The “Kutsuwa.”

In the “Yoshiwara-Daizen” (吉原大全) it is stated that the custom of calling the proprietor of a brothel “kutsuwa” came into vogue when the prostitute quarter was situated at Yanagi-chō. The place was laid out in the form of a Japanese bridle-bit (kutsuwa = a bit: shaped like a cross moline within a circle) and the houses were built in that shape, so it became the fashion for visitors to call the brothels kutsuwa.

It is stated in the “Ruishū-Sanyō” (類聚纂要) that brothels were named kutsuwa (which in Chinese characters reads 亡八 and means “forget eight”) because persons frequenting them were apt to forget the eight virtues, viz:—filial piety, brotherly kindness, loyalty, faithfulness, politeness, righteousness, integrity, and the sense of shame. In the Genna (1615–1623) and Meireki (1655–1657) eras the kutsuwa were called kimi-ga-tete (sovereign and parent: or “Prince of the Courtesans”) owing to the fact that at the time of the opening of time Yoshiwara the daimyō and other notables used to call the founder of the quarter—Shōji Jinyemon—by that name. One never hears this term nowadays.

In the “Yoshiwara-Enkakushi” (芳原沿革誌) it is mentioned that kutsuwa (a “bridle bit” 馬銜) is another name for a brothel. Some say that a certain Hara Saburōyemon (who had formerly been a groom of the Taikō) having founded a brothel, the name of kutsuwa was given to it in commemoration of his old employment and the kutsuwa (bits) he had handled in bye gone days. Another account says that the prostitute quarter of Fushimi resembled the shape of a bridle-bit, and hence this name came into popular use. Still another version is given by the “Nobunaga-ki,” (信長記) according to which a retainer of Nobunaga’s, named Ōta Umanosuke, was once detected receiving bribes. This coming to his master’s ears, the latter, who was of a humorous turn of mind, composed the following poem and sent it to the guilty henchman:—“Zeni-gutsuwa hameraretaru ka Umanosuke? Hito-chikushō to kore wo iūran”—“Have you been bitted and bridled with a bit made of money Umanosuke? We must call you a man-beast.” (You have been gagged by a golden bit, you may therefore be described as a man-beast). In the Chinese characters, kutsuwa (亡八) meant “selfishness” or “covetousness.”