The Samurai - Everyday Life in Traditional Japan - page 41

archy, and they were even prepared to fight if necessary, being trained in the use of the
halberd ( 25 ). They were recruited from the daughters of direct retainers, and started their
apprenticeship at about the age of 12. It was, of course, a great honor to serve in this estab-
lishment, and usually it was a job for life, although occasionally a Shogun would release a
concubine of whom he had grown tired, giving her in marriage to one of his retainers, just
as he might take in some beauty at a later age than was usual. He had a consort (Kaemp-
fer'sEmpress) , whomhewouldhave married forpolitical reasons, butnobodywouldhave
expected him not to have other women—Ienari, the eleventh Shogun (1787-1838), is re-
ported to have had 15 concubines and 24 less regularly chosen companions. The formula
usedbytheShogun,indicatinghischoiceforthenight,wasforhimtoaskoneofthesenior
women: “What is that girl's name?” which would set the machinery of preparation in mo-
tion.
A great deal of the time of these women was spent in dressing and making-up ( 26 ) ,
since their costume and appearance at their various duties in attendance on their master
was governed by the strictest etiquette. Then all the polite attainments—flower arrange-
ment, tea ceremony, incense-discrimination—had to be practiced, and there was a certain
amount of leisure for things like playing poem-cards, or cherry-blossom viewing in the
Castlegrounds.Perhapstheever-presentoccupationwasthepursuitofintrigue,backbiting,
and jealousy inescapable from the circumstances they lived in. Occasionally there were in-
triguesofanothersort,andoneinparticularisworthrecordingforthelightitthrowsonthe
less conventional activities of the Tokugawa ladies. One of the inmates of the harem, as it
might justifiably be called, by name Ejima, had acquired a fairly elevated position, and it
was one of her duties to deal with the trades people who were appointed to furnish goods
to the Shogun's household. Either directly, or through the intermediary of a doctor in the
Castle,shewasapproachedbycertainmerchantswhowishedtojointhefavoredcircle,and
as part of the inducement she was taken to the Nakamura theatre, and introduced to one of
its actors, Ikushima. Accounts of the incident vary in detail—she may even have smuggled
himintoherroomattheCastle—but theyhadanaffair,Ikushima'spartinwhichmayhave
been due to a substantial bribe from the merchants involved rather than from his true senti-
ments.Theywereobserved,reportssenttotheauthorities, andin1714Ejima wassentinto
exile (her punishment might have been worse had she not been protected by the Shogun's
favorite), as were Ikushima and other members of the theatre. Ejima's brother, however,
was condemned to death, not necessarily because he had anything to do with the scandal,
butbecause afamily wasresponsible foritsmembers. Thefourtheatres thatexisted inEdo
atthetimewereclosed;threeofthemwereallowedlatertoreopen,buttheNakamurawent
out of business forever. There were several elements in the incident that were particularly
repugnanttothegovernment,amongthembeingtheintrusionofanothermanintotheSho-