‘A Woman of Pleasure’ is a wonderfully detailed and evocative piece of historical fiction set in Japan, in 1903. Kiyoko Murata is an established author in Japan but this book is her first to be translated into English and I sincerely hope that more will be coming as this was a fascinating and heartwarming read. When I pick up a piece of historical fiction I definitely want to be entertained as a reader but I also want to learn! I'm such a history nerd and I didn't know anything about this section of Japanese history at all. It sent me on many a rabbit hole on a certain search engine! But for me that a good thing as it has piqued my interest and I want to learn even more.

Ichi is a low-born girl from the Southern islands and has been sold into a prestigious brothel in Kumamoto. Although, she is still a child she is taught about the cultural and physical cues they will need in their new position. Their top oiran Shinonome takes her under her wing and becomes her mentor in the ways of pleasure. But Ichi is headstrong and defiant, very unsure in this new world of hers and only takes pleasure in the afternoon lessons at the school for the women.

This is based on real historical events as women began to challenge the status quo, even in such a patriarchal society. One in which they had no power until they learnt about the concept of workers' strikes from nearby dockyards. This emboldens the woman and they begin to take their own destinies into their own hands. ‘A Woman of Pleasure’ is a rich and vibrant historical novel that turned the lens onto an area of history I was not aware of. It was a beautiful piece of writing, full of strong female characters, with a sense that this was an authentic telling!

Let me know if you pick this one up!

A Woman of Pleasure is the first novel by well-known Japanese writer Kiyoko Murata to have been translated into English (by Juliet Winters Carpenter). Set in the first years of the twentieth century, it follows a teenage girl, Aoi Ichi, sold into prostitution in the Kumamoto quarter of Kyushu, and so forced to leave her southern fishing village with its community of women divers who live their lives tanned and naked. Her memories of this free, if poor life stay with her throughout this story, contrasting sharply with the regimented world of the brothel. Nevertheless, Ichi discovers female solidarity among her fellow prostitutes as well when they take part in the courtesan strike of 1904. For me, this read more like a fascinating first draft than a finished novel. The structure is a bit shapeless and weirdly repetitive - a key reveal about the same legislation being used to regulate prostitutes and livestock is presented to the reader twice, for example, and there are multiple smaller moments that are similarly duplicated. I also wasn't sure about some of the translation decisions, although it's hard to judge given that I don't read Japanese. In particular, I found the English version of Ichi's island dialect jarring, and thought that more could have been done with the English rendering of the slow development of her writing, which confines itself to a few missing apostrophes. The historical material is great, and I liked that it doesn't go for a Memoirs of A Geisha style plot about bitchy female infighting and Ichi's destined greatness, but instead positions her realistically as a mid-tier prostitute and allows her and the other girls to ally with characters such as the older Tetsuko, a retired prostitute who teaches in the female industrial school, and even Shinonome, one of the highest-ranking courtesans or oirans. But it just all felt a bit rushed and incomplete.

Ichi, a 15 year old girl living in early 1900s Japan, is sold into sexual slavery by her family, struggling to make ends meet. As Ichi travels from her small island to the big city and learns more about her new life, the reader goes on the journey with her. We discover how prostitutes are initiated, what their daily lives look like, and how they survive in these circumstances (or not).

The book is written in a semi documentary style, and is incredibly well researched. The lives of the prostitutes we encounter are richly described, but without unnecessary fuss or emotion. There is a lot of detail there, but this is what leads to compassion and understanding, exposing the reader to the real extent of the horror these young girls and women experience.

From this perspective, I liked it a lot, having learned a lot as well in the process of reading it. The relative brevity of the book also played a role, leaving no room for boredom.

That being said, this is not really a novel in my view. The characters are very badly defined and characterised. There is no growth or development over time. There is also little plot to speak of - there are just events from the life Ichi, and how that life is affected by her own understanding of her situation, as well the government's attitude towards her and women in her position. There is no story, though. It's just events that unfold.

