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The Namazu, also called the Onamazu, is a creature in Japanese mythology and folktales. The Namazu is a gigantic catfish said to cause earthquakes and tremors. Living in the mud under the Japanese isles, the Namazu is guarded by the protector god Kashima, who restrains the catfish using the <i>kaname-ishi</i> rock. Whenever Kashima lets his guard down, Namazu thrashes about and causes violent earthquakes.<br/><br/> The Namazu rose to new fame and popularity after the Ansei great earthquakes that happened near Edo in 1855. This led to the Namazu being worshipped as a god of world rectification (<i>yonaoshi daimyojin</i>), sent by the gods to correct some of the imbalances in the world.<br/><br/> Catfish woodblock prints known as <i>namazu-e</i> became their own popular genre within days of the earthquake. They were usually unsigned and often depicted scenes of a namazu or many namazu atoning for their deeds. They were quickly squashed by the Tokugawa Shogunate, the prints censored and destroyed, with only a handful surviving to this day.
The Tankas (pinyin: Danjia) or boat people are an ethnic subgroup in Southern China who have traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, and Zhejiang provinces, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. Historically, the Tankas were considered to be outcasts. Since they were boat people who lived by the sea, they were sometimes referred to as 'sea gypsies' by the Chinese and British.<br/><br/> The Tanka also formed a class of prostitutes in Canton operating the boats in Canton's Pearl River which functioned as brothels, they did not practice foot binding and their dialect was unique. They were forbidden to marry Chinese or live on land. Their ancestors were the natives of Southern China before the Chinese expelled them to their current home on the water.
The Tankas (pinyin: Danjia) or boat people are an ethnic subgroup in Southern China who have traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, and Zhejiang provinces, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. Historically, the Tankas were considered to be outcasts. Since they were boat people who lived by the sea, they were sometimes referred to as 'sea gypsies' by the Chinese and British.<br/><br/> The Tanka also formed a class of prostitutes in Canton operating the boats in Canton's Pearl River which functioned as brothels, they did not practice foot binding and their dialect was unique. They were forbidden to marry Chinese or live on land. Their ancestors were the natives of Southern China before the Chinese expelled them to their current home on the water.
The Nectarine brothel in Yokohama was a famous house of prostitution also known as No.9 or Jimpuro. Until the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Jimpuro was one of the top brothels of the city. It was originally opened in 1872 in Yokohama’s Takashima-cho.<br/><br/> In 1882, Jimpuro moved to the less visible area of Eiraku-cho. A branch specifically for foreigners was opened at the red-light district of Kanagawa’s Nanaken-machi. The brothel was called No. 9, because this was Jimpuro’s original address in Takashima-cho.
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan.<br/><br/> This foreign presence marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a foreign power. It transformed the country into a parliamentary democracy that recalled American 'New Deal' priorities of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt.<br/><br/> The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951 and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's independence – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was restored.
The Nectarine brothel in Yokohama was a famous house of prostitution also known as No.9 or Jimpuro. Until the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Jimpuro was one of the top brothels of the city. It was originally opened in 1872 in Yokohama’s Takashima-cho.<br/><br/> In 1882, Jimpuro moved to the less visible area of Eiraku-cho. A branch specifically for foreigners was opened at the red-light district of Kanagawa’s Nanaken-machi. The brothel was called No. 9, because this was Jimpuro’s original address in Takashima-cho.
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan.<br/><br/> This foreign presence marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a foreign power. It transformed the country into a parliamentary democracy that recalled American 'New Deal' priorities of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt.<br/><br/> The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951 and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's independence – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was restored.
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan.<br/><br/> This foreign presence marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a foreign power. It transformed the country into a parliamentary democracy that recalled American 'New Deal' priorities of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt.<br/><br/> The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951 and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's independence – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was restored.
