Fukagawa (深川) (genre )

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Biography:

Michael Fredholm von Essen wrote on pages 253-254 in Shogun's Soldiers Volume 1: The Daily Life of Samurai and Soldiers in Edo Period Japan, 1603-1721: "Fukagawa, south of Ryōgoku known for its many lumber yards (kiba). The main lumber area had been Nihonbashi, but after the 1657 fire, this and other smaller lumber facilities were consolidated and relocated to Fukagawa. The lumber yards were located at the mouth of the Sumida River, as the wood was immersed in water to preserve it, and had to move further and further out as land was reclaimed.”

"The other main attraction of Fukagawa - the Fukagawa Hachiman shrine (now known as the Tomioka Hachiman shrine) - still remains on its original place, though it is now quite far inland, unlike in the old days. In Edo, the shrine was famous for its miniature model of Mount Fuji."

"Fukagawa also had a miniature archery range, as usual a front for prostitution. In fact, Fukagawa was known for no less than seven unlicensed prostitution quarters. The tradition went back to the very beginning of Fukagawa, when the area was outside the city boundaries and thus beyond the jurisdiction of the town magistrate. Unlike Yoshiwara, where a distinction was maintained between the geisha (entertainers, male or female) and the courtesans (females, available for sexual intercourse), the female geisha of Fukagawa were not entertainers skilled in music and the arts. Instead they were real prostitutes, and contracted as such with the proprietor of their establishment. These geisha were easily identifiable because of certain eccentricities in their dress. They never wore socks (tabi), for instance, not even in winter. The explanation was that the Fukagawa geisha wanted to show off her red-painted toenails. The Fukagawa geisha also often dressed up in mens coats (haori). Many brothels in Fukagawa were known as ‘children’s houses’ (kodomoya), but the popular guidebooks assure us that ‘children’ was merely a nickname for the young women inside. The Fukagawa prostitutes, at least the cheaper varieties, had many other names and nicknames. The ‘boat cake’ (funa manjii) accepted her customers onto her boat. Others were known as ‘logs’ (maruta), ‘ducks’ (ahiru), or ‘nighthawks’ (yotaka). The two latter varieties were the cheapest of the cheap."

"Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the land soon to be known as Susaki was reclaimed from the sea. (The district has since been renamed Tōyōchō.) This flat land soon became the favourite spot for shell gathering, a popular spring and summer pastime. Women and children went there to sift through the mud and sand to find clams and shells. Their menfolk, meanwhile, lazed away their time and money in the Susaki tea houses, where there were beautiful waitresses also available for other activities. The shogunate did not look kindly on the unlicensed activities. After a tidal wave ravaged the district in 1791, permission to rebuild was denied."

"Fukagawa was not only famous for prostitution. Unlike many parts of Edo, the district had other claims to fame. One of these was a genuine archery gallery, that is, not a front for prostitution. This, the Fukagawa Sanūsangendō was a hall located on the east side of the Hachiman Shrine, and modelled on the renowned Sanūsangendō hall in Kyōto. This hall was similar although slightly smaller, and like its predecessor, the hall was renowned amon samurai for archery practise. The exercise was here practised on the lawn behind the hall, rather than inside the hall."

"Another remarkable attraction was the Ten'onzan Gohyaku Rakanji (‘Five-Hundred Arhat Temple'), a temple named after its collection of 500 statues of the Buddha's disciples carved by a monk from Kyōto. This temple dated to 1695, and the statues were completed by the early 1700s. The 509 statues became highly popular with the Edokko. The custom arose that when a member of the family died, the relatives came to the temple and, after locating the statue that most resembled the dead man, gave offerings and prayed before it."

"Also on the grounds of this temple was an unusual three-storied building, the Sazaedō (“Turban Shell Hall’), built in 1780. Not only did it contain 100 statues of Kannon, the bodhisattva of mercy; these statues were also arranged in such a way that an impressive pilgrimage could be accomplished by the busy Edokko in only a few minutes’ time. On the first floor were 34 images, one each for the 34 temples of the Chichibu region sacred to Kannon, and the objects of a famous pilgrimage route. The second presented 33 images, each representing one of the temples on another Kannon pilgrimage in the Kantō region surrounding Edo. The third floor, finally, displayed yet 33 images, each representing one of the 33 places holy to Kannon along the Saigoku pilgrimage route (Saigoku sanjūsan-reijō) in the Kyōto-Ōsaka region. Visiting all these holy places would preserve one from Hell, it was believed - and a short visit to this temple accumulated as much merit as making all three of these important pilgrimages. No wonder it became popular among the Edokko! The Sazaedō remained until about the end of the Edo period. Today a similar building exists only in distant Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture."