HOUSE OF THE 10,000 PLEASURES

by Sara Harris ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 1961

Subtitled ""A Modern Study of the Grisha and of the Streetwalker of Japan"", this is about as poorly written and nebulous a ""study"" as one could ever imagine. It is divided into two sections or ""case studies""; the first is called ""The 'Flowery-Wollowy' World of Tauya Giku""; the second, ""The World of Kofumi Levine"". In the first section, we are concerned with a woman who was sold into grisha training at the age of 7. We are told of the all the rigors of traditional training and of how the traditions and position of the are deteriorating in modern Japan. The story is Section 2 is that of a woman who became a streetwalker during the Occupation, after being rejected by her mother in law during a ""trial marriage"" (a rural custom). Here, we meet all the Tokyo riff-ruff blackmarket cutthroats of wartime, and droves of desperate woman; finally, the story of Kofumal ends happily when she meets an American solider from Brooklyn who falls in love with her and marries her. In both sections, we meet the main personage as she lives today and then sit in on a kind of ""rigged interview"" during which her life story is releted. Along the way is included every conseivable details relating to customs, practices, and attitudes sex in Japan before, during, and after the American occupation.

Pub Date: Feb. 26, 1961

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1961

Categories: NONFICTION