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan.<br/><br/> This foreign presence marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a foreign power. It transformed the country into a parliamentary democracy that recalled American 'New Deal' priorities of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt.<br/><br/> The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951 and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's independence – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was restored.
The Nectarine brothel in Yokohama was a famous house of prostitution also known as No.9 or Jimpuro. Until the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Jimpuro was one of the top brothels of the city. It was originally opened in 1872 in Yokohama’s Takashima-cho.<br/><br/> In 1882, Jimpuro moved to the less visible area of Eiraku-cho. A branch specifically for foreigners was opened at the red-light district of Kanagawa’s Nanaken-machi. The brothel was called No. 9, because this was Jimpuro’s original address in Takashima-cho.
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan.<br/><br/> This foreign presence marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a foreign power. It transformed the country into a parliamentary democracy that recalled American 'New Deal' priorities of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt.<br/><br/> The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951 and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's independence – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was restored.
Yoshiwara was a famous Akasen district (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan.<br/><br/> The courtesans would consist of yujo (women of pleasure/prostitutes), kamuro (young female students), shinzo (senior female students), hashi-joro (lower-ranking courtesans), koshi-joro (high-ranking courtesans), tayu (higher-ranking courtesans), oiran (highest ranking courtesans).<br/><br/> The unfortunate women in caged brothels represented the lowest rank of prostitute in Yoshiwara and other red light areas.
During the colonial era, just south of Yan’an Donglu (then called Edward VII Avenue) ran the Rue du Consulat – today’s Jinling Donglu – leading from the waterfront to the French Concession. Somewhere off this road was a small lane called Rue Chu Pao San, renamed Xikou Lu after 1949, but since, apparently, swept away in the tide of redevelopment.<br/><br/> In its heyday Rue Chu Pao San rejoiced in the European nickname ‘Blood Alley’ – a lane of teeming vice, brothels and low bars frequented by sailors on shore leave from the Huangpu docks. Ralph Shaw, a Briton who lived in Shanghai during the 1930s, records that Blood Alley fairly swarmed with ‘a legion of Chinese, Korean, Annamite, White Russian, Filipino and Formosan women’, in search of a similar legion of ‘kilted Seaforth Highlanders, tall U.S. Navy men, seamen from the Liverpool tramps, and French Grenadiers’, who ‘had ears only for the girls clinging to them in the half light of dance-floor alcoves’.<br/><br/> Blood Alley, as the name suggests, was a rough and violent place ‘entirely dedicated to wine, women, song and all-night lechery’.
Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (名所江戸百景), actually composed of 118 woodblock landscape and genre scenes of mid-19th century Tokyo, is one of the greatest achievements of Japanese art. The series includes many of Hiroshige's most famous prints. It represents a celebration of the style and world of Japan's finest cultural flowering at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate.<br/><br/> The winter group, numbers 99 through 118, begins with a scene of Kinryūzan Temple at Akasaka, with a red-on-white color scheme that is reserved for propitious occasions. Snow immediately signals the season and is depicted with particular skill: individual snowflakes drift through the gray sky, while below, on the roof of a distant temple, dots of snow are embossed for visual effect.<br/><br/> Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重, 1797 – October 12, 1858) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andō Hiroshige (安藤 広重) (an irregular combination of family name and art name) and by the art name of Ichiyūsai Hiroshige (一幽斎廣重).
