The Modern Japanese “Family” and Phase of Prostitution

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  • HONDA Masataka
    Keio University Graduate School・The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 近代日本の「家族」と買売春の位相
  • 近代日本の「家族」と買売春の位相 : 廃娼・存娼論における「公娼/私娼」カテゴリーへの着目から
  • キンダイ ニホン ノ 「 カゾク 」 ト バイバイシュン ノ イソウ : ハイショウ ・ ゾンショウロン ニ オケル 「 コウショウ/シショウ 」 カテゴリー エ ノ チャクモク カラ
  • ――Formation of Categorization of “Licensed/Unlicensed Prostitution” in the Abolition/Maintenance of the Prostitution System――
  • ――廃娼・存娼論における「公娼／私娼」カテゴリーへの着目から――

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<p>My analysis revealed that arguments for the abolition of licensed prostitution criticized state-regulated prostitution from the viewpoint of the family as a “modern family” and the idea that problems regarding “sex” are entrusted to personal values. On the other hand, arguments for maintaining licensed prostitution criticized “unlicensed prostitution” from the idea of protecting “families” that coexisted with state-regulated prostitution. In conclusion, I was able to delineate within the discourse the strategies whereby the division between “licensed prostitutes” and “unlicensed prostitutes” was positioned within the arguments for abolition or maintenance of licensed prostitution. I also determined that state-regulated prostitution had reached a crisis point amidst the newly emergent sex culture, and the changing notions of “family” between “family/home” and “modern family.” The relationship between the ethical division of “wife” and “prostitute” and the permeation of the concept of “modern family” is an important theme in the historical sociological study of the modern Japanese family and sexuality. An earlier study regarding this division has shown that there was not necessarily any discrimination toward geisha and licensed prostitutes by the Tokugawa shogunate, however, after the Meiji Period, there was a clear process distinguishing “wives,” or “ women at home,” and “prostitutes”. However, an examination of modern Japanese discourse shows aspects at variance with the prior studies, including the division of the term “prostitute” into “licensed prostitute” and “unlicensed prostitute,” and a general tone suggesting the former coexist with the family model. In addition, in the prewar period, a model of “the family/home” that permitted sexual relations outside of marriage was dominant to a certain extent. Herein, based on the division between licensed and unlicensed prostitution and its relation to the abolition of licensed prostitution theory and the maintenance of licensed prostitution theory, I seek to clarify the multifaceted features of the relationship between prostitution and the family model in modern Japan.</p>

Journal

  • SOSHIOROJI

    SOSHIOROJI 60 (2), 21-38, 2015-10-01

    SHAKAIGAKU KENKYUKAI

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