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6
THE SLAVE MARKET NEWS.
APRIL, 1933.
MORE POOR PRISON-HOUSE SLAVES FREED*
The following article: "A Study in Lic- ensed Prostitution." is taken from "The Japan Christian Quarterly" for July, 1932. It is by Commissioner Yamamuro. of the Salvation Army, and the facts and figures he gives there, show something of the conditions in the licensed quarters Japan.
of
"Keepers are legally recognised as being in the business of lettings rooms, but they have no legal authority to re- strain the women or abuse them. Unfor- tunately, they do both. For example. keepers not only compel women in regard to prostitution. but seldom allow thein any choice in the selection of guests. Even If the guest is infected with a loathsome disease the woman must entertain him. and if she dare refuse, she must be pre- pared to endure the brutalities of the keeper, and often herself pay the fee!
Again. in certain quarters, keepers are liable for the medical expenses of women who have contracted venereal disease, but many evade their responsibilities in this connection. The Prefectural authorities provide treatment for such women, but,
of course, the keepers know that their women cannot earn money while in hos pitul. But they often permit women so affected to apply alum rather than have the matter properly attended to. an es- sential condition governing the Licensed Quarters. Other keepers, more insolent, send old women to the waiting rooms of the hospitals, where, with a certain appa- rahus. they denude the affected parts so as to enable the women to pass the medi- cal test It is said, also, that some of the attending physicians are not above accept- ing a consideration by which the examin. ation becomes largely a matter of form. Although, of course, keepers would prefer healthy women, money is the first inter- est, and even when the women are ill. compel them, often by physical force, to serve their guests.
Further. they derive excessive profit from food. We understand that at the Yoshiwara. for a fifty sen dish of raw fish one yen may be charged; for a twenty sen dish of pickles, forty sen: etc. Gen- erally food is ordered from restaurants. and keepers make at least 50 per cent. profit.
Licensed Quarters' women are generally insuficiently fed. It is expected that they will eat with their guests: although fcod of a sort is supplied by the keep ers, the women themselves have to buy what they can afford. Those who have little or no money naturally request their guests to give them food. One woman was informed by her keeper that nour ishing food causes poisons to infect the skin and therefore gave her only miso soup and cooked beans-over a period of three years! Keepers also make hand- some profits on the women's clothing, for they have contracts with cloth dealers and the women are unable to make their own terms.
Although there is a movement afoot to allow the Quarters' women to leave the houses whenever they wish, they really have little opportunity for breathing God's pure air, except when receiving medical attention at near-by hospitals. Keeper!
do not inform them of their right, by law of free cessation, and without this know ledge they continue to submit to shan and suffering at the hands of th keepers."
COULD ANYTHING BE MORE DEVILISH?
The Friend of Jupan, Oct.-., 1932.
APRIL, 1933.
THE SLAVE MARKET NEWS.
MORE
MIRACLES
*
BEFORE
AFTER
B.C.
A.D.
!
THEN
DID YOU KNOW
NOW
that there are about 5,000 towns and villages in Japan to-day where there is neither Doc- tor nor Midwife? Can you imagine what hap. pens to young mothers during confinement?
work,
OF GOD'S GRACE*
THREE REMARKABLE TROPHIES,
"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Paul might be described as a "specialist" on the nature and activities of grace. In his Letter to the Romans he has quite a lot to say about it. He shews there, most unmistakably, that the cure for sin is grace. That the one thing than can stop the reign of sin in the heart is grace. Grace, wonderful and matchless grace, and daily to our gaze it becomes more entranc- ingly wonderful as we see it in action in the lives of those who have been submerged in sin and shame, until their whole being reeks of it. What terrible havoc sin works in those who come under its sway! But what shall we say of the marvellous transformation which takes place when grace has a chance to Grace undocs all that sin ever did. "Grace. fathomless as the sea, Grace flowing from Calvary; Grace enough for eter- nity. Grace enough for me." Yes, and for all deep-in-the-mire sinners of every clime. Some of the Japanese girls from the "depths of hell" are experiencing this lovely heart and life transforming and transfiguring grace in their lives, in our Osaka Home. Praise the Lord. A look at the pictures on the left will show that they are entire strangers to the grace of God, but the pictures on the right-thank God tell a different story. What an amazing difference grace makes, and in a very short time. too! It is almost unbelievable. But it is just what is happening here. when the Lord of Life and Heavenly Power finds an entrance into a sinful heart. We shall not expend any time giving a description of the condition these three young women were in when they came to our Osaka Home, seeking refuge from the pursuer who was after them to destroy them. *Their faces will say all that need be said. Much about their wretched history has to be left alone; it is too vile for expres
sion.
The one comforting feature in this Rescue Work is the fact that we have the unfailing Gospel to preach, which reveals a Saviour able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him. These girls have a testimony to the efficacy of the Blood of Christ which, while it gladdens the heart of the Lord Jesus, and also our hearts must occasionally cause a sense of defear to steal into the minds of the enemy and his emissaries,
To see all around us here, women made clean, sweet and bright, who, only a few months ago, were shut up in vice dens. not only practising vile sin, but also using words, and singing songs filthy enough to make anybody feel sick. is music to the Christian heart We also rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of glory, as we contemplate the fact that what our Lord has begun in the hearts of these women, He will continue until that Day. Let no one be tempted to think that the Gospel is a back number. It is always No. 1. and there are no numbers after one in this case.
But what about the others still held prisoners in cruel vice dens in all the large cities and towns here? We know that thousands long for their freedom, but poor creatures, they have no means of getting it. Will you help them?
* The Friend of Japan, Oct.-Dec., 1932.
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