Overall, I think it is a solid read, especially for those interested in contemporary Japanese history, and particularly that of Japanese women in the 20th century. It can also be illuminating to anyone who was ever interested to learn what being a prostitute really looks like, without the immediate emotional reaction, if the setting is too close to home.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata is a compelling story that is a bit too dryly told; i wanted more immediacy, but the prose feels at a remove

An lluminating, beautiful and often distressing novel about women who have been in the shadows of history. Sensitive readers might turn away but it's a terrific read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

If it’s good enough for Yoko Ogawa it’s good enough for me.

A Women of Pleasure is a sublimely written snapshot of the life of the girls and women who were sold and lived in one of the pleasure districts of Japan during the early 1900s.

The cloistered district kept secure by guards and chains of debt is brought to life by Murata and a brilliant translation from Winters-Carpenter.

Poetic, absorbing and bitterly painful in equal measure this is a uniquely vivid take on a slice of history often overlooked. As these girls begin to understand the power of sex, money and language they find empowerment in spite of their situation and as the tides turn in Japan they begin to seek a newer horizon.

This story isn’t a nice one, but it’s essential and every single page oozes with almost lyrical sorrow.

A Woman of Pleasure is a book that gives its readers a glimpse of an oiran's (prostitute in the Meiji-era) life. I've read a few books about geishas, but this is the first time I've read about oirans and the book is very fascinating!

What struck me most was despite the circumstances that led to them taking their line of work, giving the oirans basic education was an integral part of their life. Equipping them with the means to be able to look out for themselves and not get cheated, which paved the way to empowerment, stayed with me and left a mark.

What more can I say other than that I liked this book a lot!

Thank you to Netgalley and Footnote Press for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I found it fascinating, intriguing and thought provoking. Another culture, a woman who was powerful and had to learn how to become the fav courtesan of of a powerful man.
There's a fascinating description of the instruction of Aoi. Well plotted, full of details and telling a fascinating
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine story

A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata is a captivating Japanese literary novel set to be released next week.

The story centers around young Ichi, who, at the tender age of fifteen, is sold to a brothel. Within its confines, she navigates a complex world where she must learn the profession, etiquette, and obedience to the oiran (a high-ranking courtesan). Despite the challenges, Ichi emerges as a character of remarkable strength, bravery, and untamed spirit, which I found deeply compelling.

The one main thing that was negative to me is that I struggled to forge a connection with any of the characters. Nonetheless, considering this is the author's first translated novel, I am optimistic about future works and eagerly anticipate more translations from Kiyoko Murata.

I found the material fascinating in this story of young Japanese girls sold into prostitution by their poor families but this worked less well as a novel for me. Set in 1903, the main character is Ichi who is spirited and also naive: short extracts from her diary light up each chapter with her quirky take on life in a brothel and I could easily have read more in this format.

But the book shifts between background and history (such as the legal regulations on prostitution) and the story of Ichi and her fellow sex workers. Their day to day lives, the record of their 'training', the two men a day, the medical exams and diseases, the way the 'debt' works is told in the kind of granular detail I wanted - but, somehow, the story got left out. There is a last minute strike against bad conditions but there isn't really pace and momentum.

Nevertheless, this remains an intriguing insight into a horrific practice: that families are so poor they're forced to sell their daughters into prostitution, sometimes having to add to the debt again. It's also interesting that when prostitutes get pregnant, it's the girl children who have value, cutting against the more usual patriarchal system - though, of course, this is because the girls can be brought up to work in the brothel. It's worth noting too that the 'pleasure' of the title is the one these women have to give to men.

So I found all the details of this enclosed world absorbing, but the writing could be a little dry and most of the characters are no more than names. Ichi stands out for her difference and her love for the island from which she has been exiled but the fiction elements are distinctly downplayed.

Kiyoko Murata’s absorbing, slice-of-life novel is a meticulous depiction of the everyday lives of women living and working in the designated “Pleasure districts” of Meiji era Japan. Murata’s focus is on Aoi Ichi, a teenage girl who’s essentially been sold into prostitution by her parents – a comparatively common way of making money for impoverished families. It’s 1903 and Ichi’s been dispatched from her small island community to the upmarket, Shinonome brothel in the Kumamoto quarter of Kyushu – similar to Tokyo’s famous Yoshiwara district. The brothel operates like a society in miniature, with its own rules and values. Here what might be extraordinary in another context, murder, disease, suicide, is just background noise to the realities of existence for women of the brothel; girls have more value than boys, and lies are often seen as more virtuous than truth. Every woman is strictly ranked, a hierarchy based on notions of beauty and acquired skills, from the lowly yūjo or woman of pleasure to the elevated, accomplished oirans, the highest-ranking courtesans.

