Voices in the sitting room where prostitutes and customers face each other - Yoshiwara Hatsukai Customs and Breathtaking - Yoshiwara

Voices in the sitting room where prostitutes and customers face each other - Yoshiwara Hatsukai Customs and Breathtaking - Yoshiwara
Around the early 1800s

The Yoshiwara tatami room was not merely a place of entertainment, but a ceremonial space where manners and tension mingled. The "first meeting" was a particularly important occasion for guests and prostitutes to meet each other for the first time, and the ushers and masseurs were always present. They were responsible for setting the mood and creating an opening for conversation, as well as serving as behind-the-scenes moderators to ensure the smooth running of the banquet.

In the late Edo period, especially during the Bunka-Bunsei period, the culture of the townspeople matured, and Yoshiwara became a social space where a diverse range of people gathered, including samurai, merchants, and intellectuals. The art of haikai, shamisen (three-stringed Japanese banjo), calligraphy, and painting were often performed in the tatami rooms, and the brothels were transformed into cultural venues, so much so that they were called the crossroads of Edo culture. Against this background, courtesy was demanded even in the choice of words at the first meeting, and both guests and prostitutes greeted each other carefully. The hostess would softly introduce the guest by saying, "Thank you for coming today," and the prostitute would respond with a gentle, "It is a pleasure to meet you," and light conversation would set the tone for the evening.

In this brief exchange, the prostitute had to demonstrate her culture and conversational skills in a natural way. In particular, the higher-ranking prostitutes, such as courtesans and tayu, were required to be able to instantly recognize the personalities of their customers and manipulate the room skillfully, for example, by using a gentle word to break the tension or to attract the interest of the customers. In Yoshiwara, it was even said that the art of speech determined a prostitute's status, and the flow of greetings at the first meeting was the scene where such skill could be most easily expressed.

In the background of the tatami room were the unrecorded sounds of life: the sound of the shamisen leaking through the shoji screens, the footsteps of the masseur mixed with the creaking of the sliding doors, and the slight swaying of the tokkuri (Japanese rice wine jug). These sounds told the story of human activity behind the glamorous Yoshiwara, and were also invisible elements that eased the tension of the ritual of the first meeting.

Thus, the first meeting was more than a formal greeting. It was a place of splendor and modesty, of gamesmanship and civility, and of the quiet breathing space where people met each other.