答手 - 行手

Japanese: 遣手 - やりて

A woman who supervises the prostitutes, shinzo, and kamuro (maids) at a brothel. She is also called a yari-te-baba (old lady who sends prostitutes) and has another name, kyosha-ya (trafficked carriage). In addition to monitoring the actions of the prostitutes, she was in charge of managing the front lines of the brothel, assessing the customers and judging the level of entertainment, and her name was also published in the saiken-rui (classical guidebooks). She is often portrayed as a bad woman who scolds prostitutes who go against the rules of the business, but at larger establishments she took care of them by enforcing good manners and providing them with advice. Only former prostitutes or other people related to the brothel could work as a prostitute, but she was either unpaid or paid a small amount, and her income came from gifts and commission on entertainment fees.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

妓楼で遊女，新造，かむろ(禿)を監督する女。遣手婆（やりてばば）ともいい，また香車（きようしや）の別称がある。遊女らの行動を監視するほか，遊客を品定めして遊興の程度をはかるなど，遊女屋の最前線を統轄する役であり，細見（さいけん）類にも名まえが掲載された。営業に反する遊女をせっかんする悪婆として描かれることが多いが，大店（おおみせ）では行儀のしつけや相談相手などの世話をした。遊女上がりなどの遊郭関係者でなければ務まらないが，給料は無給か少額で，祝儀金や遊興費の歩合を収入とした。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Yari no Gonza Kasane Katabira - Yari no Gonza Kasane Katabira

>>: Yelu Daseki - The Great Stone