The most celebrated courtesan at Ichi’s brothel is Shinonome, named after the brothel, a name that reduces her to a prized commodity, key representative of the house’s brand. Ichi is one of the select few chosen for special training by Shinonome, considered attractive enough to be a future oiran. Although Ichi’s rebellious nature soon becomes an obstacle. Ichi is sent with other trainees to the local Female Industrial School, a student of Tetsuko an older prostitute, one of the few of her peers who’s dodged death by disease, suicide or violence. Murata delves into the minutiae of Ichi’s enclosed world, where women are regarded as more valuable than an overflowing wallet, carefully supervised, unable to go outside without permission, immersed in specialist training, from sexual techniques to poetry writing to sophisticated speech, all ways to increase earning potential. Menstruation is a welcome form of escape, because it results in a regular ‘red silk’ holiday.

Murata is less interested in plot or character here than in historical events and in the everyday experiences of Ichi and women like her. She deliberately sets her story in the run-up to the real-life, courtesan strike of 1904, partly inspired by news of general industrial unrest and the devastating impact of a faltering economy on many people’s livelihoods. Ichi and her fellow workers follow the progress of the Nagasaki shipyard strikes, and wonder if they too might be able to fight for better conditions. The brothel not only uses them to pay off family debt or further loans but charges inflated prices for food, tobacco and other necessities. Murata’s narrative features a mix of lyrical and docu-style prose, as well as striking imagery. Although, and I’m not sure how far this relates to translation decisions, some of the more informal passages are a little jarring – ‘hot sex’ for ‘penis’ is a prime example. But, despite minor flaws, I found this fascinating. I liked the way that Murata uses her narrative to reflect on broader social and political issues during this moment of change: a time in which legal shifts, spurred on by pressure groups, including a growing workers' and women’s movement, offered up the possibility of liberation for sex workers like Ichi. Although Murata is widely acclaimed in Japan, where she’s won multiple awards for her fiction, as well as worked with directors like Kurosawa, this is the first of her books to be available in English, I look forward to more. Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter.

Set in Japan 1903, inspired by the courtesan strike, Murata takes us on a journey with Aoi Ichi who is indentured into a brothel at a tender age because of family debt.

The pleasure mentioned in here is not a pleasure this woman or other women feels. The pleasure is solely that of the buyer, the man, in the case, who makes use of the woman, and that of the brothel owners who make money out of such sales of pleasure.

Murata is a great story teller who is an artist able to measure her words and choose the right ones. Her novel is like a haiku. It's words are measured and accurately placed to create the right feeling, create the right images that pertain to the story of these prostitutes and the work that they are forced into by their own loved ones. A tragic reality that they have to bow down to until..........

An ARC gently provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.

I knew that this reading was going to be hard and unexpectedly I came across a reading that DOES touch on very delicate and strong themes, without reservations and at the same time the author found a poetic way of telling us the facts.

What we read in A Woman of Pleasure is heartbreaking, many of the themes are touched on from Ichi's innocence as he grows and learns from everything his life offers him, both the good and the bad.

It is a light, enjoyable read and at the same time hard and raw. As I said before, the author has a unique way of telling us and transmitting to us how Ichi experiences certain moments with incredible lightness, and in reality they are atrocious events.

Thank you Footnote Press for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars - Complex, realistic and a lot less bleak than expected!

As I am always eager to read Japanese literature I was happy to receive an e-ARC of the first English translation of veteran author Murata Kiyoko. Her 2013 Novel "Yuujokou" has been translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter and will be published in 2024 under the title "A Woman of Pleasure".

The story revolves around Ichi, a young girl from a poor family on one of the southern Japanese Islands who is sold off into prostitution by her family into one of the most prestigious brothels of Kumamoto during the turn of the century, when profound changes are taking place in Japanese society. Together with her we enter into a world that is tremendously different from what she has know before and of course she is faced with the trauma of losing her virginity and having to have sex with strangers without much fanfare.

