SAKAKIBARA Takao - Immaculate Beauty and a 500 Million Yen Pawnbroker - Late 18th Century
The Yoshiwara brothel in Edo. Tayu Takao, a courtesan in the employ of Biya Shirozaemon, was an oiran (courtesan) who made a name for herself throughout Edo. She became a tayu at the age of 13, and in just a few years reigned as a prostitute of the highest rank, combining "chic" and "tension.
Takao's beauty and talent attracted many men from the merchant class to the warrior class. She was especially famous for captivating the heart of Sakakibara Masacen, lord of the Himeji domain in Banshu. During his stay in Edo, the twenty-nine-year-old Masacen frequented Biya and became enamored with Takao.
Eventually, Masacen made up his mind to marry Takao off. The total amount was 2,500 ryo, plus 1,000 ryo for the "sohana" (gift) and 500 ryo for miscellaneous expenses, for a total of 6,000 ryo, or approximately 500 million yen in today's value. In today's terms, this would amount to approximately 500 million yen. This was an unprecedented amount of money even in Edo at the time, and it became a major topic of conversation.
An anecdote spread in Edo. It is whispered that Takao "invested the clan's fortune in a one-night dream," and it is said that Takao said in the tatami room, "My lord, give that money to your retainer as well. Her kindness and intelligence became the talk of the town among her fellow prostitutes.
At the time of her fall from grace, Takao is said to have tearfully described how her fate as a "caged bird" was about to change. The years that she lived with the support of her "tautness" (pride in not bending her way of life) and "vainglory" (pride in her outward appearance) have cast a deep shadow over the history of Yoshiwara.
However, Masacen's huge expenditures put pressure on the clan's finances, and he was later placed under house arrest by the shogunate. Even after Takao fell from the clan, he continued to be spoken of in Edo as a "legendary oiran (courtesan).
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