Meishuya - famous sake shop

Generally speaking, the term "meishu-ya" refers to a store that sells brand-name sake, but the restaurant-style private brothels that operated mainly in Tokyo from the mid-Meiji to early Showa periods were also called "meishu-ya." This is because they ostensibly offered fine sake, but later many of the establishments did not have any dining facilities. Restaurants that employed barmaids also followed this pattern. There were one or two prostitutes per establishment, and in some cases the owner also worked as a prostitute. In Tokyo, the most famous were Twelve Floors Down in Asakusa, and Tama-no-i and Kameido, which moved from there around 1918 (Taisho 7).

[Yoichi Harashima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

一般には銘柄品の清酒を売る店をさすが、明治中期～昭和前期に東京を中心に営業した飲食店形式の私娼(ししょう)屋も銘酒屋といった。表向き銘酒を飲ませる体裁をとったからであるが、のちには飲食の設備のない店が多かった。酌婦(しゃくふ)を置く料理屋もこれに準じる。一店に娼婦1、2人で、店主が娼婦を兼ねる例もあった。東京では浅草の十二階下、そこから1918年（大正7）ごろ移転した玉の井・亀戸(かめいど)が有名であった。

［原島陽一］

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