Please visit Mr Osada Steve’s website to read the original article in English at

TokyoBound on this link. Enjoy!

Flower

It is rare to find words for a beautiful woman that do not include allusions to flowers. Albeit not as beautiful as a keisei*, even a meshimori can turn a jinya. ** One should know that there are specific manners for how to be with an oiran*** of the tayuprofession. Nowadays, young men know only of prostitutes, but not about a keisei of Yoshiwara. Nothing remains of that culture, except for what is secretly kept in Shimabara**** of Kyoto.

*Literally meaning “a castle turner,” keisei (傾城) refers to a woman so glamorous that she can ruin a castle by captivating its lord with her beauty.

**Meshimori (飯盛) were hired by inns as maids and often engaged in prostitution. The quote indicates that a beautiful meshimori can bankrupt at least a jinya, an inn designated for feudal lords, if not a castle like a keisei can.

***High-ranking courtesans of Yoshiwara were called oiran (花魁).

****The three major licensed pleasure districts in the Edo period were Shimabara in Kyoto, Shinmachi in Osaka, and Yoshiwara in Edo (present-day Tokyo).

花 (hana)

花の顔、解語の花、欝柳折花。美人の形容花に非ざるもの稀なり。『飯盛も陣屋位は傾ける』傾城ざるも太夫職の花魁なるものに權式ありやを知るべし。現代の青年、売笑婦を知りてよしわらの傾城を知らず。今きょうとの島原に密かに其の形骸を留むるのみ。