No.58 (January 28, 1909)

Ugly Case II
Devil minion is a ship’s boy
Ex-prostitute from Yokohama
Once a waitress at a restaurant in Vancouver

I announced the completion of the section on Omichi Kawada in the last issue, but I would like you to know that Exploration of Devil Caves still continues.

This section is also entitled the Ugly Case but this is going to be the second example. It is factually known that a Japanese boy working on a CP ship received a request from a devil in Yokohama and mediated between him and Vancouver as a minion.

The devil in Yokohama is Yoshida, the same person who sent Omichi Kawada to Canada. In fact, when he sent Omichi he also sent three other prostitute candidates and entrusted all of them with the ship’s boy. The ship is called Tartar and the boy is called Tatsurō Shinjō. Apparently, Shinjō is currently located in the San Francisco area, but about three years ago when he was still on Tartar he was actively in touch with devils and that was how he was asked by Yoshida in Yokohama to take care of Omichi and the three other prostitutes mentioned above.

I am going to write about one of them whose name is Omaki Karube. She is a woman from Nagoya, the birthplace of okyase sukataran*, and, without regrets, she had benefitted since childhood from the influence of the prostitution climate. Coming out to Yokohama, she once soaked herself in a cave called Kotobuki (longevity), making herself distinct from novice prostitutes who just started their careers only today or yesterday. Whether she had finished her term** or she had her debt redeemed, she quit Kotobuki and became the wife of Kanjirō Negishi. They were living in Yokohama for a while but did not make much of a fortune and were pondering over a source of income. Right at this time they were acquainted with Yoshida. Yoshida must have cajoled them with his usual tone; the woman ended up sacrificing herself for Yoshida’s infinitely excessive desire. In fact, the couple already had a tie to the muddy water, which may have made their conversation with Yoshida go smoothly. It may not be accurate to say that the woman sacrificed herself. The woman had a nickname Okan back then.