Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 4.djvu/60

 fact, received the appellation of "honourable pure ones" (O-kyo), while those in the other category were designated "soiled persons" (yogoreta kata), a distinction which the six hundred and ten dames of the court knew how to make effective. Further, even at night the Shōgun was obliged to have two companions. That singular rule began to be enforced after the era of the fifth Shōgun, Iyetsuma (1651-1680), who, having received into the ranks of his Chiuro the mistress of an intriguing banneret, was persuaded by her to attach the vermilion signature to a grant of an immense estate in favour of her secret lover. After that incident, which for a moment threatened the ruin of the Tokugawa, it was considered perilous to expose the Shōgun to the secret wiles of a favourite, and his highness had therefore to endure the presence of a second lady charged with the duty of reporting to the "Elder Dames" everything that happened in the "honourable bed-chamber." The shamelessness of such an arrangement was intensified on the following morning, when, as the Shōgun passed to another apartment, the two ladies were obliged to accompany him in positions regulated by the nature of the duties they had to perform. The Chiuro's lot, rendered irksome by these customs, was further embittered by the jealousy of her companions. If she became her master's favourite, she had to endure innumerable insults and torments at their hands, and there were cases where the prospect of bear-