Yoshiwara (吉原) was a famous Akasen district (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tōkyō, Japan.<br/><br/> In the early 17th century, there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka. To counter this, an order of Tokugawa Hidetada of the Tokugawa shogunate restricted prostitution to designated city districts. These districts were Shimabara for Kyōto (1640), Shinmachi for Ōsaka (1624–1644) and Yoshiwara for Edo (1617). The main reason for establishing these nightless cities was the Tokugawa shogunate's trying to prevent the nouveau riche chōnin (townsmen) from political intrigue.<br/><br/> People involved in mizu shōbai (水商売?) 'water trade' would include hōkan (comedians), kabuki (popular theatre of the time), dancers, dandies, rakes, tea-shop girls, Kanō (painters of the official school of painting), courtesans who resided in seirō (green houses) and geisha in their okiya houses.<br/><br/> The courtesans would consist of yūjo (women of pleasure/prostitutes), kamuro (young female students), shinzō (senior female students), hashi-jōro (lower-ranking courtesans), kōshi-jōro (high-ranking courtesans just below tayū), tayū (high-ranking courtesans), oiran ('castle-topplers', named that way for how quickly they could part a daimyō (lord) from his money), yarite (older chaperones for an oiran), and the yobidashi who replaced the tayū when they were priced out of the market.<br/><br/> In addition to courtesans, there were also geisha/geiko, maiko (apprentice geishas), otoko geisha (male geishas), danna (patrons of a geisha), and okasan (geisha teahouse managers). The lines between geisha and courtesans were sharply drawn, however - a geisha was never to be sexually involved with a customer, though there were exceptions.
Fuzhou Road and the surrounding side streets and alleys emerged as the main centre of street prostitution in Shanghai during the 1890s, and by the 1920s was notorious as the city's largest 'red light' area (although traditionally Chinese indicated such areas not with red lights, but with green lanterns.<br/><br/> Much of the prostitution was controlled by criminal organisations such as the infamous 'Green Gang' run by Du Yuesheng and his henchmen.
The 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake, also known as the Great Ansei Earthquake, was one of the major disasters of the late-Edo period. The earthquake occurred at 22:00 local time on 11 November. It had an epicenter close to Edo (now Tokyo), causing considerable damage in the Kantō region from the shaking and subsequent fires, with a death toll of about 7,000 people.<br/><br/> The earthquake also triggered a tsunami. Within days, a new type of color woodblock print known as <i>namazu-e</i> (lit. 'catfish pictures') became popular among the residents of the shaken city. These prints featured depictions of mythical giant catfish (<i>namazu</i>) who, according to popular legend, caused earthquakes and related tsunami by thrashing about in their underground lairs. In addition to providing humor and social commentary, many prints claimed to offer protection as talismans from future earthquakes.<br/><br/> The popularity of <i>namazu-e</i> exploded, and as many as four hundred different types became available. The phenomenon ended two months later when the Tokugawa government, which maintained a strict system of censorship over the publishing industry, forbade production. Only a handful are known to survive today.
After the defeat of Imperial Japan in 1945, the Japanese authorities feared that US occupation forces might exploit Japanese women in the same way that the Japanese army had raped and brutalized women throughout East Asia during the war years. Accordingly, a ‘Recreation and Amusement Association’ was set up to ‘construct a dike to hold back the mad frenzy of the occupation troops and cultivate and preserve the purity of our race long into the future…’. By 1946 it was clear that the American forces were not about to go on raping sprees, and also that Japanese prostitutes, operating independently and often dressed as ‘geisha’ to appeal to the GIs, were doing brisk business. Faced with this reality, the Recreation and Amusement Association was shut down in 1946.
Karayuki-san ('Miss Gone-overseas') were Japanese women who travelled to East Asia and Southeast Asia in the second half of the 19th century to work as prostitutes. Many of these women are said to have originated from the Amakusa Islands of Kumamoto Prefecture, which had a large and long-stigmatized Japanese Christian community. Many of the women who went overseas to work as karayuki-san were the daughters of poor agricultural or fishing families.<br/><br/> The end of the Meiji period was the golden age for karayuki-san, and the girls that would go on these overseas voyages were known fondly as the joshigun or 'army of girls'. As Japan developed, the presence of karayuki-san overseas was considered shameful. During the 1910s and 1920s, Japanese officials overseas worked hard to eliminate Japanese brothels and maintain Japanese prestige.
