In recent years, it has come to be said that women are advancing into society, but until a decade ago, there was a strong belief that women would enter the family when they got married. In the Edo period, the image of men and women and feudal society was strong, and I strongly felt the idea of full-time women, but more crunchy women were working than in modern times.
Women's work in the Edo period
Looks-oriented hospitality business
At any time, many beautiful girls were amiably serving customers as signboard girls to attract customers. Especially popular with single men, a beautiful woman who became a model of ukiyo-e appeared, and it seems that she was an idol.
The birth of an idol! Water teahouse
[ Mizuchaya ] Means what we now call [ mobile cafe ], where we set up stalls in the temple grounds, in front of the gate, in resort areas, and in good places to serve tea. ] Something like that. It seems that a beautiful woman went to the customer service, and among them, the signboard girl Osen became an idol in Edo because she was so popular that she became a model for beautiful women many times. In addition, it seems that Sen-chan Gutsumo such as towels and figures were on sale, and I felt that it was no different from the modern 〇KB48.
Summer-only barley tea shop
[Mugiyuya] that appears only on summer nights So, barley tea is barley tea and was popular as a standard summer drink. As the signboard girl, young, cute, and charming A girl about 15 years old was serving customers. A young woman wearing a cool yukata and light makeup seems to have immediately grabbed the hearts of men in Edo.
There were many toothpicks in the Edo period
There were many toothpicks in the precincts of Asakusa Kannon and along the approach.
I sell toothpicks, but I also used them as toothbrushes [ Toothpicks], [Toothpaste], and [Ohaguro powder] . Etc. were also sold.
As with all customer business, this toothpick's signboard girl also has a beautiful woman who can be a model for ukiyo-e, and Fuji is especially good with Mizuchaya's Sen [ Three Beauties of the World / strong> ] Was called.
Physical fitness restaurant business
During the Edo period, when common people's culture flourished, the food service industry developed.
[ Ichizen Iya for the common people ] And celebrity purveyor [ luxury restaurant ], Various restaurants have been born. It was hard work for a woman working in a restaurant to carry a lot of dishes on a large platter in a physical fitness game. Therefore, it seems that there were almost no female clerk at the izakaya, and the female clerk who sees historical drama is almost creative.
The target prey is a missed female (Tomeonna)
Most of the women in the post town were females, and it was necessary for travelers who came to the post to pull her neck to stay with us. In modern terms, it's a bargain, but it seems that the maiden in the post town called Goyu was famous for being persistent.
Work / business selling things
Until a long time ago, I remember a grandmother who pulled a rearcar to sell dried fish, but even in the Edo period, there were women who worked in mobile sales.
Grandma's job, selling glue
The glue used in Edo was made from starch such as rice.
Used for changing kimonos and shoji screens [ Himeji ] Was selling by tying a string in a large tub and hanging it from her shoulder. As far as I heard this, it seems to be a physical fitness job, but it was recognized as an old woman's job in Edo and above.
Selling edamame was Mama's job.
The edamame seller appeared at dusk in the summer, which is the season for edamame.
In Edo, boiled beans were sold with branches, so they are called [edamame], and above, they are sold with branches removed, so [ pods ] It seems that he said. Mama-san's bean sales were recognized as Mama-san's job because she was carrying her children on her back.
Seasonal taste, sweetfish sale
Ayu was popular at that time as a taste of early summer.
The sweetfish consumed in Edo are from the Tama River and are sold in sweetfish . ] It seems that a woman walked from the river to the sweetfish wholesaler in Yotsuya and carried it all night.
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Technical jobs that make use of special skills
Imperial Treasure Master
Since there were no ready-made garments in the Edo period, all garments were sewn, which was an essential skill for women in the world. From the repair of the loose kimono to the seasonal change of clothes, I made it by hand sewing.
Therefore, women who are good at sewing did not have trouble with their work.
These women are treasures That said, he used to repair and tailor kimonos at public and samurai residences, temples, and large stores.
Midwife (Samba)
Today's births have a lot of choices, ranging from those who give birth in hospitals and midwives to those who give birth at home.
On the other hand, in the Edo period, it was the midwife who was active at that time, basically giving birth at home.
[ Picking up woman ] It was said that it was a modern midwifery profession, but at that time there were no qualifications and no exams. Instead, I needed a wealth of experience in picking up a lot of babies.
Female hairdresser
Women of this era had their own hair tied, but they couldn't do it even if they wanted to imitate the fine hairstyles of prostitutes and Kabuki onnagata. That's where the female hair tie was born.
When women's hairdressers first appeared, it was quite expensive at 200 sentences (40,000 yen) at a time, but as the use of general women increased, it became cheaper. However, the shogunate, which forbade luxury, abolished female hairdressing and imposed severe penalties for violating orders. Even so, women's passion for fashion could not be suppressed, and the shogunate and women's cat-and-mouse games continued until the end of the Edo period.
Teacher's job to teach people
Female master of training
Tenarai is a terakoya, and [ reading / writing / abacus ] Was taught to the children.
