Essay in New Perspectives in Modern Japanese History: " The World of Economic Transactions and Power-relationships: Cafes and Cafe Waitresses in the late 1920s Japan"

The World of Economic Transactions and Power-relationships: Cafes and Cafe Waitresses in the late 1920s Japan

(February 8, 2019)

According to Miriam Silverberg, the cafe has become a symbol of Japan’s modernity, not in the same sense as it was a reaction to the bourgeois culture of the Western context (or the feudal society of old Japan), but that it was the site most often associated with the experiences characteristic of the new age, which was defined by a series of ‘vanguard’ gestures that had ostensibly broken away from any traditional framework (1998, 208-209). One good example is how Japanese commentators agree that this so called Japanese modernity was very much aware of the presence of women, thus, the images of the cafe waitresses, along with the vibrating presence of the modern girl, were placed front and center (Ibid, 210).

The world of cafes and cafe waitresses, in the context of the late 1920’s Japan, is one of economic transaction and power relationships. This is my main argument after reading through Miriam Silverberg’s “The Cafe Waitresses Serving Modern Japan” (1998) and Sata Ineko’s “Café Kyoto” (2016), wherein, the two proceeds to explore the topic through different lenses – academic research and novel. In this way, I hope to highlight any complementing, intersecting, or opposing concepts.

In order to do this, I will begin this brief essay by highlighting the two texts. In Miriam Silverberg’s “The Cafe Waitresses Serving Modern Japan” (1998), her main focus was to draw attention to the history of the cafe waitresses of the 1920’s and 1930’s, particularly into their labors and desires, such as those manufactured within the confines of the cafe and those experienced with heartfelt emotion at a time when women and men were aware of the construction of the known traditions that, in turn, it was also possible to change them. In addition, the sense of what a cafe can offer to its customer was also discussed, thus highlighting what or how exactly the cafe waitress was serving modern Japan, such as the variety of themes and experiences (often catering to the taste of the customers), cultural practices found within the confines of the cafes, and the appearance and propagation of jokyū dialect (satokotoba – reminiscent of the premodern Yoshiwara district manner of speaking). This is further discussed by examining the cafe waitress (jokyū) in terms of her representation in the case of the erotic, the grotesque and the nonsense, to which by focusing on a textual analysis of Fumiko Hayashi’s autobiographical novel “Hōrōki”, the experience of the cafe waitress is brought to a new light (sexual, sensual, manipulative). As part of the conclusion, Silverberg argues that everything becomes a form of negotiation, whereby the cafe waitress of that time were very much aware of the political power of the erotic, though grotesque at times, but clearly never nonsensical in nature, and that situating the cafe waitress was always in relation to the men, to the small rooms of their work, to the cafes, all of which was governed by domination.

The second text is Sata Ineko’s 1929 story, Café Kyoto. The story, in summary, is about the lives of the cafe waitresses of a certain Cafe Kyoto in the sixth ward of Asakusa. The story takes place after the 1923 Great Earthquake, and so the cafe is among the many new cafes that were built around the area, becoming one of the two leading cafes, rivaling Cafe Orion. However, unlike their rival cafe which is also owned by the president of a bank, Cafe Kyoto which is part of a corporation that sold beer also suffered from the loss of the quality of the beer production, and the management has been stubborn from keeping up with the times, leaving the cafe in an almost dilapidated state. Despite all these setbacks, it still has its fare share of influential patrons who regularly visit. The narrative continues to follow the interaction of the different cafe waitresses and their patrons, and their struggles in life is often narrated through gossips. The narrative also describes the dreams and desires of the characters. Unfortunately, by the end of the story, due to the cafe’s own inability to help itself for the better, its cafe waitresses would have to come into terms that their fate may never change, some finding work elsewhere, or die in the attempt of escaping their circumstances.

There are 3 reasons for selecting Sata Ineko’s Café Kyoto. Firstly, Sata Ineko has, in fact, worked as a cafe waitress, thus, prompting some scholars to regard this story as partly auto-biographical. Secondly, Café Kyoto’s narrative does not revolve around an individual character, rather, its narrative follows the intersecting lives of the cafe workers, within the premise of the cafe, and any account of events that happen outside the cafe is brief and sometimes conveyed as gossip or news. This allows the reader to get a glimpse of an interrelated community, rather than an isolated case. Lastly, being a literary piece, Café Kyoto’s exploration of the cafe and the cafe waitresses would allow us to understand how the topic is informed and represented in the narrative format, as well as to deduce a purpose for its conception.

As an outline of how the discussion will proceed, I have divided this paper to explore the cafe as a space and image of the cafe waitress. Hopefully, I will be able to provide sound evidence toward my argument.

Cafe as Space

In considering the cafe as a space, I will divide this discussion into two parts – space in the literal sense, and in what the space can offer. In this way, we can approach this topic in a broader perspective. Firstly, as a space in the literal sense, the cafe was considered as if it was a different world, altogether, wherein men, in particular, could escape from the realities of the world, and for young women (those from the countryside, especially) could aspire to become as wanted and glamorized as movie stars. As an establishment built on and for aesthetics and relationships, the cafe could be decorated and fitted to the style and taste of the customers, allowing a variety of themes and experiences. In some of the examples that Silverberg writes, she indicates that through the varying themes and ways to establish an image on these cafes, there were numerous forms of exoticization such as the use of Chinese imagery, decorations, and dresses for the cafe waitresses in order to achieve a level of authenticity (1998, 215). Not only did the cafe become a portal to a different world, it also became a location of its own rules, as seen in the way the interior of the cafe was arranged, not so much to create a public space, but to cater to the interpersonal relationships that could be realized within its walls, such as decorations and sofa arrangements that creates smaller spaces for more intimate conversations. And in the same way, the cafe waitresses would also be differentiated into groups who serve customers in specific areas of the cafe (Ibid, 215). This level of attention to the customer – the experience itself – may well constitute to what is being transacted within the confines of the cafe.

Looking at the setting in Sata’s Café Kyoto, the cafe’s space is more thoroughly described, though far from the luxurious image as what Silverberg notes. This is not to say that the image of the cafe as a luxury-themed space is wrong, as there is one such establishment mentioned in Sata’s story that fits the flamboyant, eye-catching, seasonally decorated cafe that suits to the taste of the visiting customer. However, the narrative of the story unfolds within the confines of an old, unchanging cafe called Café Kyoto, which was once a site of decadence, but did not follow the change of times and is barely functioning to its full capacity. The story manages to describe, not just the cafe’s public space, but also it’s inner space, as seen in the inclusion of a space for the kitchen, or the waitresses’ make-up room in the second floor (wherein they are all packed within a small space, far removed and dull compared to actual cafe). By having a different perspective, especially when a good amount of narrative happens within this hidden space for the workers, the narrative also explores the interpersonal relationships of the workers and their economic standing, as well as any interpersonal transactions.

In a semblance to the multi-storied cafes as written by Silverberg, the Cafe Kyoto also has its second floor space reserved for the wealthy customers. This particular separation of service space may well be considered a form of continuity of social customs from the real world and into the cafe’s world – in the sense that while the cafe may be considered separate from the society outside, the hierarchy of class may still exist and is quite important. In fact, it exists, more so, because the cafe itself is a commercial establishment, thus, monetary and influential power are part of the trade. As such, Silverberg writes how most of the customers of the cafes would mostly be the intellectuals, salaried middled class and other influential movers of society (1998, 213). This prompts the cafe to dress itself accordingly, to fit within the luxurious lifestyle that the customers belong to, if not to exaggerate it, in order to provide for conducive sensual space. Specifically, in Café Kyoto, the customers range from metal engravers, to wealthy aristocrats, to politicians, and to company presidents.

Another thing to consider regarding the cafe as a space in the literal sense is its strict adherence to its territory. The themes and decorations are all confined within the walls of a specific cafe, in the same way as their rules. This is depicted in Café Kyoto where most of the cafe waitresses know the limitations of their workplace to within the cafe itself, and that any activity involving the customers outside the cafe would be problematic. However, it is also shown in the narrative that for the purpose of the businesss-side – that is, to keep current patrons – of the establishment, cafe waitresses may extend their services outside the cafe, particularly in the case of the character of Natsue, who was arranged by the cafe supervisor Mr. Yasuda to help nurse her patron (Mr. Yasukawa) at his house, with the consideration that Mr. Yasuda was hoping to entice Mr. Yasukawa with his new business idea. In this sense, the territory of the cafe was extended beyond its original location, and along with it, the role of the cafe waitress. I will return to this extended role of the cafe waitress at a later section.

