The Modern History of Tachinbo: Women “operating” under temple floors and in graveyards… “Tachinbo at the Bottom” mushroomed during the Meiji Era.

They also took customers at the “Yo-in.”

Around 1887 (Meiji 20), there was a famous tachinbo named“Katsushi Okatsu” (lodging-less woman), and around 1887 (Meiji 30), there was a famous tachinbo named “Dote no kin” (money on the bank). Okatsu was a former prostitute of the Yoshiwara brothel. Kin was the daughter of a shogunate vassal but became poor as the samurai class collapsed, and after being sold as a barmaid at the age of 16, she went from one brothel to the next, working her way up the ladder from obscure establishments (aimaiya, where prostitutionwas secretly conducted underthe guise of restaurants, tea houses, and inns) tomeishuya (meishuya, where private prostitutes were secretly held while disguised as drinking establishments), Before he was 50 years old, he became a stand-up prostitute. She also approached men walking in the Yoshiwara brothels and offered them cheap deals, but as the number of similar street prostitutes increased, she was no longer allowed inside the brothels and moved to the Nihonzutsumi area, where she came to be known as “bank money. As the years went by, the number of customers dwindled, and she ended up in Asakusa dealing with street life.

Other street prostitutes included“Inazuma no Otama,” a prostitute from Shinagawa; “Akon no Kou, ” who burned to death at the age of 37 or 38 during the Great Earthquake; and “Idiot no Okiyo,” who always dressed as a man and was arrested more than 30 times for fornication during her 20-odd years in the area. There were also many women who were mentally deranged by heavy drinking, mental illness, or syphilis. When they fell ill due to alcohol, cold, hunger, or illness, they were usually sent to an orphanage. The “fostering home” was a shelter for the needy established at the beginning of the Meiji era (1868-1912), and it is amazing that some women even tried to become customers in this facility.

The fact that these women experienced a variety of sex industry businesses before arriving at street prostitution is similar to the “Reiwa’s standing prostitutes” who appear in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district. Today, however, street prostitutes who deal with vagrants or play outdoors are few and far between. Another difference between the Meiji and pre-Showa eras is that street prostitutes had nicknames.