Backgrounds of Prostitutes
I am going to write about the backgrounds of prostitutes. However, it is impossible to list the background of every single prostitute in the interior and even if that was possible I would not be able to bear the amount of work to be required.
Therefore, in this section I will provide general categories of their backgrounds with some examples.
Of course, there are no ladies among those prostitutes, who have a decent understanding of what chastity is and what woman’s virtue is. Their current circumstances attest to their depraved spirits. There are many kinds of prostitutes but they can be distinguished roughly into two types: those who were involved in prostitution in Japan and those who fell into the prostitution business for the first time in this country. In fact, those who were involved in prostitution in Japan can be divided into brothel women and casual bitches. There are more kinds if we start distinguishing women at chabuya* houses and mistresses. Next, those who became prostitutes in this country for the first time can be divided into those who came from Japan for the purpose of doing prostitution; those who were deceived and brought here; and those who were already living in or around Vancouver as straight women but later fell into the world of devil fellows.
One example of those who were involved in prostitution in Japan is Okuni, a prostitute in Cranbrook. She is originally from Hikone, Gōshū, and was working at a brothel under her nickname Sakon. For another example, Hashimoto’s Okiyo used to drink mud water in Yoshiwara, Tōkyō.
Makino’s Oshichi used to work at a tea house in Gōshū or something and later migrated to Seattle with her husband. They were involved in prostitution but she broke up with her husband, left her child with him, and got involved with Makino. They entered the interior together but she has also worked as a cook in Vancouver. She traveled everywhere from Medicine Hat, McLeod to Cranbrook—she has got a rough spirit.
Most of those who came from Japan for the purpose of doing prostitution are daughters of peasants or fishermen. Places like Izu, Shizuoka, Kumamoto, and Hiroshima have produced this kind of women the most.
Those who had been living in Vancouver as straight women but entered caves later on are mostly wives of sawmill workers or salmon fishermen. In some cases, women made lovers in Vancouver, together escaped into the interior and ended up falling down into prostitution.