with
looking upon the show. from the out
side. One of the arguments that is
being effectively used in the present
campaign is that hundreds Of youns
men, from America ana Europe, fall
every year beneath the spell Of the
Yoshiwara, SO that careful parents
are afraid to let their sons travel in
Japan.
AS a spectacle, the Yoshiwara is
certainly without an equal in the
world, for it's kind. Cairo, Port Said,
Shanghai Constantinople, San Fran
cisco and all the other VIGOROUSLY
lex cities, have nothing to offer in
competition with this spectacle. Al
entire district in the city of Toxic is
devoted to houses OF prostitution. 1t
is in the Askawa ward. not far from
beautiful and fashionable Uyeno
Park. The district is surrounded by
a high fence so that all visitors must
enter at one great gate. There, and
within the Yoshiwara itself, the po-
lice exercise close supervision, and
there is no disorder. When the
CfTnnYn of yTscifo~O 80 30 1jo ~ to
block the dozens Of streets inside
the fence, policemen stand in the
middle Of the main roads n keep
the crowds moving. For aside from
large population dependent upon the
Yoshiwara for a livelihood. there are
throngs. of merely curious sight-seers.
as well as Of men who go for reverry.
1t is as natural for Japanese visitors
to Toxic to go to the Yoshiwara as
1t is for visitors to New York to go
to Wall Street, the Bowery and the
art galleries.. One may see long
professions Of jinrickashas, contain
ing mothers. fathers and children,
doing the Yoshiwara every even
ing.
Where Women Are shown in CAGES.
The sight is a wonderful, albeit a
shameful one. Every street in the
1oshIwara Is lined on both sides with
houses Of prostitution, and all vie with
one another in display. Until the re-
cent fire, the buildings were among
the most elaborate in the city. And
every one had in front Of it a great
cage, or show window, in which the
girls sat arrayed in the most beautiful
clothes that the the traveller could see
in all Japan. Each GUS had some
color scheme for it's inmates, SO that
the finest Japanese taste Is displayed
in the apparal Of these painted fe-
males, who sit in patient rows, putting
fresh touches Of powder and paint to
their faces, or smoking little ladies
pipes, or the more modern or fashion
able cigarette. Of course they accost
the passers-by, and many have a few
words Of English for the foreigners.
Friends of all ages and degrees stop
to converse with the girls, and it is
not uncommon to see a mother, with
a baby on her back and older children
by her side. in friendly conversation
through the bars Of the girls cages.
There has been little, if any social
stigma attached to this calling in old
Japan, although now times are chang
ing. Hitherto the inmates Of these
houses hav married, as they found
favor with visitors. by the latter pay
ing their ransom. No odium thence.
forth attached to them because Of
their former name Of life.
n cages in which the women are
shown are typical of the real slavery
In which they are held. Most Of them
are the the Yoshiwara because old ia
pan hough it most honorable for a
girl to sell herself in order to pay her
,athers debts. From the Shinto stand
point. these girls are examples Of filiaI
plety. The two. three. or five hundred
dollars WfEch the father receives for
his daughter seldom grows Tess. as the
proprietor to keep her IN
debt for clothes and luxuries. Even
the legislation which Japanese reform
erS and American missionaries have Sc
cured on his subject has been nearly
i. a dead letter.. Slavery has been actual.