Bathhouses

The Japanese have always been noted for their neatness, meticulously cleaning their homes and maintaining strict personal hygiene habits. In the 17th century, communal baths gained widespread popularity in Edo. Houses were very cramped, their residents had to save on everything, and the urban supply of fresh domestic water took some time to be established.

As in other cultures, bathhouses performed not only the role of communal washrooms, but also of clubs of sorts. These were public sitting pools with very hot water, by European standards. The design of the bathhouse buildings ensured that lighting was dim. As well as this, men did not take off their waist-cloth while in the water, and women kept their undershirts on. In any case, the dense vapour filling the washrooms obscured the gender of one’s fellow bather, as well as the cleanliness, or otherwise, of the water.

Eitabashi Bridge

Edo emerged from a fishing village situated in the estuary of the Sumida River, which is why the element of water affected all aspects of the city’s life. Its economy was intertwined with the network of canals used for transporting merchandise. River banks hosted the construction of piers and quays where trade was conducted, and bridges were also actively being built.

Eitabashi was the largest bridge across the Sumida River, built in 1698. Since sea ships entered the river estuary, the bridge’s bearings were tall. Floods would frequently destroy the bridge, while its maintenance was so costly that the government was planning to remove it altogether. However, local residents protected the bridge, keeping it operational by charging fees from travellers. Samurai, Buddhist and Shintō priests were exempt from payment.

At night, locals would catch so-called icefish in this area. The shōgun personally commissioned fishermen from Osaka to catch icefish. These fishermen settled in the Tsukudajima village and would oversee the adjoining territory after fishing hours.

A fan peddler

The Japanese climate is hot, humid and rainy. This explains the peculiar shape of roofs with large eaves for water drainage, the abundance of lacquered housewares, and umbrellas — without which it was unthinkable to leave the house. Umbrellas could even be rented free of charge. The first such service appeared in Edo as early as the 17^th century. However, as strange as it may seem, the principle of “one umbrella per family” was common until the middle of the 20^th century.

Fans were much easier, and everyone was carrying them during the Edo period. Initially they were not folding fans as we know them today. These were simple sheets of paper or cuts of silk, glued into bamboo frames on a stick. Fans were meant not only for cooling, but also for protection from mosquitoes and the sun, as well as for concealing women’s faces from unwanted looks and even for chasing away evil spirits.

Theatre

Theatre became one of the main urban entertainments. Theatre schools abounded. Using contemporary language, some offered performing arts, while others were at the intersection of theatre and standup comedy. It was Kabuki that became the most popular form.

In 1603, when shōgun Tokugawa started ruling in Edo, all eyes in Kyoto were fixed on dancer Izumo no Okuni. Her performances caused a sensation, and just a year later she had established a troupe and had a permanent stage built on the territory of the Shintō shrine of Kitano. Thanks to the troupe’s tours, the genre of Kabuki (“skilled singing and dancing”) had spread across the entire country.

Samurai would fall in love with actresses and arranged duels in attempts to win over their hearts. In 1629, the shogunate banned women from participating in any performances, suggesting that they were weakening society’s moral foundations. For some time, young men replaced women, however, they seemed to evoke a similar response from the samurai and also ended up banned from the stage in 1652. Thus, only adult men remained in Kabuki.

Equality set in, at last: while men were collecting prints with images of seductresses from the pleasure quarters, women were buying woodblock prints of their favourite actors from the Kabuki theatre.

Samurai

The samurai depicted on the portrait was serving one of the daimyō in the middle of the 18^th century and enjoyed high social status. However, at that time, samurai who would lose their master had little opportunity to earn a living. They could join a monastery and become a komusō (literally “monk of the void”), play the shakuhachi flute and beg for alms. Alternatively, they could become manufacturers of weapons or musical instruments, or weave baskets and cicada cages. Their high social status prevented them from stooping to commerce and living by the rules of the merchant class.

Although vagrancy was banned in the Tokugawa period, many samurai would become rōnin wanderers (“wave men”) upon leaving the service and would willingly join local conflicts. Initially, life in Edo was not much calmer than in the Age of Warring States. The ex-samurai were actually robbers, although noble ones. They preferred to think of themselves as street knights of sorts. They gathered in so-called kabukimono (“the crazy ones”) — criminal gangs, recognised by their extravagant costumes and behaviour. According to one hypothesis, yakuza (Japanese organised crime) originated from the kabukimono.

