[Article] Brothels, Customers, and Prostitutes of the Shin-Yoshiwara Red-Light District in the Late Tokugawa and Meiji Restoration Period : Based on Letters of Koina, Model for Yuichi Takahashi's Painting, A Courtesan, and Other Prostitutes of Inamoto-ya

This paper aims to provide a true picture of the Shin-Yoshiwara brothels, customers, and prostitutes in the late Tokugawa and Meiji Restoration period, using as the main source material the letters to customers of prostitutes at the Inamoto-ya brothel, a high-class brothel in the Shin-Yoshiwara red light district. Koina, a prostitute of the Inamoto-ya brothel, is known to be the model for Yuichi Takahashi's painting, A Courtesan. However, there is little research based on primary sources and even the basic facts have not been elucidated concerning the management situation of Inamoto-ya and Koina's personal history. In this paper, using materials such as the Yoshiwara saiken (a guidebook for visitors to Yoshiwara), I firstly confirm the basic facts concerning the process of expansion of Inamoto-ya from its beginnings in an unofficial red-light district to becoming one of the leading brothels of Shin-Yoshiwara and the personal history of the prostitute Koina. Secondly, using historical materials related to the loan funds run by temples and shrines in the name of Bukkoji Temple remaining in the family of Koemon Sakamoto, a wealthy farmer from Inoue Village in the Nakano magistrate's office district of Shinano Province, I elucidate the management situation of the Inamoto-ya brothel and the characteristics of its customers. Thirdly, by reading and interpreting the letters sent by Koina and other prostitutes to Koemon Sakamoto and other wealthy farmers, I explore the prostitutes' behavior and sensibilities and the characteristics of prostitutes' groups. From the above analysis a true picture emerges of the brothels, customers, and prostitutes, shedding light on the actual situation of brothels of late Tokugawa and Meiji Restoration period, where competition was systematized and hierarchies internalized within prostitutes' groups and order was maintained by violence, among other means.