The second part in this discussion is about what the cafe as a space can offer. As earlier explained, the cafe’s space can be experimented to be visually attractive or to represent certain imagery. Silverberg writes this as a form of a reversal of the mimicry discussed by Homi Bhabha, but in the case of a Chinese-themed cafe, it is the colonizer that passes off as the colonized in order to provide the exotic interaction between customers and cafe waitresses (1998, 215). With this in mind, the aesthetic appeal is also complimented by the cultural experience that the themes encompass. In a way, this allowed for those clients who cannot afford a real travel abroad to experience something new. Cafes would also organize seasonal events in order to replicate the society at large within the confines of their walls, but without the regulations of the outside world. This made the cafe a threat to the family unit, as it becomes a “safe haven” for husbands to retreat to (Ibid, 216)– that they can have a semblance of normalcy without the restrictions of the family or reality.

In the same way that the cafe as a space can offer certain ease, freedom, and fantasy to its customers, for the young women in Sata’s Café Kyoto, the cafe becomes a workplace that ties their lives with one another, and provides a chance to pursue different kinds of relationships, be it camaraderie with fellow workers, or romantically with male customers. In addition to this, Silverberg writes that the “jokyu who entered the cafes (along with their sisters in other forms of sex work) had already been shaped by contemporary notions of gender, sexuality, and the erotic” (212), which allows them space for self-agency. While inside the cafe, the cafe waitresses can put to work their skills, as well as, make their own choices pertaining to specific customers, as shown by the higher-ranking characters in Café Kyoto who could afford to choose their patrons or play along with their desires for their own gain. In fact, the space plays a big role in forming the actors that reside in it that a closer inspection of the cafe waitresses would help shed light to what can they afford to act out. This will be discussed in the following section.

Image of the Cafe Waitress

In the process of discussing the image of the cafe waitress, I will divide this section using three character examples from the Café Kyoto story: O-Chie, O-Yoshi, and Natsue. While there were other characters introduced in the narrative, this three will serve the purpose of framing the identity of the cafe waitress in relation to what Silverberg and Perry had written.

To begin with, in Samuel Perry’s Introduction to Sata Ineko’s collection where Café Kyoto is part of, he gives an important description of the cafe waitress: “Café waitresses – seen as stylishly modern but also morally suspect – offered infinite fodder for 1920s tabloids, which carried countless stories of tragic women, who had been sold into service by their parents, cheated by gangsters, or force into prostitution. Historian Fujimi Yuki writes that the job of a café waitress was rarely regarded as a proper profession by even progressive women, but instead seen as a breeding ground for social evils, as the uppermost echelon of Japan’s sex industry. So while café waitresses had become new icons of Japanese modernity, society at the same time scorned them just like their traditional counterparts, the geisha” (Sata 2016, 5-6). With this in mind, I hope to analyze the following characters, while also taking into account how Silverberg’s writing.

Firstly, O-Chie is introduced in the story as seemingly a more experienced cafe waitress, arrogant, opportunistic, and has transferred from a previous cafe establishment in the past. Despite her strong personality within the cafe, she returns to a dilapidated home where her child can barely have sufficient clothing, and where she would have to hire an old woman to take care of her child as she would spend most of her time working in the cafe. She agonizes about her inability to escape poverty and provide for her family, which is why she is keen in taking advantage of influential customers. To be in their favor would mean an escape from her reality, even if briefly, and also to accumulate wealth, for cafe waitresses earn little and would rely more on the generosity and tip of their customers. As such, her character is often portrayed as in-command, and at one point of the narrative, did not hesitate to become more intimate with one of heir wealthy patrons. Perry writes that “working essentially in low-wage service jobs, most waitresses were obliged to rely on tips for much of their income, which government reports say encouraged them to use “whatever tactics, consciously or not, were at their disposal,” including outright deception and sexual enticement, leading even literary luminaries such as Tanizaki Jun’ichiro to look down on the profession” (Ibid, 6). This resonates with how jokyu practices have been represented as manipulative (Silverberg, 217-218), and yet the cafe waitresses are still viewed as sought-after commodity. It is undeniable that there was a certain power that appealed to the would-be cafe waitresses, particularly when considering that they will be in close contact with clients of considerable background, or that they would be seen in a different light – one of glamour and likened to starlets (Ibid, 217). In fact, it should be empowering to know that loyal patrons of cafe waitresses would follow them whenever they change cafe establishments that they work for, such as the case of O-Chie. It is revealed in the story that she was once working for a different cafe and had an influential patron, who came together with her to Cafe Kyoto once she began working there. However, when that said patron was convicted due to political scandals, she had to quickly find a new patron in order to provide for her daily necessities, thus, encouraging her to be more aggressive, yet also opportunistic in the sense that she only showed interest to potential customers who were wealthy and influential, even if it meant downplaying the other cafe waitresses. Her desire is primarily driven by desperation, which ultimately resulted into her committing a lovers’ suicide with an imperial guard she had been secretly seeing.

In the case of O-Yoshi, she is a character who represents the older demographics of cafe waitresses, who are working together with their family members (her husband, in the story, is the bartender), and who view the profession as a temporary escape from financial burdens. As a veteran in the cafe, she has already gained numerous patrons, including the same wealthy Tanaka that O-Chie is trying to seduce. However, in contrast to O-Chie, she is portrayed as a woman who has certain principles that would not allow her to commit any of the manipulative acts that a cafe waitress is notorious of, and who dreams of a life beyond her current state of employment – to start a business of her own using her accumulated savings from her income. At the same time, being someone of higher rank and reputation within the cafe, she could afford to deny a customer, thus allowing another cafe waitress to take in the customer as their patron. A significant episode with O-Yoshi in the story is the part where she discusses about her savings from her earnings. In Chapter 9, it was hinted that her savings had already amounted to two-thousand yen, despite having worked for the cafe for many years, and this is because they were not even allowed to carry their own passbooks to keep check (Sata, 58). In Chapter 8, the earnings was explained in detail: “Each night the café took in twenty yen, with all twenty women working. But who knew what sort of expenses this six hundred yen a month was used to pay for,” and in an interaction between O-Ryū and O-Yō, it would be revealed that for every three yen they earned, one yen is taken by the cafe, and that they contemplate if they will even have a single penny from their savings (Ibid, 54). This feeling on uncertainty is shared among the cafe workers, more so as their cafe doesn’t put any effort to upgrade their establishment in order to entice new patrons, relying on the current, and eventually losing customers.

Lastly, Natsue’s character represents the image of the cafe waitress who successfully becomes a mistress. She is described as having been forced to work as a cafe waitress after her current husband had been struck by tuberculosis, leaving the task of financial security to her. She also has children to take care of at home. Though young, she scorns how her life had turned out to be, especially when she has to work all-day and be expected to perform a wife’s duty to her husband at home. As such, when the opportunity presented that her patron, Tokunori Yasukawa, son of the aristocrat Yasukawa, she could not easily refuse him for the favors she could enjoy, even if it meant suffering from indignation as being a mistress or to be criticized by Yasukawa’s close friends. Despite this, she is described as easily swayed whenever she receives a gift of new kimono from Yasukawa, seemingly making all her worries of indignity disappear. In a way, she represented the women who could not escape from turning to a life of a cafe waitress and was kept due to the material accumulation of gifts. However, she is very much aware that her beauty would not last, and thus, when she was made to take care of Mr. Yasukawa in his home, she did not refuse the chance to become a mistress. In the ending scene of the story, Natsue returns to the cafe, drunk on the floor of their small make-up room, trying to embrace her child. This scene recalls her response to Mr. Tanaka in an earlier chapter that points to her desperation to have what she needs through appeasing her patrons: '“Don’t you worry, Tanaka-san. I’ll be sure to get good and drunk for you tonight, okay?” Natsue’s eyes narrowed as these slightly more vulgar words escaped her lips with a smile’  (Ibid, 40).

There was another interesting character who was only mentioned briefly – Misao – who was a young cafe waitress that had just started working for Cafe Kyoto but would have to find work elsewhere due to difficulties at home and the meager wage they currently have. The narrative also reveals that another cafe in Asakusa – Cafe Naraya – had made a point of collecting beautiful young girls and in order to keep the girls for a long time, it had become common practice to loan all of the girls’ income to the family in advance. This particular scene has Misao explain that “her body, for all intents and purposes, had been sold” (Ibid, 45). In the literal sense, the cafe waitress has become a commodity even before she begins working for the cafe.

