Yarite. (Female Managers.)

The duties of a yarite consist in watching everything which happens in a brothel, and includes the management of the courtesans and the due espionage of both the inmates of the house and their guests. Nowadays these women are called “obasan” (“auntie!”) The yarite’s room is generally situated in front of the stairs so as to be more convenient as a position from which the general affairs of the house can be observed. No person can fill this important post satisfactorily unless she be thoroughly well versed in the ins and outs of every matter pertaining to the Yoshiwara, and unless she possesses a fund of actual practical experience on which she can draw in an emergency. The yarite, therefore, are for the most part picked from the old veterans who have themselves served their time as courtesans. In the Ō-mise (first class house) the yarite are ensconced in their rooms, employing shinzō who play the role of aide-de-camps, while in the komise (small houses) they are accustomed to receive visitors themselves and recommend suitable courtesans. The komise yarite is indeed kept very busy, for she has not only to receive guests, arrange meetings, etc., but she has to watch the reception given to visitors by her girls, form an opinion of the visitors themselves, and attend to a hundred and one other things also. The komise yarite may be described as “cute,” and there are mighty few things that escape the notice of these lynx-eyed old beauties! The yarite originated in the furo-ya (a sort of brothel) and their original title was “kwasha” (火車 = a fire wheel). In the “Kiyū Shōran” (嬉遊笑覽) is a note to the effect that the meaning of kwasha was “to grasp” (tsukamu) which in former times was used in the sense of “buying” prostitutes: it also had the meaning of “making oneself familiarly selfish; and as the yarite made rules which her women were bound to obey, she often showed herself heartlessly selfish towards the courtesans, and hence the name of kwasha. The regular wages received by yarite were insignificant, but their real sources of income were tips received from guests and (by previous arrangement with their employer) commissions on the sums spent by guests. They invariably wore maki-obi (a girdle simply wound round the waist without being crossed at right angles at the back). In ancient times they wore a hood or cap over the mae-gami (a coil of hair above the forehead) and wore maki-obi of black satin. They received wages twice a year, viz:—about the middle of August (chūgen = 15th day of the 7th month; the last day of the Feast of Lanterns) 2 Bu (Yen 5.00), and the end of December (seibo) 3 Bu (Yen 7.50).

Besides, they charged a commission on the food and other things brought to the guests.

(In those days the rate of commission allowed to the yarite was 200 mon (20 sen) on every Bu spent on food by guests, and she levied 200 mom (20 sen) per guest on the tea-house concerned). Even to this day the “obasan” receives a certain percentage of commission, so she is fairly well off if she is employed in a popular and largely frequented house. In smaller house the visitors give the “auntie” a tip of 20 sen or 30 sen, and those who omit to propitiate the lady in this manner find that things are not made pleasant for them. In certain houses, however, a notice is posted to the effect that no gratuities are expected by the servants, that the proprietor is anxious not to burden guests with extra expenses such as tips, etc., and that patrons will be treated with all possible consideration irrespective of such presents. Sometimes a “complaint-box” is provided and hung up, and beside it is a notice, written in bold characters, setting forth the laudable intentions of the proprietor and requesting guests to make immediate complaint if they have been improperly treated, or if they detect any objectionable practices being carried on in the establishment. Practically, however, the prevailing customs of the Yoshiwara are so ingrained and hard to fight against that there is scarcely any visitor who has courage enough to lodge a complaint.

In ancient times it was the obnoxious custom for the yarite to administer corporal punishment to prostitutes who were accused of neglect of duty, and, taking advantage of their power, they often subjected the miserable object of their displeasure to very cruel and inhuman treatment. Happily, such practices have almost ceased since the principle has been recognized of according courtesans a reasonably full measure of liberty; but even in these enlightened days sinister stories are told regarding the harsh treatment of women in some of the lower class houses. No doubt the obasan, greatly abuse their power at times, and this arises from giving them too much liberty and discretion in dealing with the inmates of brothels: they find themselves in a position to domineer over a number of other women (all of whom are practically dependent on the good-will of these female overseers) and, unless they happen to be exceptional persons, they are naturally apt to give way to their tempers and to show unfair partiality towards their subordinates, treating some kindly enough and others most cruelly. What with tips, squeezes, and lending money to the girls at usurious rates of interest, the obasan enjoy a fairly lucrative position.