Mainly, monks, samurai, doctors, etc. worked side-by-side, but in urban areas like Edo, there were female masters.
Performing arts field
Shamisen Master
In this era when Kabuki and other music developed, the shamisen was used as an accompaniment.
In addition, he played an active part in sake seats and cherry-blossom viewing seats, and especially men all started to practice shamisen. It also seemed to be popular as a lesson for girls.
Torioi
When the shamisen got better, a beautiful New Year's entertainer called Torioi sang a congratulatory song and received a tip. Torioi was only for Edo, and it was a short-term part-time job from New Year's Day to the 15th.
Tezuma Tsukai
A tezumatsukai is a magician who performed various street performances such as light work, acrobatics, and tezuma in a freak show. One of them is "water art", a magic that uses water, and women's water art was popular.
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Industry / Handicrafts for Women's Great Success
Sericulture and weaving
In the Edo period, raw silk, which was the raw material for silk fabrics, has long been the top export product.
Women supported such sericulture industry, and in the domain reforms carried out by Uesugi Takayama, a representative of the Edo period, in the Yonezawa domain, the wives and daughters of the domain became the center of the labor force and changed from silkworm to silk products. It is a famous story that we worked on the production.
Cotton picking (Watatsumi)
The job of picking cotton is to put cotton on a black tub and stretch it little by little.
The stretched cotton was used as winter cotton to put in the kosode for autumn and winter, and was processed into a women's outing headgear called "Wataboshi".
Fortune-teller
There are many fortune-tellers in the populous town of Edo, Bokusha and Bagua . Was called. It seems that they were doing business in places and intersections where many people gathered, such as Asakusa and Ryogoku.
Miko / Ichiko
Ichiko is a shrine maiden who does not belong to a specific shrine.
She rang Azusa Yumi, a god item used in Shinto rituals, chanted the name of the god, became a godly state, screamed the spirits of life and death, and conveyed the words to the people. She looks like an itako in Osorezan, Aomori.
Sexual customs industry
Prostitute
Yoshiwara in Edo, Shimabara in Kyoto, and Shinmachi in Osaka prospered as a Yukaku officially recognized by the Shogunate, and became the stage for many Kabuki and literary works. In addition, Maruyama Yukaku in Nagasaki has created a unique culture as the only Yukaku for foreigners.
Beautiful prostitutes dressed in gorgeous costumes and gorgeous hair ornaments reign over the top of Yoshiwara Yukaku, " Oiran . The beauty, master of art, and depth of knowledge were tremendous. The appearance of Oiran's celestial maiden, which everyone longs for, became the source of the latest fashion at the time, and all the women imitated it.
Night hawk
While the prostitutes of Yoshiwara were officially recognized by the Shogunate, Yataka was not officially recognized.
It is called Yataka in Edo, and Tsujigimi in Kyoto. , In Osaka, Soujou (yes) Was called.
I sold the colors at a very cheap price compared to Yoshihara, but many of the night hawks have venereal diseases, so buying them was a considerable risk. It seems that many women who are getting older are taking customers by cheating their age with makeup.
Yuna
On the face of it, we provided services while taking a bath, such as flushing the backs of customers, but some of them sold colors, which was rather more popular. Yuna was very popular not only in Edo but also in Kyoto, Osaka, and local hot spring areas. I have issued bans many times to disturb them, but it seems that they have not been eradicated.
Meshimori onna
This was also an unofficial prostitute of the Shogunate, and the inn at the post station was their workplace.
It seems that the shogunate prohibited the existence of privately-owned prostitutes other than the prostitutes in the shogunate-sanctioned Yukaku such as Yoshiwara in Edo and Shimabara in Kyoto, but Iimori-onna was tolerated under the pretext of serving a traveler. I did.
Yaba woman
Yaba is a targeting game arcade that uses bows set up in shrines and red-light districts, and is like what we now call a game center. Also known as Yokyuba, it was the young and beautiful women called "Yaba Onna" who served customers there.
The service gradually became radical, and it seems that the number of shops that let Yaba woman sexually service in the small room behind Yaba increased.
Laundry shop
Of course, in this era, washing is also a manual work.
In the town of Edo, where there were many single men, it seems that the laundry agency was useful as a woman's job.
In addition, he was also doing small household chores such as cooking and cleaning.
Ooku Hokoku
It was the women called maids and maidens who lived in samurai residences and large merchant houses and took care of their husband's family, cooking, and doing household chores such as laundry.
There were various places for women to serve, but of course the highest peak was Ooku, Edo Castle.
It was basic for Ooku maidens to be the daughters of Hatamoto and Gokenin, but if you are the lowest-ranked maiden, even the daughters of ordinary people can become the daughters of ordinary people.
The daughters of the common people rarely went on to advance in Ooku, but working in Ooku made me sick of marriage.
This time I introduced only a small part, and if you look it up, there are still more jobs, and it seems that there were urban jobs in urban areas and women's jobs unique to rural areas in rural areas. During the Edo period, there was no concept of a full-time housewife, and both men and women seemed to have lived in various professions.