Whispers Across the Lights - A Presence Echoing in the Corridors of Yoshiwara Late at Night - circa early 1800s

Whispers Across the Lights - A Presence Echoing in the Corridors of Yoshiwara Late at Night - circa early 1800s

The night of Yoshiwara sinks into a deep well of silence after the ox-dog time. After the noise and the swirl of lights have died down, a young patrolling officer called a "suspicious guard" walks like a shadow through the corridors, relying on the weak light of an axe lamp. Yoshiwara was known as an area prone to fires, and there are records of large fires that burned down the area in the Bunka and Bunsei eras, so nighttime surveillance was an indispensable duty. The sight of the men oiling the lanterns, checking to see if there was a fire source lurking, and looking around for signs of unusual activity in the guest rooms and brothels symbolizes the tension that existed in the brothels themselves.

A courtesan quietly appears from the end of the corridor. She walks as if checking her footsteps, holding a piece of norenshi in her right hand. Her figure is pale, as if melting in the shadows, unlike the opulence of the day. The reasons for the oiran to go out into the corridors late at night were various, such as running errands, feeling unwell, or just taking a short rest after the guests had gone to bed. In Yoshiwara at that time, there was a string of heart attacks, and records show that there was a particular increase during the Bunsei and Tempo periods, which led to strict restrictions on the nighttime activities of prostitutes.

The exchange between a suspicious guard and a courtesan who passed by in the corridor must have remained as a definite sign, although it was not audible. The guard would whisper, "Are you all right? and the oiran would reply in a hushed voice, "I'll be right back. Or even without exchanging words, the flickering of the lanterns would have alerted them to each other's presence, and in the moment of overlapping shadows, tension and relief would have intersected. The structure of the Yoshiwara building was a labyrinth of long corridors with strong sound reverberation, so that the sound of footsteps and the creaking of sliding doors were very noticeable in the silence of the night. Even among researchers, it is said that "Yoshiwara was a space dominated by sound.

These late-night corridors reflect a different Yoshiwara from the glamorous front. They are the tiredness and tension of the oiran, the fleeting freedom of the oiran, and the watchful eyes that support the closed world. The shadows of the lanterns illuminate the profiles of the courtesans, and the footsteps of passing watchmen dissolve into the darkness. This quiet intermingling of signs and sounds is the depths of daily life in Yoshiwara that cannot be recorded, a history of small breaths spun in the darkness.