Against the Wavering of Passion and Greed: The Shogunate's Fear of Oiran and the Power of the Theatre (Edo Period)

Against the Wavering of Passion and Greed: The Shogunate's Fear of Oiran and the Power of the Theatre (Edo Period)

For the Edo shogunate, oiran (courtesans) and kabuki were more than mere amusements and amorous affairs. They were a dangerous and bewitching cultural device that crept into people's hearts through the cracks of the system and shook the very foundations of the feudal order. In particular, high-class courtesans called "tayu" excelled not only in appearance but also in waka poetry, calligraphy, and painting, attracting even warriors and intellectuals. Their amorous relations produced contacts that transcended the status system, and there were actual cases of distortion of loyalty and the family system, such as when a samurai abandoned his family to become a prostitute.

Kabuki, on the other hand, was also seen by the shogunate as a source of disorder. Wakashu kabuki and onna kabuki were banned because of their glamour, and although yaro kabuki remained, the performances sometimes represented the will of the people in the form of satire or political criticism. The stage was a place where spectators gathered, transcending the boundaries of hierarchy, such as samurai, merchants, and townspeople, and a place where "emotional solidarity" was fostered that transcended hierarchical relationships.

From an economic standpoint, the amount of money spent on courtesans and actors was enormous, leading to debt and financial ruin. The shogunate did not ban this culture completely, but kept it within the system by enclosing the brothels in Yoshiwara, censoring scripts and performances, and restricting the actors' names and costumes. However, behind the controlled glamor, the passion and desire generated by courtesans and theatrical performances quietly overcame the enclosure in the name of the system, sometimes shaking the behavior and values of the people themselves.

The greatest fear of the shogunate was that passion would overrule reason and love would overrule loyalty. Behind the pageantry of the theaters and brothels, a torrent of human greed and emotion that could not be controlled by the rulers was still alive and well.