Ihei Muraoka - Ihei Muraoka

Japanese: 村岡伊平治 - むらおか・いへいじ

Year of death: 1943 (Showa 18)
Year of birth: October 10, 1867 (November 5, 1867)
A pimp (prostitute broker) who bought and sold karayuki in Southeast Asia during the Meiji and Taisho periods. He was born in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture. After working in Hong Kong and Shanghai, he opened a gambling hall and brothel in Singapore in 1890 (Meiji 23). Under the pretense of "contributing to the Imperial nation's southern development and rehabilitating ex-offenders," he used his many underlings to kidnap young girls from Japan, stow them away on the seas, and broker prostitutes widely across a wide area, mainly in Southeast Asia and extending to India and Australia, opening brothels. From 1900, he operated the same business in various parts of the Philippines, and also worked in various businesses and served as president of the Japanese Association. "Muraoka Iheiji's Autobiography" is a vivid inside story that, while full of exaggerations, is unlike any other, and it sparked subsequent research into the history of low-class women.

(Takashi Maeyama)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：昭和18?(1943)
生年：慶応3.10.10(1867.11.5)
東南アジアで明治大正期にからゆきを売買した女衒(売春婦周旋業者)。長崎県島原の出身。香港,上海などを経て1890(明治23)年シンガポールで賭博場・女郎屋を開業。「皇国の南方開拓に尽くし,前科者を更生」させると称して多数の子分を用いて日本から娘らを誘拐し,密航させ,東南アジアを主体にインド,オーストラリアに至る広域で手広く売春婦を斡旋,女郎屋を開業した。1900年よりフィリピン各地で同業を営むほか,各種事業を手掛け,日本人会会長などを歴任した。『村岡伊平治自伝』は誇張が多いが臨場感溢れる内幕物で,他に類書なく,その後の底辺女性史研究のきっかけを作った。

(前山隆)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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