The story of Japan’s oldest sex shop

The Yaronebori area of ​​Edo (present-day Tokyo), located in today’s Higashi Nihonbashi, was where the city’s doctors and herbalists lived. In the 17th century it became seven flavors, A popular red pepper spice blend that is still widely used in Japanese cooking. But Yogenbori is also spicy in a more symbolic sense for having Japan’s first and most famous sex shop (although that’s probably the wrong word here). Its name is Four Eyes House, and this is its story.

Selected illustrations of Yomokuya merchandise, date and artist unknown

drastic choice

The history of Four Eyes House is actually closely related to Shichimi, But it’s not as disturbing as it sounds – it’s not how Edo people like to spice things up in the bedroom. The natural ingredients expert who invented the chile pepper blend is equally skilled in other kinds of herbal blends, such as birth control and, in particular, aphrodisiac. The latter soon became the foundation of Yoshinoya’s success, allowing the business to expand and develop, potentially creating an even greater sensation.

The store also offers a wide variety of dildos. Some are very simple, such as Harry Street This type was simply a phallus made of buffalo horn, tortoise shell, or wood. But there’s more to it Fig-zuiki: The dried outer skin of taro or lotus root stems can be made into rope and wrapped around the penis, or braided into a thick, flexible dildo. When wet, it reportedly becomes very slippery and produces a pleasant tingling sensation.

Yoshimaya even carried an early form of Japanese condoms called A-shaped (helmet), made from just about anything, including leather and tortoise shell, and weren’t exactly the best sellers. Customers apparently often complain about slipping and breakage (hopefully that means condoms).

Four Eyes House tries to cater to everyone. For male lovers it has Ant lubricants, while specialized pads and various other supports are marketed to older couples. retirement form — a hard, lattice-like shell that’s a bit like phallic armor (yoroi) — for women looking for a pleasurable experience in the ribs (or men who need a little structural reinforcement). The variety of this store is so impressive that the word four-eye house It quickly became synonymous with all sex shops and their adult stock, much like “Kleenex” is now the generic word for all Kleenex.

Edo period print showing a woman looking at shunga (erotic art) with various adult toys placed under her table | Image appears in “Keidan Nagagacho” by Toshima Oujiro (date unknown)

E-commerce in feudal Japan

Overall, Edo is a very sex-positive city, but buying adult toys in full view of people you may meet at work later (eg. genital examinerfor example) can be a bit awkward. That’s why Four Eyes House likes to keep the interiors dimly lit and invite customers to browse its products in a private back room. It also did a lot of business through mail order.

Advertising in Four Eyes House Heavy. The best primary source of history about the store is the large number of pamphlets, posters, catalogs and other advertising it left behind. These were not limited to Edo: they went to the provinces, and when someone there ordered something from the Yomokuya catalog via paid courier, they knew about the product Will come in a simply packed box with detailed instructions. We can probably assume that this store doesn’t accept returns, but in many other ways it’s basically a feudal Japanese Amazon.

Ooku appreciates this, A women-only area in Edo Castle associated with the shogun. They rarely leave their residence, but can shop via courier, and are apparently regular visitors to Yomokuya. Perhaps their high-level sponsorship has helped the store survive this long. This may partly explain why it collapsed soon after the shogun was deposed.

Yomokuya paper advertisement (background) and woodblock print (middle), date and artist unknown

temporary business dysfunction

At the height of its popularity, Yomokuya appeared in ukiyo-e and prints, was mentioned in popular literature, and even monolingual Comedy show. It was an important part of daily life in Edo. The greatest evidence of its success is that it began to attract imitators, with copycat Yoshimaya stores popping up in Edo, Osaka and Kyoto. Those were the glory days of being a purveyor of naughty perversity.

But then the Meiji period (1868-1912) came, the feudal system and the shogunate were abolished, and Japan decided to modernize, which unfortunately meant adopting Western moral concepts. Soon, sex shops across Japan began being raided for “disturbing public morals.” There are fines, there are investigations, and there are public campaigns against “unethical” behavior and items. Slowly, the Four Eyes Valley faded into the background.

The exact date is unknown, but the original store probably closed in the late 19th or early 20th century. However, its spirit still lives on in places like this M’s popular lifethe largest sex shop in Japan and even the world. Though it probably wasn’t carrying a tortoise-shell condom either.

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