This book traces the social history of early modern Japan’s sex trade, from its beginnings in seventeenth-century cities to its apotheosis in the nineteenth-century countryside. Drawing on legal codes, diaries, town registers, petitions, and criminal records, it describes how the work of “selling women” transformed communities across the archipelago. By focusing on the social implications of prostitutes’ economic behavior, this study offers a new understanding of how and why women who work in the sex trade are marginalized. It also demonstrates how the patriarchal order of the early modern state was undermined by the emergence of the market economy, which changed the places of women in their households and the realm at large. “An important book. . . . Illuminates governance and economic change in early modern Japan. . . . Highly recommended.” -- S. A. Hastings, Purdue University ― Choice Published On: 2013-01-23 “Vivid and engaging. . . . A compelling and meticulously researched piece on the evolving place of prostitutes in Early Modern Japanese culture.” -- Sam Bieler, Urban Institute ― Criminal Law & Crim Justice Bks / Criminal Justice Abstracts Published On: 2013-01-28 “Fascinating and often tragic. . . . Stanley’s writing style is both exact and fresh. . . . This book satisfies more than the academic.” -- Kris Kosaka, Hokkaido International School ― Japan Times Published On: 2013-03-03 "An exceptionally sophisticated and extensive study . . . A careful and nuanced retelling . . . lively, insightful, and unique." -- David Eason ― Monumenta Nipponica Published On: 2014-12-01 "Amy Stanley's book provides a detailed and informed information to recent scholarship on the topic of prostitution." ― The Journal of Japanese Studies Published On: 2014-08-20 At last, a study that goes far beyond the urban-centered discourse with which we are already familiar to place the trafficking of women in a solid historical and comparative context. Through a carefully reasoned and balanced analysis of diverse sources, Stanley shows how prostitution practices varied. This book will set the standard for studies of prostitution in early modern Japan for decades to come. -Anne Walthall, University of California, Irvine Selling Women is a remarkable achievement. With her gaze fixed firmly on the young women whose labor sustained prostitution as an industry, Amy Stanley traces shifts in the moral economy of the sex trade over the course of the Tokugawa era, and unveils the ironic consequences of economic growth and social change. This meticulously researched, wonderfully written book is a major contribution to the literature on gender and society in Japan. -David L. Howell, Harvard University “At last, a study that goes far beyond the urban-centered discourse with which we are already familiar to place the trafficking of women in a solid historical and comparative context. Through a carefully reasoned and balanced analysis of diverse sources, Stanley shows how prostitution practices varied. This book will set the standard for studies of prostitution in early modern Japan for decades to come.” -Anne Walthall, University of California, Irvine “ Selling Women is a remarkable achievement. With her gaze fixed firmly on the young women whose labor sustained prostitution as an industry, Amy Stanley traces shifts in the moral economy of the sex trade over the course of the Tokugawa era, and unveils the ironic consequences of economic growth and social change. This meticulously researched, wonderfully written book is a major contribution to the literature on gender and society in Japan.” -David L. Howell, Harvard University Amy Stanley is Assistant Professor of History at Northwestern University. Selling Women Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan By Amy Stanley UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Copyright © 2012 The Regents of the University of California All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-520-27090-9 Contents List of Illustrations, ix, Foreword Matthew H. Sommer, xi, Acknowledgments, xvii, A Note on Currency and Prices, xxi, Introduction, 1, PART ONE REGULATION AND THE LOGIC OF THE HOUSEHOLD, 1. Adulterous Prostitutes, Pawned Wives, and Purchased Women: Female Bodies as Currency, 23, 2. Creating "Prostitutes": Benevolence, Profit, and the Construction of a Gendered Order, 45, 3. Negotiating the Gendered Order: Prostitutes as Daughters, Wives, and Mothers, 72, PART TWO EXPANSION AND THE LOGIC OF THE MARKET, 103, 4. From Household to Market: Child Sellers, "Widows," and Other Shameless People, 111, 5. Glittering Hair Ornaments and Barren Fields: Prostitution and the Crisis of the Countryside, 134, 6. Tora and the "Rules of the Pleasure Quarter", 163, Conclusion, 189, Notes, 199, Bibliography, 225, Index, 243, CHAPTER 1 Adulterous Prostitutes, Pawned Wives, and Purchased Women Female Bodies as Currency Kokane ran away with a man named Sodayu in 1614,