Memories of Women Who Served the Gods - Origins and Genealogy of the Performing Arts of the Amusements - 8th Century to the Early Heian Period

Memories of Women Who Served the Gods - Origins and Genealogy of the Performing Arts of the Amusements - 8th Century to the Early Heian Period

Tracing the origins of prostitutes, we find that their appearance differs from the later stereotype of them as sex-sellers, but rather, they are portrayed as sacred entertainers. The "Asobiome," as they are called in the Manyoshu, were women who were invited to banquets to recite poems and perform dances in the aristocratic society of the 8th century. As their name implies, they acted as mediators of culture and faith as they traveled lightly through the countryside.

An even more distant origin of the yugo-no-womens is the goddess Ame-no-Uzume-no-mikoto, who is mentioned in the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) as the deity Amen-Uzume-no-mikoto. In the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), there is a famous scene in which Amaterasu danced with her breasts bare and her crotch exposed, making the gods laugh when the world was shrouded in darkness after the goddess Amaterasu was imprisoned in Ama-no-Iwato (Ama-no-Iwato). This myth symbolizes the ancient religious belief that sex, laughter, and the performing arts were inseparable, and is considered to be the origin of the performing arts groups later known as miko (shrine maidens) and asobi (playful girls).

The yusibe were women who existed under the tribal system of the 4th to 5th centuries and performed ceremonial dances and songs at the funeral rites of emperors (mourning palace). These women were allowed free passage to different countries as a privilege, and it is thought that with the dismantling of the bukyoku system, they were transformed into yugyo women who traveled around the countryside.

In the aristocratic society of the time (Nara - early Heian period), polygamy was the norm, and there was social tolerance for sexual enjoyment and mistress relationships. In this climate, prostitutes sometimes became "local wives" at aristocratic banquets. In the Manyoshu, Otomo no Iemochi, who was posted to Etchu, exchanges a song with his colleague Owari Shokunin regarding prostitutes, recording a scene in which sex, politics, and culture intersected.

Thus, ancient prostitutes were not "prostitutes," but women who performed religious and cultural functions. They served God and bridged the gap between faith and entertainment through singing and dancing. If there was sexual intercourse, it was not an exchange of money and economy, but was wrapped in a more fluid context of relationships and faith.

Given these origins, a prototype emerges that is very different from the image of the "Yoshiwara prostitute" of the Edo period. The prostitutes used to be those who conveyed the word of God through dance - this fact tells us that their history cannot be viewed from a one-sided perspective.