yuujoya　遊女屋

KEY WORD :　architecture / folk dwellings

The house of a procurer in the pleasure districts *yuukaku 遊廓, of Edo period cities to keep teams of female entertainers and prostitutes yuujo 遊女. In *Yoshiwara 吉原 of Edo, there were different categories of yuujoya ranked according to status. These included; oomagaki 大籬, hanmagaki 半籬, *machinami 町並, kogoushi 小格子, and tsubonemise 局見世. Of these, the oomagaki was related to the predominantly residential *okiya 置屋 of the Kansai 関西 region. In the latter half of the Edo period in Yoshiwara it differed from the okiya in that preliminary entertainment of clients by the girls sometimes took place on the premises. Hanmagaki and the categories below it are said to have developed from the yunaburo 湯女風呂 of Edo. According to regulations for Yoshiwara dating from 1795, a yuujoya was a two-storey building with the eaves height restricted to 18 shaku 尺. On the ground floor was a shop, harimise 張り見世, kamibeya 髪部屋, onnabeya 女部屋, otokobeya 男部屋, chouba 帳場 with engidana 縁起棚, a dining area, bath and toilet. The upper floor included a clients' waiting and introduction area hikitsuke zashiki 引き付座敷, a prostitutes' *zashiki 座敷, and a lantern store andon beya 行灯部屋. High ranking girls had their own suites, comprising a private room of their own and one or more 10 or 12 mat zashiki for reception purpose, equipped with *tokonoma 床の間 and *chigaidana 違い棚. Furnishings included tanse 箪笥, nagamochi 長持, hibachi 火鉢, tea utensils and a mirror stand. Shamisen 三味線, sets of go 碁, shougi 将棋 and sugorokuban 双六盤 were also provided. Solid partitions were sometimes provided between the suites of the highest ranking girls, but as a precaution against suicide pacts and escape attempts by the girls, *fusuma 襖, enabling the girls to keep an eye on each other, were more common. For the lower ranking girls,there was a communal zashiki about 20 *jou 畳 in area. In the smaller yuujoya, there were no separate zashiki. Instead there was a single large room, mawashibeya 回し部屋 or waritoko 割床, that was divided with folding panelled screens *byoubu 屏風. The yuujoya usually had no rear entrance in order to prevent escape attempts by the girls.

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