Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(84) Seller of round fans.
Japan's relative isolation seems to have protected her from some of the worse diseases.
There was a certain amount of smallpox and leprosy. There were during the period one or
two serious cholera epidemics, but the disease does not seem to have become established
in the country. Something very like influenza caused a lot of illness, and the common cold
wasalsorife,whileinthehotsummersfliesandpoorstorageconditionsbroughtwiththem
a considerable amount of intestinal and stomach trouble.
An important factor in keeping disease in check was the care taken over personal hy-
giene and the cleanliness of the home. Town houses did not usually have baths unless they
were fairly large, and it was customary to go to public establishments (
85
)
.
These deve-
loped from being places of ill repute early in the seventeenth century into a public service;
in the first decade of the nineteenth century there were 600 establishments in Edo. A bath
costbetweensevenandeight
zeni.
Intheearlyyearsoftheperiodmenandwomenhadten-
ded to bathe together, though precautions were taken to avoid embarrassment. The struc-
ture of the building at this time was such that the bathhouse proper, where the preliminary
washing and communal soak took place, was in almost complete darkness. Moreover, the
custom was for men to wear the loincloth and women their underskirt even when in the
