The Nightless City: Geisha and Courtesan Life in Old Tokyo

by Joseph Ernest De Becker

When The Nightless City was first published in 1899, it was deemed taboo in polite circles. It is now considered a valuable historical document—albeit still provocative—as a pioneering sociological study of the Yoshiwara Yukwaku: Tokyo's infamous red-light district where the giving of pleasure became both a tradition and a business. A consequence of old Japan's polygamous family system (where men had multiple wives who bore them many children), the Yoshiwara quarter offered a rough road to survival for the surplus daughters, many of whom were sold into prostitution by families who could not afford to keep them. It was thus regarded as a "necessary evil" that thrived from the late nineteenth century well into the 1950s. Despite its dark underbelly of slavery and abuse, the area was celebrated for its veneer of gaiety and the refinement of pleasure. In fact, the Yoshiwara district held such an honored place in Japanese tradition (and sexual tourism) that its demise in 1957 was lamented all over the world. Rich in detail pertaining to the many aspects of Yoshiwara life—folklore, ceremony, costume, erotic practices, and the like— The Nightless City is a compelling examination of life behind the teahouse doors. Two maps and over 40 plates of illustrations are included from the original edition.

Genres: Japan, History, Nonfiction, Historical, Sociology, Japanese History

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Tocotin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a monumental anthropological work about Yoshiwara (the most famous of Japan's licensed quarters), covering its history, customs, laws, regulations, superstitions, language, songs and sayings. De Becker gathered all this enormous material in the middle of the Meiji period, when the quarter was already experiencing its slow decline, and when many of its former celebrations and festivals had been discontinued. That was mainly due to financial costs, but also to the inner and outer pressure towards the change of the licensed prostitution system the government had been experiencing since the Maria Luz incident in 1872.

Yoshiwara, with its labyrinthine etiquette and enormous financial obligations imposed upon the clients, was losing its battle with cheaper and more straightforwardly businesslike places like Susaki, and was becoming outdated when De Becker wrote his book. Still, he managed to witness and describe events and festivities like Tamagiku lanterns or Niwaka Festival in vivid detail which make his work simply invaluable for researchers interested in the Meiji period, to the extent of being citied in Japanese works on the matter. He also collected and translated numerous documents: copies of brothel account books, courtesans' contracts, advertising leaflets, statistics of the Yoshiwara hospital (later the Taito Prefectural Hospital, closed only seven years ago), newspaper articles on the problem of licensed prostitution, trade certificates issued by the authorities etc.

It's true that the style is outdated and some of the more lyrical outbursts of the author may bring about a snicker or two, but that's just a secondary or tertiary thing compared to the wealth of material and the practical approach to the topic which was thousand times more sensitive in the age when De Becker wrote his book.

In the foreword to the new edition of "The Nightless City", Donald Richie criticizes the last chapter (titled "Golgotha") as the proof of De Becker's unnecessarily Christian and Western take on the problem, but I thought it actually showed that the author was fully able to reveal the compassion, tolerance and kindness towards the human beings whom he perceived as horribly wronged. And it's by no means the only place in the book. In the chapter titled "The Law Relating to Brothels" he says:

"It is not law, but custom which keeps them [the prostitutes] there, and there is many and many an innocent victim driven to these devilish institutions by customs which exalt profligate fathers and beastly brothers into authoritative beings for whom every sacrifice should be made — even that of chastity. To say a woman has sacrificed herself for the sake of her relations covers everything among the lower and more ignorant masses, and the only thing which would be effectual with these model fathers, mothers, and brothers, would be a thorough horse-whipping each and every time a case crops up; or better still, the cat-'o-nine-tails laid on by an expert until they howl for mercy. The efforts of the Japanese Government to abolish the evil of this servitude have been vigorous, but custom — that law of fools — has been too powerful [...]"

Yes, De Becker is awesome. And contrary to the crap which authors like Clavell or Burdett or even Nagai Kafu love to perpetuate, women of the more or less Mysterious Orient do not consider prostitution a great career, nor do they enjoy self-sacrifice more than their Occidental sisters would. I should know, I've been reading some firsthand accounts recently, and having nightmares about them. Hey Orientalist porn supporters, bite me!

[G.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an excellent account of why de Becker's account of prostitution in nineteenth-century Japan remains so valuable, see this review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
by Goodreads member Tocotin (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4...).

[Ale · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and valuable read on the red light district of Yoshiwara, written while the district was still open to business. The descriptions are, for the most part, objective and lacking of a personal opinion or bias, which is however more strongly present in the appendix.

[Jessie B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

While parts of this book are somewhat dated, it provides a fascinating account of prostitution in Tokyo at the turn of the century.