Yujaku and Okayusho - Another genre of customs space in Monzenmachi (Edo Period)

Yujaku and Okayusho - Another genre of customs space in Monzenmachi (Edo Period)

During the Edo period, the shogunate established a public prostitution system centering on Yoshiwara to control prostitutes, but outside of Yoshiwara, unauthorized brothels called "okabasho" sprang up in temple and shrine gate towns and around cities. There, private prostitutes called "yujaku" dealt with common people and travelers visiting temples and shrines for pilgrimage and sightseeing, creating a unique sexual culture at a time when worship was associated with entertainment. Monzenmachi, which was crowded with visitors to Ise, Zenkoji, Nikko, and other places of worship throughout the country, naturally became a concentration point for private prostitutes, creating a unique landscape where religious and entertainment spaces coexisted.

Okayusho," or "bathhouses," were facilities that were disguised as public bathhouses or bathhouses but actually offered prostitution, and because they were inexpensive and easily accessible, they were widely popular among the common people who could not afford to commute to Yoshiwara. However, they were considered to be disruptive to public morals, and were often exposed during the Kanbun, Kansei, and Tempo Reforms, and other periods of thriftiness, forcing them to relocate or be abolished. Nevertheless, they did not disappear completely, and continued to exist on the periphery of the public prostitution system.

This was due to the growth of the city's population and the spread of the culture of visitation. As a result, private prostitutes and okayusho took root in urban society in response to demand. The customs of Edo were not limited to the splendor of the Yoshiwara, but also existed in diverse forms in everyday spaces, where the sexual culture of the common people and economic activities intersected.