There was a certain power that appealed to the would-be cafe waitresses, particularly when considering that they will be in close contact with clients of considerable background. But more so because the cafe waitresses knew their importance. “It was the jokyu – originally dressed primly in kimono and apron – rather than the food or even the drink, that lured customers into these places, which were more bar than coffeehouse in atmosphere and menu” (Silverberg, 213). From the given four example characters, it was clear that their reasons for employment had to do with their incapacity to escape from poverty. At the same time, the lure of the potential to partake in the economic activity of society, especially during the period of industrial growth, was not something easily ignored. As cafe waitresses, they had the desire to appear aesthetically pleasing, which meant to acquire beautiful kimonos – a bane in their existence as they could hardly afford to support for themselves on a monthly basis, and that should the cafe insist on seasonal decorations, then they, too, must wear the appropriate kimono, which could be considerably expensive. Throughout the text, the cafe waitresses are also depicted as consumers and are aware of the significance of having such material wealth, themselves, with O-Chie constantly smoking a cigarette and hoping to buy fine dresses for her child and dreaming of going to Ueno park for an entire day just like other families, Natsue desiring more new kimonos and delighting when given (much to the envy of the other waitresses), and O-Yoshi buying Chinese soba to share with her husband, as well as having a dream to be a business owner herself. But perhaps, if there was one character who was able to escape the life of a cafe waitress, it was O-Tsuyo, who was initially antagonized by O-Chie, for the former had become quite close to a inn keeper’s son who used to frequent O-Chie, and by fate, she was forced to leave the cafe as the said inn keeper’s son had decided to marry her. Despite this, however, it is saddening to know that that was the only way for one of the characters to escape their fate, with O-Chie forced to her death, and O-Yoshi, despite her plans, was unfortunately struck by a terminal disease before she could even make use of her savings. In effect, the image of the life of the cafe waitress portrayed in Sata Ineko’s story is one of tragic and inescapable fate.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is noteworthy to consider that the opening scene of Sata Ineko’s Café Kyoto proceeds with a completion of a transaction, as we are introduced to O-Chie who is handing over the change of money to one of the customers who is now leaving the cafe. This opening scene is quite powerful in the effect that it sets the tone for the entire story – one which is steeped in commerce, as well as the reality that the world that this story inhabits revolves the unceasing movement of transactions and commodities. In fact, throughout the novel, we see the endless consumption of cigarette, alcohol, clothes, and of course, the cafe waitresses. Situated during a time when Japan’s growing industrial and commercial success in the late 1920’s, Sata’s story gives the reader a glimpse to a different side of modernity, and perhaps successfully and differently than other novels in the sense that it does not focus on one single character, but in the lives of the cafe workers– a life that is a farcry of the glamour and star-like aesthetics that they are forced to adapt. Thus, from the beginning until the end, there is no definite marker of where the story should begin and end, with the narrative describing that despite the events that took place and the economic situation of the cafe, that business continued as usual. In similarity to the case study of Fumiko Hayashi by Silverberg, the cafe waitresses are depicted as having to adapt to a specific role within the cafe, and whether they can achieve satisfaction with such a role would depend on the way they act their part and accept their role in society as a whole. Otherwise, like the character of Abe in Fumiko Hayashi’s novel, the only way to be free from an unsatisfying fantasy life was to leave behind the cafe, a similar decision sought by the unsatisfied characters from Café Kyoto. Self-agency to wield power over their lives was something that was never given to the characters, and while a lot of Japanese commentators and in the case of Natsue’s character, depicted cafe waitresses as capable of swindling or manipulating customers, ultimately, the power is not entirely within them as they would have to give up something in return to keep their patrons wanting them, thus birthing to a complicated and power-relationship cycle.

Works Cited

1. Sata, Ineko. “Café Kyoto”. Five faces of Japanese feminism: crimson and other works, trans. Samuel Perry. University of Hawai’i Press, 2016, 27-63.

2. Silverberg, Miriam. “The Cafe Waitress Serving Modern Japan.” In Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan, edited by Stephen Vlastos, 208–25. University of California Press, 1998.