This novel was first published in Japan in 2013. The English translation by Juliet Winters Carpenter came out in 2024.
A Woman of Pleasure is a novel based on real events that happened in Japan in 1903 when prostitutes organized for their rights. It is a fascinating novel that reveals the personal journey of its main character, Ichi, a 15-year-old girl recently sold into prostitution. But the novel also provides a lot of terribly interesting information about licensed prostitution and its place in Japanese society at the turn of the last century. I found myself surprised by the amount of power high ranking sex workers could hold as well as the rules and laws that both protected and subjugated the women involved.
The novel opens with Ichi arriving in the Kumamoto district fresh off the boat from her small fishing village in Iojima. Her father has sold her to the Shinonome brothel, which is considered the finest brothel of the many that existed in that licensed pleasure district. Ichi and the other girls, who have likewise been sold by families from all over Japan (sold out of economic necessity) are immediately “inspected” by the man who operates the Shinonome. It’s gross, as are the descriptions of the trainings that novice prostitutes must undergo. Every girl is apprenticed to another more experienced courtesan called an “oiran”, and Ichi is attached to the best oiran of them all — Shinonome. One of the things I learned is that the brothels are named for their finest, most talented and popular oiran, and Shinonome is a celebrity in the Kumamoto district. The Shinonome is considered the pre-eminent brothel in Kumamoto district and entertains politicians and successful industrialists. Ichi is lucky, but she is also a hick from the sticks, as are most of the other novices. At a local women’s technical school, Ichi and the other girls will take classes from a retired prostitute named Tetsuko, who will teach them important skills for their trade, including literacy, letter writing and calligraphy. It was very interesting to learn all the things a skilled sex worker was expected to know beyond the ability to pleasure a man. These women needed to be able to write letters to their clients and express themselves poetically in order to maintain business. It was expected that the most successful courtesans would have regular clients who made lavish gifts to them. A successful oiran like Shinonome basically kept the brothel afloat financially; she had her own staff to support her and she was responsible for their economic upkeep. Shinonome is quite wealthy, but all of the prostitutes were unfree until they had fulfilled their financial contracts (as worked out by their families) to the brothel.
Ichi holds her oiran in high regard, and Shinonome is actually a good “boss.” She is beautiful and charming but she also is smart and cares about the people who serve her. Ichi also loves her teacher Tetsuko, who is an interesting and important character in this novel. Tetsuko’s father had been a samurai, which meant her family had had some wealth and status. Tetsuko was educated, but when the political fortunes of the samurai fell, Tetsuko wound up sold to a brothel. After her retirement, and perhaps to pay off whatever debt she still owed, Tetsuko became a teacher. She cares about her students and knows well the hardships that are in their future. Tetsuko is also a bit of a political firebrand. She knows the laws that are meant to protect the rights of prostitutes but which are not enforced, and she knows how brothel management and even girls’ families take advantage to keep the women permanently enslaved to their brothels.
There is so much interesting and heartbreaking information in this novel: the abuse some women faced in the line of work, health considerations and how they were managed, unwanted pregnancy and wanted pregnancy, the fate of girls/women who tried to run away from the brothel, just to name a few. The story of the organization of the strike/walkout only happens near the end of the novel, but I felt like the purpose of the story was to show all the many ways women sex workers were simultaneously elevated and kept down. Readers might be surprised to learn that amongst their allies were women’s rights groups and the Salvation Army in Japan.
While the character development in this novel was a bit underwhelming I found the overall story to be incredibly engaging. Kiyoko Murata paints a detailed picture of the life of sex workers in Japan at a particular point in history. It is not judgmental in its depiction of their life, nor does it glamorize it. It is a novel that is mainly focused on the women in the Shinonome, how they got there, what their life was like, how they got along and how they worked together at a critical juncture.