Sumō

Sumō wrestling had been mentioned in written sources as early as the 7^th century. In the Middle Ages, sumō was a part of the Shintō prayer ritual for abundant crops. Later it was used in military training. During the Edo period, sumō attracted townsfolk, and professional wrestlers emerged. However, the social standing of wrestlers was extremely low as exposing one’s body was considered to be humiliating. The status of sumō wrestlers started rising only in the late 19^th century, when Europeans became familiar with Japanese culture.

A strict hierarchy of wrestlers was eventually established, and a rating system introduced. Tanikaze, who is depicted on the woodblock print, was one of the most famous sumō wrestlers of the second half of the 18^th century. In terms of popularity, he was only second to young Daidōzan who, at the height of 120 cm, weighed around 80 kg. Major hopes were placed upon him, but during his adulthood he proved a mediocre wrestler.

Nihonbashi Bridge. Merchants

The Nihonbashi bridge crossed a canal between one of the castle moats and the Sumida River, and held major significance for the city. It was here that all commercial activity was concentrated and the five main roads of the country began, including Tōkaidō. Japan did not have a tradition of building urban squares as such, which is why the area around the bridge became Edo’s de facto town square.

It is logical that merchants settled exactly in the Nihonbashi area along the waterway leading to the harbour. The new city attracted able people from all over the country to cater to the needs of the head of state’s vassals. The most entrepreneurial merchants came on their own, while some others were brought in from provinces by shōgun Ieyasu himself. Cooperation with the shōgun’s court provided a considerable reputational privilege to trading houses.

Yoshiwara

In a city mostly inhabited by itinerant men, it was hardly possible to do without a pleasure quarter. In Japan, there was no prejudice against this: none of the religions placed restrictions on one’s private life.

Having obtained a licence from the shōgun for opening the quarter, a group of enthusiasts embarked upon draining a swamp in an area marked for building. They replaced the first character of the word Yoshiwara, literally meaning “reed valley”, by its homophone — “pleasure”, and in 1618 the quarter received its first visitors. Thirty years later, it contained over ten brothels. As well as brothels, shops and teahouses were opening in Yoshiwara, and entire infrastructure was formed.

At different times, between two thousand and three thousand women worked here. Girls would arrive at a tender age. Since human trafficking was prohibited, parents executed a kind of a contract for the lease of their daughter. On average, it took girls about ten years to pay off the debt, after which some managed to leave the quarter. The workers of Yoshiwara included both yūjo prostitutes (literally “women for pleasure”) and geishas (“people of art”), who assisted yūjo by entertaining customers with songs, dances and stories. There were also the oiran (literally “prime flower”), who combined both of these functions.

Those who were not able to afford a visit to the quarter could buy woodblock prints with the images of its celebrated workers. Yoshiwara was open right up until 1958.

Nihonbashi Bridge. Craftsmen

Edo quickly became Japan’s largest centre of consumption. However, the city produced very little to start with, and the bulk of goods were hauled from Kyoto and Osaka. At the same time, merchandise produced outside the capital was called “kudaran”, or literally “worthless”. By the end of the 19^th century Edo had overtaken Kyoto in terms of production.

Artisans settled near merchants to the north or to the south of the Nihonbashi bridge. At the outset, each area was supposed to be inhabited by fellow representatives of the same trade. Quarters had gates that were locked at night, while local residents grouped into associations of five courts and took turns in the night watch.

Teahouse

As many other things, tea was imported to the Japanese islands from China, where it was initially used as medicine. Hard-brewed tea was in particularly high demand among Buddhist monks as it helped to fight drowsiness during meditation. A legend about the origins of tea has it that the founder of the Zen school, Daruma, accidentally fell asleep during meditation and, upon waking up, was so infuriated that he tore his eyelashes out and threw them on the ground, where the first tea bushes subsequently grew.

Together with tea, the Japanese adopted the culture of tea ceremonies. However, in the Edo period teahouses provided opportunities not only for drinking tea. The Yoshiwara pleasure quarter counted twice as many teahouses than brothels — it was in teahouses that negotiations with middlemen were conducted and advance payments were made for the services of prostitutes. At this stage, one could also arrange additional services, such as the work of geishas. Geishas (“people of art”) assisted prostitutes by entertaining customers with songs, dances and stories. It is a little-known fact that men served as the first geishas.