I have been looking at vintage tayuu postcard lately and i found this one. Thats an ungoldy amount of kamuro??? How famous was this tayuu to have so many attendant from small children to nearly teenagers!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/36560798@N02/6014241537/in/photolist-aasytB-6jXWvj-KZDBR-69GXKm-JWg9yr-2kU5qY9-8Wr4dh-2enAnCx-pARrzb-87e8y3-6qEpLF-87e8w1-69GV91-2s4aNWU-bm8uZh-2k9YwZv-aasygg-7XEYkZ-69CJhH-69CLxX-9F54Vm-69GSFU-69GVGA-8VRb4v-pSFn29-PsfFSx-69GWWA-7TbnJL-6GHPtr-6k32hX-6k32KV-2k9Svoo-2k9WrZu-69CJCD-4GgDTZ-8gNuF9-7gGXTD-btnNin-6xgdXB-eaZD4G-2eyQjkq-6wYnPs-KHiCMA-mFy2is-FHuAYq-dknktx-69GU2j-6GsvM7-2s4c6bJ-eaU154
Hello Anon
Thank you for sending in this pic
Source: Noel43 on Flickr
I remember reading somewhere that sumptuary laws regulated how many Oiran could have at some point, which points to the Oiran's lower status in the eyes of the law. They would be emulating the excesses of legendary Tayuu, who would have as many Kamuro as possible because they were of noble status and exempt from these laws. So first, lets take another deeper dive into the mechanics of a Tayuu okiya in the Shimabara.
During the golden age of the Tayuu in the 1700s, a Tayuu house would host a handful of successful Tayuu, each of them with respective Danna, certainly one, maybe two or three or even more. Ideally a good Tayuu house would already have their regular client base from the aristocracy or samurai nobility, which they would assign to a fitting Tayuu whenever she matured. It was the most natural thing that the patron's bond with a Tayuu house was deeper and longer lasting than any girl's career span, because not only would a girl take a while to mature but they also faded faster than a man, either in beauty or health. The gold standard was to marry off the Tayuu when her contract ended by her late 20ies, in which case the patrons that passed on her, moved on to the next Tayuu. The Tayuu house had no use for most of their fading Tayuu so ultimately, they needed to move on.
To keep the machine going, a house would need a lot of Kamuro. Not only did they weed out many kids for lack of talent or beauty, but also quite a few just didn't make it. So huge numbers would remedy the need for many hands to keep the house running from the inside but most importantly, the Tayuu's hands free from labor as her status demanded. All the while, not all Kamuro who made it through the years of work and hard training, made it to become a Tayuu. It was in the Kamuro's best interest to get ahead with her Tayuu sister, so she would in turn put favorite forward to her own patrons. The patrons would in turn maybe find the child charming or see some potential and invest in them indirectly through their Oneesan. As time passed, the Kamuro and later Shinzo would be directly groomed to target her Tayuu sisters patron who would then take her as their own Tayuu later on. Or maybe pass them on to someone in their retinue. Most children in these pictures would have had their future pretty much predetermined. They just needed to cooperate.
Now, do all these Kamuro belong to one Tayuu? I don't think it's that black and white. A Tayuu okiya would host the gaggle of girls to coordinate the manual labor and some would find their way into the care of specific Tayuu. But for many Kamuro who didn't enjoy a very specific training, they would be handed around.
Some accounts claim that to bypass the sumptuary laws that determined Oiran's Kamuro numbers, they would lend the girls to each other during the parade and maybe so it was for these pics. The sash the Kamuro carry over the shoulder with the Tayuu's name makes us think they are her attendants only. Certainly a high number of Kamuro then needs to be taken care of by many patrons, you need new patrons every couple of years, maybe yearly and i highly doubt that this was always the case. In all probability we are not seeing a successful Tayuu in the sense that she will train all these girls to be brilliant Tayuu themselves, there are just way to many to invest in.
It's just a case of keeping up appearances i think. What's your view on this?
Thank you for your ask, stay safe <3
