ABSTRACT
Whenaguestwishestobeaccommodatedwitha"temporarywife,"andentersthehousetowhichshebelongs,heis ledbyawakai-monototheM,ki-tsuke-zashiki(introduction chamber).Ifheglancesroundtheroomhewillperhapsfind thealcovedecoratedwithalargekakemono(hanging-picture) representingtherisingsunandastork,theceilingpainted withanenormousphrenix,andeverythingsospickandspan thathewillwonderwhetherheisinfairyland.Candlesare nowlighted,andablack-lacqueredtobacco-boxbroughtin. Nextasetofthreesnke-cupsareproducedwithwhichto perform(thoughnominally)thenecessarynuptialceremony calledthe"san-san-ku-do"inimitationofthecustomobservedatarealwedding.Thegirlthenappearsaccompaniedby hershinzowhoplaysthepartofago-between(nnkodo-yaku) forthecouplebyutteringtheconventionalphrasesof"annta" and"konnta,"andtheunholy"marriage"ceremonyis
finished. After this the yujo retires to change her clothes, (o me.shi-kae) and at the same time the guest is conducted to her apartments where the table is laid ready and a charcoal fire is glowing in an enormous brazier. This bright red, and almost incandescent charcoal fire, always reminds 'one of the ardent passion of the poor devil of a guest in the next room, who alone and waiting for his partner glows with all the rage of jealousy and intense longing.! Food is served in dishes of enormous size, but the net. contents of these platters are microscopic, so the " feast" amounts to little more than a mere show and is just sufficiently imposing to warrant being handsomely charged for in the bill under the title of " On ry'Ori" (the august repast). The chopsticks used are new for the occasion and are regular wari-bashi (a stick made of 81tgi wood with a split at one end, used as chopsticks by splitting it in two) but, alas! they too are soon prostituted to base uses, being used as snuffers to cut candle wicks, and even as tongs for the hibachi of a tenantless room !*
It is curious to note that when tea-house people offer a .saM-cup to the yfi;jo they invariably sit obliquely, partially turning their backs to the guest and never facing him directly. Perhaps this custom unintentionally betrays their secret intention of sitting on the visitor, squeezing him for aU he is worth, and then kicking him out! The yfi}o herself at the first meeting with a new guest is apt to look askant at the latter and ''draw" him by occasionally gossiping about her "sistersin-vice." Every now and again one may faintly hear the sound of a pipe being sharply struck against a bamboo spittoon
in a neighbouring room : this is probably a signal that your neighbour is lonely and weary of waiting for his sleeping-companion, and you may make up your mind that he is craning his neck forward and straining his ears to catch the sound of her returning footsteps. It is said that a warrior awakens at the jingling of a horse's bridle-bit, but, under the above circumstances, the sound of a woman's sandaled feet shuffling down the passage appeals to the drowsy watcher with ten times as much force and braces him up like a powerful tonic. In Japan, however, men do not like to show themselves too "soft," and when the woman finally slides back the shqji (paper shutter) of the room her guest is almost sure to sham being fast asleep: this is called "tanuki-neiri" (badger-sleep). As the hour advances, the crowds ofloafers (known as "hiyakashi") in the Yoshiwara gradually disperse and nothing, except the cries of peripatetic macaroni sellers (" nabeyaki udon ") and blind shampooers (" amma-hari ") and the dismal howling of impish mongrels disturb the stillness of the night; but even when comparative quietness has been restored, the guest's sleep has been so thoroughly broken tha.t he remains tossing uneasily on his pillow longing for daylight. After a few hours of fitful slumber, which leave the wretched fellow even more fatigued than before, the eastern sky begins to glow with a faint rosy light, and with the dawn of day the great black crows in the neighbourhood awake and fly circling around, cawing loudly as if in mockery and derision. Jaded and exhausted by excess, and played out by reason of his night's debauch, the poor guest crawls wearily out of bed, feeling .as limp as a dish-clout, and as a preparation for his return home proceeds to drag himself to the wash-stand and make his toilet. Oh,! what a