Karayuki-san ('Miss Gone-overseas') were Japanese women who travelled to East Asia and Southeast Asia in the second half of the 19th century to work as prostitutes. Many of these women are said to have originated from the Amakusa Islands of Kumamoto Prefecture, which had a large and long-stigmatized Japanese Christian community. Many of the women who went overseas to work as karayuki-san were the daughters of poor agricultural or fishing families.<br/><br/> The end of the Meiji period was the golden age for karayuki-san, and the girls that would go on these overseas voyages were known fondly as the joshigun or 'army of girls'. As Japan developed, the presence of karayuki-san overseas was considered shameful. During the 1910s and 1920s, Japanese officials overseas worked hard to eliminate Japanese brothels and maintain Japanese prestige.
Prostitutes were divided into four grades during the declining years of the Qing Dynasty. The first grade were not only attractive but also accomplished in playing musical instruments and singing. The second grade were very attractive but not artistically talented. The third grade were 'ordinary looking'. The fourth grade were older women. (From a Chinese description of this picture).
Oiran (花魁) were the courtesans of Edo period Japan. The oiran were considered a type of yūjo (遊女) 'woman of pleasure' or prostitute. However, they were distinguished from the yūjo in that they were entertainers, and many became celebrities of their times outside the pleasure districts. Their art and fashions often set trends among the wealthy and, because of this, cultural aspects of oiran traditions continue to be preserved to this day.<br/><br/> The oiran arose in the Edo period (1600–1868). At this time, laws were passed restricting brothels to walled districts set some distance from the city center. In the major cities these were the Shimabara in Kyoto, the Shinmachi in Osaka, and the Yoshiwara in Edo (present-day Tokyo).<br/><br/> These rapidly grew into large, self-contained 'pleasure quarters' offering all manner of entertainments. Within, a courtesan’s birth rank held no distinction, which was fortunate considering many of the courtesans originated as the daughters of impoverished families who were sold into this lifestyle as indentured servants. Instead, they were categorized based on their beauty, character, education, and artistic ability.<br/><br/> Among the oiran, the tayū (太夫) was considered the highest rank of courtesan and were considered suitable for the daimyo or feudal lords. In the mid-1700s courtesan rankings began to disappear and courtesans of all classes were collectively known simply as 'oiran'.<br/><br/> The word oiran comes from the Japanese phrase oira no tokoro no nēsan (おいらの所の姉さ) which translates as 'my elder sister'. When written in Japanese, it consists of two kanji, 花 meaning 'flower', and 魁 meaning 'leader' or 'first', hence 'Leading Flower' or 'First Flower'.
Yoshiwara (吉原) was a famous Akasen district (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tōkyō, Japan.<br/><br/> In the early 17th century, there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka. To counter this, an order of Tokugawa Hidetada of the Tokugawa shogunate restricted prostitution to designated city districts. These districts were Shimabara for Kyōto (1640), Shinmachi for Ōsaka (1624–1644) and Yoshiwara for Edo (1617). The main reason for establishing these nightless cities was the Tokugawa shogunate's trying to prevent the nouveau riche chōnin (townsmen) from political intrigue.<br/><br/> People involved in mizu shōbai (水商売?) 'water trade' would include hōkan (comedians), kabuki (popular theatre of the time), dancers, dandies, rakes, tea-shop girls, Kanō (painters of the official school of painting), courtesans who resided in seirō (green houses) and geisha in their okiya houses.<br/><br/> The courtesans would consist of yūjo (women of pleasure/prostitutes), kamuro (young female students), shinzō (senior female students), hashi-jōro (lower-ranking courtesans), kōshi-jōro (high-ranking courtesans just below tayū), tayū (high-ranking courtesans), oiran ('castle-topplers', named that way for how quickly they could part a daimyō (lord) from his money), yarite (older chaperones for an oiran), and the yobidashi who replaced the tayū when they were priced out of the market.<br/><br/> In addition to courtesans, there were also geisha/geiko, maiko (apprentice geishas), otoko geisha (male geishas), danna (patrons of a geisha), and okasan (geisha teahouse managers). The lines between geisha and courtesans were sharply drawn, however - a geisha was never to be sexually involved with a customer, though there were exceptions.
