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In the early late Edo period – around year 1800 – the services of a prostitute at one of the post-stations along Tokaido or Nakasendo cost between 300 and 500 mon. Let’s make it 400 mon, for simplicity’s case. At the same time, a bowl of soba at an inn cost around 16 mon. Let’s put the cost for the same soba today at 500 yen.
This tells us that FS around 200 years ago cost the Edo punter the equivalent of 25 bowls of soba. Today that would be 25 x 500 yen = 12,500 yen, not so far from today’s prices. We are here talking about the lower end of the market, of course. Services of Oiran, the highest ranked courtesan in Yoshiwara, cost very many times more.
12,500 yen will get you FS from a Chinese girl in Gotanda, or from delivery health shops with Thai girls. You might even get it from a Japanese girl you have picked up at Kirari, or other deai places. Plus the cost of the hotel, of course.
But, and there is a big “but”: at that time it was for the night. On the other hand, would I really want to spend the night with a Gotanda och Kirari girl, even if it was available for that modest price? I think not.
Fascinating facts I picked up from one of the best books I have read on Edo society:
“Selling Women – Prostitution, markets, and the household in early modern Japan” by Amy Stanley, Assistant Professor of History, Northwestern University, (University of California Press, 2012).
The Edo authorities had an ambivalent view on prostitution. It was seen as something unavoidable, but that needed to be strictly regulated and monitored. Pretty much like today. Almost all girls were sold by impoverished families into prostitution, for an agreed length of time. Many from what today is the Niigata prefecture. That was true also for the top girls of Yoshiwara.
This is where it becomes really interesting. In Confucian Edo the authorities generally viewed these girls positively, and often sided with them in conflicts with brothel owners, for example if they run away before finishing their contracts. In Confucian societies filial piety is one of the foremost virtues, and the girls were seen as sacrificing themselves for their parents and families. And society at large shared this view. The girls generally were accepted back into their communities after finishing their contracts, and could often go on to marry local boys.
The attitude was very different towards women who were seen as going into prostitution for their own gain, instead of being sold by their families. These women were called “widows”. Many had indeed lost their husbands and probably didn’t have many other options. But some simply choose this way freely. Regardless, society's view on these “widows” was condemning, and they could not expect any support from the authorities.
This tells us that FS around 200 years ago cost the Edo punter the equivalent of 25 bowls of soba. Today that would be 25 x 500 yen = 12,500 yen, not so far from today’s prices. We are here talking about the lower end of the market, of course. Services of Oiran, the highest ranked courtesan in Yoshiwara, cost very many times more.
12,500 yen will get you FS from a Chinese girl in Gotanda, or from delivery health shops with Thai girls. You might even get it from a Japanese girl you have picked up at Kirari, or other deai places. Plus the cost of the hotel, of course.
But, and there is a big “but”: at that time it was for the night. On the other hand, would I really want to spend the night with a Gotanda och Kirari girl, even if it was available for that modest price? I think not.
Fascinating facts I picked up from one of the best books I have read on Edo society:
“Selling Women – Prostitution, markets, and the household in early modern Japan” by Amy Stanley, Assistant Professor of History, Northwestern University, (University of California Press, 2012).
The Edo authorities had an ambivalent view on prostitution. It was seen as something unavoidable, but that needed to be strictly regulated and monitored. Pretty much like today. Almost all girls were sold by impoverished families into prostitution, for an agreed length of time. Many from what today is the Niigata prefecture. That was true also for the top girls of Yoshiwara.
This is where it becomes really interesting. In Confucian Edo the authorities generally viewed these girls positively, and often sided with them in conflicts with brothel owners, for example if they run away before finishing their contracts. In Confucian societies filial piety is one of the foremost virtues, and the girls were seen as sacrificing themselves for their parents and families. And society at large shared this view. The girls generally were accepted back into their communities after finishing their contracts, and could often go on to marry local boys.
The attitude was very different towards women who were seen as going into prostitution for their own gain, instead of being sold by their families. These women were called “widows”. Many had indeed lost their husbands and probably didn’t have many other options. But some simply choose this way freely. Regardless, society's view on these “widows” was condemning, and they could not expect any support from the authorities.
