The End of the Light, Gone in Red: Memories of a Sick prostitute (Edo - Showa Period)

The End of the Light, Gone in Red: Memories of a Sick prostitute (Edo - Showa Period)

In the Yoshiwara district of Edo (Tokyo) and the private brothels of the early Showa period (1926-1989), the illness of a prostitute was tantamount to the death knell. Those who contracted syphilis or lung disease were sent to an asylum called a "jail cell," where they were cut off from the business world and quietly awaited death. Even for oiran (courtesans) who were famous for their beauty and talent, it was common for them to be abandoned because of illness, and in many cases, it was considered "their own fault.

The famous Yoshiwara geisha Takao Tayu, who died of illness at a young age, and the nameless prostitutes mentioned in "Koshi Yawa" (A Tale of Koshi Night), were rendered useless by their illnesses and did not leave their names in the world even after their deaths. Their bodies were taken to Jokanji Temple near Yoshiwara. The phrase on the stone monument, "Born in the world of suffering, dead in Jokanji Temple," is a silent requiem for those who have been forgotten.

Literature also continued to depict prostitutes in illness. Chikamatsu's Umekawa and Ohatsu, Ichiyo's Oryoku in "Nigorie", and Kafu's Oyuki in "Koto Kitan" - women who, in the end of illness and despair, still tried to be beautiful and put on red. Their lives, like lights that were tossed about by the system but never let go of their pride until the end of their lives, live quietly beyond time.