Yoshiwara “Pot-pourri.”

The following items are given in the “Yoshiwara Ō-kaga-mi” (吉原大鑑 = The Great Mirror of the Yoshiwara) under the heading of “Sho-yaku Hyaku-monogatari” (諸譯百もの語 One Hundred Miscellaneous Tales).

Things which are long: The Nihon-dzutsumi; a dispute between lovers; the magaki song at night; the night to a guest who has been jilted by a yūjo.

Things that are short: Night of a lovers’ meeting; the first letter from a yūjo to a strange guest.

Things one would like to see: The Diary of a yūjo; sincerity in a prostitute; a square egg; the false letters of a jōro, and the end of a heartless courtesan.

Things one would like to hear: The name of a yūjo’s secret lover; the whispers of a courtesan.

Things that are funny: Apologies of a guest who has offended a yūjo; a guest who bestows too much attention on a kamuro (young female page).

Things that are enjoyable: A long sojourn of an intimate guest at a brothel; secret lover; love-quarrels between sweethearts.

Hurried things: A saké cup that is not offered to a guest by the courtesan of his choice on the occasion of their first meeting; feigned sleep on the morning of the guest’s departure; conversation about one’s acquaintances; the crest on the clothes of a courtesan made by a rival guest.

Pleasant things. Spiritedness of a courtesan; a sprightly joro.

Quiet things. The possession of a courtesan’s room at the first meeting; a tayū who has come down to be a kōshi-jōro.

A clever thing. A demand for gratuities by means of broad hints.

Clumsy things. Squandering too much money in a tea-house; going into a sancha restaurant in the rain; demand by an unpopular courtesan to be engaged on a holiday.

Things for which one is sorry. A fire on the night of a lovers’ meeting; for a courtesan to unknowingly receive counterfeit money from a guest as a present.

Comfortable things. A snowfall on the night when one stays in a brothel; a hood that is put on the head from behind.

Offensive things. The night-sweat of a jōro; warming the bowl of a tobacco pipe by a woman before the guest is well acquainted with her; the coarse skin of a guest; the relative one meets on his way to the Yoshiwara; a guest who doesn’t clean his teeth.

Things which are soiled. The nostrils of a guest; the tobacco-box of a slovenly courtesan.

Laughable things. A party of jōro all of whom have their collars covered with paper to prevent soiling their clothes; sudden showers of rain which drench sightseers in the Yoshiwara; demand for a night-garment by an unpopular jōro.

An unsightly object. The day-time slumber of a jōro with her mouth wide open.

Annoying things. Frequent visits of other jōro to the room where their comrade’s guest is staying; whispering in the ear of a guest by a courtesan at their first meeting.

Cruel things. Expiry of the term of engagement of an unpopular jōro; corporal punishment of a kamuro by her ane-jōro.

Detestable things. The physiognomy of a yarite; talk about rude things by a prostitute; the indiscretion of a gyū.

A hopeful thing. A woman who redeems herself.

Foolish things. Respectable samurai who visit the Yoshiwara; elderly visitors to the Yoshiwara; a drunkard who cannot control himself.

Contemptible things. A guest who keeps away from a brothel when accounts have to be settled; one candle for a company of three persons; a jōro who slavishly obeys a yarite; a lantern which is used for two rooms conjointly.

Things for which one waits impatiently. An agreement to wait until the expiry of the term of a jōro’s engagement; bed-time on the occasion of a first meeting.

Apparently reliable things. The address of a jōro’s parents as told to her guest; the infant name of a jōro.

Unreliable things. The tears of a jōro when she inflicts a curtain lecture on her guest.