Chapter 1: Love letters in Edo period

In Chapter 1, we will introduce typical style guides for writing love letters from the Edo period, as well as the love letters depicted in nishiki-e (Japanese woodblock prints) and illustrations.

A style guide for love letters!

First, let's look at these typical style guides for writing love letters from the Edo period. They contain examples of love letters as well as advice on writing them.

Romantic suggestions for a variety of partners

This material was published at the end of the Edo period, and the author is unknown. There are examples of romantic correspondence for a variety of situations and instructions on writing a love letter as well as techniques for divining compatibility. The table of contents shows chapters on subjects such as how to write a first love letter, a love letter to someone you are unacquainted with, and even a discussion of the philosophy of love letters.
There are also suggestions based on the social station of the addressee, such as love letters to a mistress or love letters to a widow. There are suggestions as diverse as writing to a housemaid or even a nun.

The text provides a wide range of advice for correspondence, such as the following:

• A woman should not reply overly soon to a first love letter from a man, since to do so would suggest she is prone to rash behavior.
• Even when replying promptly, a woman should express hesitation by saying “I am quite ashamed when I think about what you must think of someone who would reply so soon.”

Love letters for courtesans

This is a style guide for writing love letters from courtesans working in exclusive houses of prostitution. The chapters cover topics such as writing to a repeat customer, to a regular customer, or to a regular customer who has not been seen for a while. The examples include expressions for entreating a customer to come for a visit. For example, since courtesans were required to draw in customers on particular days of the month, there are examples of love letters requesting a visit on a particular day.

The text also contains advice on interacting with customers, such as the following axioms for dealing with repeat customers.

• Moderation is key when interacting with customers.
• Saying farewell in the morning after spending the night together is an especially delicate matter. Your spoken farewell should impart considerable feeling. Relying on a hug to be the secret to a good farewell is mere laziness.

The courtesan sitting in the center is writing a letter. It may be addressed to a customer. Learning of the style guide for writing love letters Yujo anmon makes us imagine that.

Column: Love’s Sorrow

“Seirō” means Yoshiwara (a red-light district in Edo), and there is a real-life courtesan reading a riddle picture book. Look at an enlarged view of the picture. From the top on the right, there is “戀(恋)” which can be read as “Koi (love),” “○ (circle)” read as “Wa (which is read as は (ha) in Japanese notation),” and from the top on the left, three (“San” in Japanese) “み (Mi)” read as “Sami”, the vertical bar is “し (Shi)”, and the picture of a rabbit read as “う (U) ” (In Japanese, a rabbit is usagi). Therefore, it can be read as “Koi ha Sami Shi U” (Love is lonely). Furthermore, from “Koi (love)” written in outline (shironuki), it can be read as “koi shira(o) (white)”, which means “Koi Shira ba (ha) Sami Shi U” (Not to know love is lonely). We can feel the deep feelings of a courtesan who has written love letters for many men.

Classical literature as a model for love letters!?

The following work was a popular style guide for writing love letters during the Edo period. Unlike the previous two works, it includes references to waka poetry and other classical literature as well as well-known historical episodes from the Heian period.

Learning from medieval and earlier literature

Shikakenroshu is illustrated and written in kana characters, which is an indication that it targeted women readers. It includes a variety of content on earlier techniques and conventions used in love letters, making reference to texts written for women, such as the medieval-era niwa no oshie and the Heian-era Horikawain'enjoawase, which was an anthology from a poetry contest. It enjoyed great popularity in its day as a practical manual of love letters.
Although it was intended to be a practical manual, the content was deeply rooted in classical literature. For example, expressions as well as chapter and character names from Genji monogatari are often referred to when discussing the techniques and practices of love letters. And the examples of love letters and poetry in Shikakenroshu are often based on such sources.
Horikawain'enjoawase is the record of a poetry contest hosted by Emperor Horikawa on May 2 and 7, 1102. It was thereafter used extensively in the education of young women from aristocratic families as a model for love letters. In addition to this poetry contest, Shikakenroshu also contains love letters and poetry that show the influence of Genji monogatari.

Kana-zoshi filled with love letters

Kana-zoshi are story books written in kana during the early Edo period, and the story of this on unfolds around the exchange of love letters while quoting a variety of historical episodes and medieval poetry. It was very popular during the Edo period, and found practical use as an example of love letters.
The main character is a man named Sonobe-no-Emon, falls in love with a woman named Usuyuki, whom he meets at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. He repeatedly sends her love letters, and despite the fact that Usuyuki is married and refuses his advances, they eventually fall in love. The story ends with the sudden death of Usuyuki, after which Sonobe-no-Emon enters the priesthood, only to die a short while later. The above image shows Usuyuki holding a love letter from Sonobe-no-Emon in the back of a room.

Column: Love letters and waka poetry in Usuyuki monogatari (The Tale of Usuyuki)

Usuyuki monogatari is a passionate account of a love affair between Sonobe-no-Emon and Usuyuki, quoting a number of waka poetry. For example, the following famous poetry, which is representative of Ise monogatari, is an example of such poetry. Usuyuki quotes this poetry in her reply to a love letter from Sonobe-no-Emon.

Ariwara no Narihira:
“By the round well-curb, our heights we used to measure, now that little boy has outgrown the marks you made since last he came to meet with you.”

The daughter of Ki no Aritsune:
“Since last we measured, long my parted hair, too, grows below my shoulders, for whom else if not for you and comb it up?”

English translation partially borrowed from Kenneth K. Yasuda, A prototypical Nō Wig Play: Izutsu, included in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol.40, No.2, Harvard University Press, 1980. [Z52-B240]

These poems are about the love between a man and a woman who are childhood friends, and Usuyuki shows that the bond between herself and her husband, who are childhood friends, is as deep as that between Ariwara no Narihira and the daughter of the poet Ki no Aritsune. In addition, she wrote poetry with her husband.

Usuyuki’ husband:
“Though your affections be ephemeral, as the morning glory’s flower, gone before sunset, do not loosen your under-sash for anyone but me.”

Usuyuki:
“Until we meet again, never shall I loosen by myself the sash we tied together.”

English translation partially borrowed from Tales of Ise: Lyrical Episodes from Tenth-Century Japan. Translated, with an introduction and notes, by Helen Craig McCullough, University of Tokyo Press, publisher, 1968. [KG52-1]

The term “loosening the under-sash” refers to sharing a bed. Usuyuki showed her loyalty to her husband in this poem, and rejected Sonobe-no-Emon. The quotation of a waka poem from Ise monogatari added depth to the love game between Usuyuki and Sonobe-no-Emon.

After Usuyuki monogatari was established, many works influenced by it were born. Nishikigi is also a story that consists of a love letter exchange and a collection of practical love letter examples in five volumes. A glossary of love terms is included at the end of the book. The book also contains 140 waka poems, many of which are quotations from earlier waka poetry collections. The popularity of this book is evident from the fact that similar books have been published as well as Usuyuki monogatari.
The image shows the scene of a love letter exchange on the morning of the farewell of a man and a woman who have spent the night together, and with the quotation of a waka poem, we can see the sad scene of the farewell.

Love letters as seen in pictures

Here are some nishiki-e and illustrations with love letters on them.

Writing a love letter on someone’s behalf

This is an illustration of the story Hazukashinagara fumi kotoba (Secret letter), when the main character Yonosuke was 8 years old. In his right hand, he clutches a love letter that he has asked his calligraphy tutor to write on his behalf.

Breaking the seal on a love letter

Reading a love letter

Love letters can be a source of fights

Peddling love letters

Next
Chapter 2: Love letters in the Meiji,
Taisho, and Showa periods