Transcriber’s Note: This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character (e.g. _some italic text_). For other changes see the Transcriber’s Note at the end of the text. THE NIGHTLESS CITY 不夜城 OR THE “HISTORY OF THE YOSHIWARA YŪKWAKU” By J. E. DE BECKER _Twenty Years a Resident of Japan_ “Virtuous men have said, both in poetry and classic works, that houses of debauch, for women of pleasure and for street-walkers, are the worm-eaten spots of cities and towns. But these are necessary evils, and if they be forcibly abolished, men of unrighteous principles will become like ravelled thread.” 73rd section of the “_Legacy of Ieyasu_,” (the first Tokugawa Shōgun.) With Numerous Illustrations Third Edition Revised Yokohama Shanghai Bremen MAX NÖSSLER & Co. London PROBSTHAIN & Co. 14 Bury Street, W.C. _Copyright_, BY THE AUTHOR. _All rights reserved._ PRINTED BY THE BOX OF CURIOS PRINTING AND PUBLISHING CO., YOKOHAMA. JAPAN. Contents PAGE. History of the Yoshiwara Yūkwaku 1 Nihon-dzutsumi (_The Dyke of Japan_) 15 Mi-kaeri Yanagi (_Gazing back Willow-tree_) 16 Yoshiwara Jinja (_Yoshiwara Shrine_) 17 The “Aisome-zakura” (_Cherry-tree of First Meeting_) 18 The “Koma-tsunagi-matsu” (_Colt tethering Pine-tree_) 18 The “Ryo-jin no Ido” (_Traveller’s Well_) 18 Government Edict-board and Regulations at the Ōmon (Great Gate) 18 The Present Ōmon 19 Of the Reasons why going to the Yoshiwara was called “Chō ye Yuku” 21 Classes of Brothels 21 Hikite-jaya (“_Introducing Tea-houses_”) 28 The Jū-hachi-ken-jaya (_Eighteen Tea-houses_) 41 The “Amigasa-jaya” (_Braided Hat Tea-houses_) 42 The “Kujaku Nagaya” 42 The “Kembansho” 43 Classes of Prostitutes 44 “Kamuro” (_Young Female Pages_) 52