Prostitute - Yujo

A typical name for prostitutes before the modern era. In the Heian period, prostitutes were called asobime, which was later read aloud to become yujo. It is unclear when prostitutes first appeared in Japan, but the term ukareme appears in the Man'yoshu, and the existence of wandering prostitutes is confirmed. The prevailing theory is that yujo were a type of shrine maiden with entertainment characteristics, but there are also theories that they were naturalized immigrants, and this has yet to be confirmed. Later, at the end of the Heian period, puppet girls who imitated dolls and shirabyoshi who performed male dances were added as new types of prostitutes. There was a close relationship between female entertainers and prostitutes, including female kabuki that appeared later in the early modern period. This is one aspect that makes up the emotional element of prostitution, and is an important factor that distinguishes prostitutes who are only interested in releasing physiological sexual desires.

Some of the puppet girls settled in one place, but essentially they were wandering or itinerant in nature. In response to social development, particularly the development of transportation, post stations, and cities, the number of prostitutes who settled in areas with high population density increased. They were called by various names, such as "fukare me," "yujo," "gijo," and "keisei," but all of these were merely nicknames or elegant expressions and did not express differences in the region or type of business. Among them, "yujo" was used as the most general or generic name. The name encompassed a wide range of people, and water prostitutes in Eguchi (Osaka City) and Kanzaki (Hyogo Prefecture) downstream of the Yodo River were also called yujo. The presence of prostitutes who settled in post stations meant that brothels had been established, and new employment relationships with prostitutes were created there, while behind the scenes, human trafficking and selling became commonplace. It is believed that the number of prostitutes further increased in the late Middle Ages with the development of castle towns and temple towns. In the early modern period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi first established brothels in Kyoto and Osaka and formally established the public prostitution system, which was inherited by the Edo Shogunate. However, the officially recognized prostitutes were not homogeneous. In the early period, there were already three classes, tayu, koshi, and hashi, and in later periods, there were cases where they were further divided into more than ten types. Although the names of these classifications vary depending on the era and region, they all had in common that the evaluation of the prostitutes' looks and skills reflected their treatment and status, leading not only to large differences in the fees paid but also to decisive differences in the form of entertainment. Because the Edo Shogunate's public prostitution policy was inconsistent, there were private prostitutes in addition to public prostitutes, and their names and forms were diverse. The concept of prostitutes at that time was unclear, and although it was sometimes used to refer to all prostitutes, it generally meant public prostitutes, and in the narrow sense it meant tayu and oiran, the higher-ranking public prostitutes. This was probably because they were considered to be the successors of the lineage of performing prostitutes from ancient times, but tayu and the like only made up 1-5% of each brothel, and gradually became a minority, and prostitutes with performing skills tended to move to private prostitution instead. In the early modern period, prostitutes were basically employed as indentured servants, and in rare cases they were bought out during their contract, but their freedom of life was severely restricted, as they were prohibited from going outside the brothel. After the Meiji period, the public prostitution system was further strengthened and improved, but because the names of public prostitutes were unified as prostitutes and their quality declined, the names jorō and oiran remained as colloquial names, but they were no longer called prostitutes. With the abolition of licensed prostitution in 1946 (Showa 21), the prostitute system disappeared completely.

[Yoichi Harashima]

"The Life of Prostitutes" by Nakano Eizo (1965, Yuzankaku Publishing)" ▽ "The History of Prostitutes" by Takikawa Masajiro (1977, Shibundo Publishing)" ▽ "Prostitutes" by Nishiyama Matsunosuke (1979, Kondo Publishing)" ▽ "Illustrated Book of Prostitutes and the Red Light Districts" by Ono Takeo (1983, Tenbosha Publishing)" ▽ "The World of Prostitutes" edited by Imado Eiichi (1985, NHK Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

近代以前の売春婦に対する代表的名称。平安時代に遊女(あそびめ)とよばれたものが、のち音読して遊女となったものである。売春婦がいつごろ日本に発生したかは不明だが、『万葉集』に遊行女婦(うかれめ)の語があって、放浪売春婦の存在が認められる。遊行女婦は、遊芸人としての性格をもった巫女(みこ)の一種であるとする説が有力だが、帰化人説などもあり、いまだ確定していない。その後、平安時代の末期に人形物真似(ものまね)をみせる傀儡女(くぐつめ)、男舞(おとこまい)の演技者である白拍子(しらびょうし)などが、売春婦の新形態として加わった。女芸人と遊女との間には、のちに現れる近世初頭の女歌舞伎(かぶき)を含めて密接な関係があった。これは売春における情緒的要素を構成する一側面であって、生理的な性欲発散だけが目的の売春婦との差を示す重要な因子となる。

　傀儡女らのなかには1か所に定住するものもあったが、本質的には放浪または巡行する性格のものであった。これに対し、社会の進展、とくに交通・宿駅・都市の発達に応じて、人間の集中する地区に定住する売春婦が増加した。彼女らは、浮かれ女(め)、遊女、妓女(ぎじょ)、傾城(けいせい)などいろいろな名でよばれたが、いずれも別称や雅言に類するもので、地域性や営業形態の差を表現したものではない。そのなかで遊女はもっとも一般的な名称または総称として使われた。名称の包含する範囲は広く、淀(よど)川下流の江口(えぐち)（大阪市）・神崎(かんざき)（兵庫県）の水上売春婦も遊女とよばれていた。宿駅などに定住する遊女の存在は、遊女屋が成立していたことを意味し、そこに新しく遊女との雇用関係を生じ、背後では人買いや身売りが日常化した。中世末期には城下町や門前町などの発展とともに遊女の数はさらに増加したと考えられる。近世になると、まず豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉が京都・大坂などに遊廓(ゆうかく)を設置して正式に公娼(こうしょう)制を敷き、江戸幕府はこれを継承した。しかし、公認された遊女が均質だったわけではなく、初期においてすでに太夫(たゆう)・格子(こうし)・端(はし)の3階級があり、後期には10数種に細分された例もあった。こうした区分は、時代や地域によって名称なども一様でないが、容色や技量の優劣による評価が遊女の待遇や格式に反映し、揚代(あげだい)に大差がつくだけでなく遊興形式に決定的な差をもたらすことは共通していた。江戸幕府の公娼政策が不徹底なため、公娼のほかに私娼もいて、その名称と形態は多様であった。そのころの遊女の概念は明確でなく、売春婦全体に用いることもあったが、一般には公娼をさすことが多く、狭義には公娼のなかでも上級の太夫や花魁(おいらん)を意味した。それは、古代以来の芸能売春婦の系統を継ぐものとみなしたからであろうが、太夫などは各遊廓に1～5％しかおらず、しだいに少数となって、有芸の売春婦はむしろ一部の私娼に移る傾向があった。近世における遊女の雇用形態は、基本的には身売り的年季奉公であり、まれに年季中に身請(みうけ)されることがあったが、遊廓外へ出ることを禁じられたように生活の自由は著しく制限された。明治以後は、公娼制がさらに強化整備されたが、公娼の名称が娼妓に統一されたことと、質が低下したために、女郎、花魁などは俗称として残ったが、もはや遊女とよぶことはなくなった。そして1946年（昭和21）の公娼制廃止により、遊女の系統は完全に消滅した。

［原島陽一］

『中野栄三著『遊女の生活』（1965・雄山閣出版）』▽『滝川政次郎著『遊女の歴史』（1977・至文堂）』▽『西山松之助著『遊女』（1979・近藤出版社）』▽『小野武雄著『遊女と廓の図誌』（1983・展望社）』▽『今戸栄一編『遊女の世界』（1985・日本放送出版協会）』

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