Oiran (花魁) were the courtesans of Edo period Japan. The oiran were considered a type of yūjo (遊女) 'woman of pleasure' or prostitute. However, they were distinguished from the yūjo in that they were entertainers, and many became celebrities of their times outside the pleasure districts. Their art and fashions often set trends among the wealthy and, because of this, cultural aspects of oiran traditions continue to be preserved to this day.<br/><br/> The oiran arose in the Edo period (1600–1868). At this time, laws were passed restricting brothels to walled districts set some distance from the city center. In the major cities these were the Shimabara in Kyoto, the Shinmachi in Osaka, and the Yoshiwara in Edo (present-day Tokyo).<br/><br/> These rapidly grew into large, self-contained 'pleasure quarters' offering all manner of entertainments. Within, a courtesan’s birth rank held no distinction, which was fortunate considering many of the courtesans originated as the daughters of impoverished families who were sold into this lifestyle as indentured servants. Instead, they were categorized based on their beauty, character, education, and artistic ability.<br/><br/> Among the oiran, the tayū (太夫) was considered the highest rank of courtesan and were considered suitable for the daimyo or feudal lords. In the mid-1700s courtesan rankings began to disappear and courtesans of all classes were collectively known simply as 'oiran'.<br/><br/> The word oiran comes from the Japanese phrase oira no tokoro no nēsan (おいらの所の姉さ) which translates as 'my elder sister'. When written in Japanese, it consists of two kanji, 花 meaning 'flower', and 魁 meaning 'leader' or 'first', hence 'Leading Flower' or 'First Flower'.
Fuzhou Road and the surrounding side streets and alleys emerged as the main centre of street prostitution in Shanghai during the 1890s, and by the 1920s was notorious as the city's largest 'red light' area (although traditionally Chinese indicated such areas not with red lights, but with green lanterns.<br/><br/> Much of the prostitution was controlled by criminal organisations such as the infamous 'Green Gang' run by Du Yuesheng and his henchmen.
Illustration by the Austrian artist Friedrich Schiff, who lived in Shanghai during the 1930s and 1940s. His images exemplify the 'anything goes' atmosphere and indulgence amidst poverty that characterised Old Shanghai and which would soon be brought to an abrupt end by Japanese invasion (1937) and Communist revolution (1949).
Yoshiwara was a famous Akasen district (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan.<br/><br/> The courtesans would consist of yujo (women of pleasure/prostitutes), kamuro (young female students), shinzo (senior female students), hashi-joro (lower-ranking courtesans), koshi-joro (high-ranking courtesans), tayu (higher-ranking courtesans), oiran (highest ranking courtesans).<br/><br/> The unfortunate women in caged brothels represented the lowest rank of prostitute in Yoshiwara and other red light areas.
T. Enami (Enami Nobukuni, 1859 – 1929) was the trade name of a celebrated Meiji period photographer. The T. of his trade name is thought to have stood for Toshi, though he never spelled it out on any personal or business document.<br/><br/> Born in Edo (now Tokyo) during the Bakumatsu era, Enami was first a student of, and then an assistant to the well known photographer and collotypist, Ogawa Kazumasa. Enami relocated to Yokohama, and opened a studio on Benten-dōri (Benten Street) in 1892. Just a few doors away from him was the studio of the already well known Tamamura Kozaburō. He and Enami would work together on at least three related projects over the years.<br/><br/> Enami became quietly unique as the only photographer of that period known to work in all popular formats, including the production of large-format photographs compiled into what are commonly called "Yokohama Albums". Enami went on to become Japan's most prolific photographer of small-format images such as the stereoview and glass lantern-slides. The best of these were delicately hand-tinted.