On the other hand, actually not all is terrible - surely, she needs to learn how sleep with strangers, but the new girls are actually being taught some techniques to keep some agency in the process and protect themselves from overexertion and diseases. They are also being sent to school to learn reading and writing, knowledge not only useful to woo potential long-term customers but also to be able to keep their own accounts on how much money they are making and how high their remaining debt is. There is a lot of companionship and support between the women and this is the part of Ichi's life that provides a much needed reprieve from the dark side of life in the red light district.

The part I enjoyed best were the little diary entries Ichi writes for her teacher to read. Ichi has a sharp eye and unique way with words that very poignantly capture her life with a wry sense of humour. I also greatly enjoyed the things Ichi's teacher Tetsuko had to say about the writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi, who was in favour of educating women (quite a liberal stance for those times!), but only if they were not of the depraved kind, like prostitutes. Fukuzawa is considered one of the great intellectuals of his generation but Murata very precisely points out some of his truly awful reasoning.

The story ends on a rather hopeful note of the prostitutes organizing a strike and fighting the world that has been presented to them as a matter of fact - opening up new perspectives and possible new lives. I much appreciated this thoughtful and insightful novel that provides a look into a part of society that is easily misrepresented or exploited for shock value and instead is interested in the real lives of that world.

Highly recommended!

I have received an advance review copy via NetGalley from the publisher and voluntarily provide my honest opinion. Thank you very much!

A glimpse into the lives of sex workers in early 1900s Japan. Highly researched and well written with a unique perspective through the eyes of Ichi, a fierce young woman who grows in confidence despite the harshness of her life. A little dull as it is character driven with no strong plot and prone to overloading on historical information and analysis of academic works. Overall a good read.

Thank you for giving me early access to this title. I'm so fascinated by this book because I went into it expecting historical fiction but it's more slice of life for me. I mean, it is historical fiction but the style is very surreal. I enjoyed it a lot

Ichi is fifteen. Sold to a brothel when her fisherman father cannot otherwise afford to keep his family, she is schooled in the ways of the courtesan, serving the most illustrious courtesan in the district. This tells the story of the breaking of the power of the brothels by the women forced to work in them. Beautifully written, this is clever, angry writing that grips from first page to last.

"Leaving meant stepping into hell, but staying was another kind of hell. Each woman had to decide for herself which hell to choose."

A Woman of Pleasure is a hisfic book. It is fascinating and devastating at the same time. Our main character is the fifteen years old Aoi Ichi who was sold by his family due to poverty. Through her lens, we are presented with her experience in the brothel as she embarks a new life, <i>Hell, if you will</i>, she can't quite escape from. We then learn the women are ranked; the higher their rank is, the more they are to lead a kind of "luxurious" life, despite far from freedom. All girls are also being given education, though the main purpose of it is to calculate their earnings (so they won't be cheated by the brothel's owner) and how to write a letter for their regulars. Those girls are given new names, told to forget their old ones. We then learn that the demands ridiculously make it impossible for the girls to pay off the dept as quick as they would like to, especially in Aoi Ichi's case, where her father's visit to the brothel turns out to be borrowing more money, extending her contract that she doubts she will be returning home any soon.
"In poor households there was a deep hole that swallowed money. Sickness, injury, bad harvests, poor catches: the hole was bottomless. Try as they might, the family members never could fill it."

I find the character of Tetsuko, the retired woman of pleasure who then became a teacher, admirable. She wants the girls to receive a proper education, she sympathizes with Ichi's situtation a lot by reflecting to her past.

There are also discussions about laws regarding their profession and how it got enforced over the years. Overall, this is a nicely done book. 3,75 stars.

Based on real life events, this is not the usual historical fiction I tend to read. I didn't enjoy the format of the stort, it was a bit all over the place so for me it didn't flow as nicely. Interesting to learn about this part of history.

This was such a well written and superb novel with a fascinating point of view. The lives of women and their struggles in that period of Japan were so interesting to read about and I loved the writing prose. 4.5 stars.