Post by Admin on Mar 9, 2021 23:26:42 GMT
Second, the licensed brothels paid the cash advance to all new
hires. Although some prospective prostitutes and some parents
would have wanted 1200-yen cash loans, many would not. The
money did not come free. The brothels did not charge a stated
interest, but they obviously discounted the woman’s earnings to present
value. Were the brothels paying the large cash advances only in
response to a demand in the credit market, they would have paid
the indentures to some of their hires and not paid to others. The
fact that they coupled the massive cash advances with all of their
labor contracts suggests that some other contractual dynamic was
at play.
3. Unlicensed prostitutes. – Below the licensed prostitutes in this
sexual services market worked the independent, unlicensed prostitutes.
Given the choice between the two sectors, most prostitutes
preferred the licensed. From 1920 to 1927, of all the women who
applied for work as licensed prostitutes in Tokyo, only 62 percent
obtained jobs (Chuo, 1926: 381–82; Kusama 1930: 27–30, 36). Far
from being job that no one wanted, positions in the licensed brothels
were jobs with half again as many applicants as the brothels
wanted to hire. Many of the unlicensed prostitutes were those
women whom the licensed brothels had refused to hire (Kusama,
1930: 37). Historical records contain no reliable censuses of the
unlicensed workers, but otherwise trustworthy observers put their
number at about 50,000 in the mid-1920s (Fukumi 1928: 26–28,
32, 50–56, 178).
Because the unlicensed prostitutes nominally violated the law,
they lacked the option of working for an established brothel. Brothels
developed reputations. Given that illegal unlicensed prostitutes
could not work for a brothel with a reputation for high quality service,
the unlicensed prostitutes earned less money. Among female
workers from the northern Akita prefecture in 1934, licensed prostitutes
earned room & board plus 884 yen per year. Bar maids
(shakufu; the general euphemism in this literature for unlicensed
prostitutes) made 518 yen, waitresses made 210 yen, and other
women workers made 130 yen (Shakai, 1935: 160–61).
The unlicensed sector also presented clients with higher risks.
By law, licensed prostitutes underwent weekly medical examinations
for venereal disease, and infected women could not return to
work until they recovered. In 1932, 3.2 percent of licensed prostitutes
in Tokyo had venereal or other infectious disease. The same
study found a 9.7 percent rate among unlicensed prostitutes. Other
studies confirm a 1–3 percent infection rate among licensed prostitutes,
but find rates much higher than 10 percent among the
unlicensed.3
hires. Although some prospective prostitutes and some parents
would have wanted 1200-yen cash loans, many would not. The
money did not come free. The brothels did not charge a stated
interest, but they obviously discounted the woman’s earnings to present
value. Were the brothels paying the large cash advances only in
response to a demand in the credit market, they would have paid
the indentures to some of their hires and not paid to others. The
fact that they coupled the massive cash advances with all of their
labor contracts suggests that some other contractual dynamic was
at play.
3. Unlicensed prostitutes. – Below the licensed prostitutes in this
sexual services market worked the independent, unlicensed prostitutes.
Given the choice between the two sectors, most prostitutes
preferred the licensed. From 1920 to 1927, of all the women who
applied for work as licensed prostitutes in Tokyo, only 62 percent
obtained jobs (Chuo, 1926: 381–82; Kusama 1930: 27–30, 36). Far
from being job that no one wanted, positions in the licensed brothels
were jobs with half again as many applicants as the brothels
wanted to hire. Many of the unlicensed prostitutes were those
women whom the licensed brothels had refused to hire (Kusama,
1930: 37). Historical records contain no reliable censuses of the
unlicensed workers, but otherwise trustworthy observers put their
number at about 50,000 in the mid-1920s (Fukumi 1928: 26–28,
32, 50–56, 178).
Because the unlicensed prostitutes nominally violated the law,
they lacked the option of working for an established brothel. Brothels
developed reputations. Given that illegal unlicensed prostitutes
could not work for a brothel with a reputation for high quality service,
the unlicensed prostitutes earned less money. Among female
workers from the northern Akita prefecture in 1934, licensed prostitutes
earned room & board plus 884 yen per year. Bar maids
(shakufu; the general euphemism in this literature for unlicensed
prostitutes) made 518 yen, waitresses made 210 yen, and other
women workers made 130 yen (Shakai, 1935: 160–61).
The unlicensed sector also presented clients with higher risks.
By law, licensed prostitutes underwent weekly medical examinations
for venereal disease, and infected women could not return to
work until they recovered. In 1932, 3.2 percent of licensed prostitutes
in Tokyo had venereal or other infectious disease. The same
study found a 9.7 percent rate among unlicensed prostitutes. Other
studies confirm a 1–3 percent infection rate among licensed prostitutes,
but find rates much higher than 10 percent among the
unlicensed.3