The glittering world of the Japanese courtesan?

Postcard depicting a Japanese courtesan, postmarked 1903.

The two woodblock prints shown here, both by Utamaro, are from the series Seirô yûkun awase kagami (A Mirror of Courtesans of the Green Houses), published by Yamadaya Sanshirô around 1797. The print to the right depicts Kasugano and Utahama of the Tamaya brothel, whilst the one below depicts the famous courtesan Hanaôgi alongside Takigawa from the Ôgiya brothel. The highest ranking courtesans of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter were celebrities, highly accomplished and renowned for their beauty. They were poets, calligraphers and musicians, having undergone years of training to achieve their high rank within the quarter. These women wore the finest brocades, adorned their hair with hairpins made from gold and silver, and attracted the attentions of some of the wealthiest men in the city.

When looking at images of glamourous courtesans in all their finery, it is easy to see only the yards of luxurious dresses and perfectly coiffured hairstyles, and to forget that they were real-life women, sold into prostitution at a young age, in debt up to their ears due to a system of abuse which sought to keep them enslaved until their late twenties at least, and imprisoned within the Yoshiwara quarter, unable to come and go as they wished.

Women who were required to exhibit themselves within the latticed cages (called harimise, see images below) at the fronts of the brothels, were forced to sit in a manner which made them attractive to male passers-by, so they could not relax regardless of the length of time spent on display. They were expected to keep bathroom visits to a minimum, were scolded if they became too jovial, and when in the company of a client were not allowed to eat regardless of how hungry they might be. Their entire existence revolved around maintaining a front which made them attractive and desirable, regardless of their own personal feelings regarding their state of being.

This does not change the fact that the works of artists who sought to capture the beauty of these women are wonderful designs, worthy of praise for their artistic merit. But the suffering of the subject should not be glossed over in order to make the viewer more comfortable when viewing such prints.

Courtesans on display in the harimise, from Utamaro's illustrated album Seirô ehon nenjû gyôji (Annals of the Green Houses), published in 1804.


Postcard showing courtesans on display in the Yoshiwara, circa 1910. Putting women on display was prohibited from 1916.