Jigoku tayū

Name Translation: hell courtesan Real Name: Otoboshi Affiliations: Sei'an City Family: wife of Masu; mother of Ikkyū and Usugumo. Otoboshi was born into a samurai family who fell on hard times after her father's death. She was captured and sold to the floating world, where she soon gained much notoriety due to her beauty, intelligence, sharp wit, and unusual name and clothing preferences. This attracted the attention of Benkei who paid the tayū a visit one day. Jigoku spoke to him in the form of a poem and the holy man responded in a similar manner. Impressed by the exchange, Jigoku invited him into her presence. Benkei was offered vegetarian food, but refused in favor of sake and carp. Jigoku was suspicious and decided to test him further. She sent in beautiful young woman who danced and played for the monk, all the while watching from the next room. Off and on during the night, Jigoku some strange things. In the morning she asked Benkei about them and he replied. “When are we not in a dream? When are we not skeletons? We are all just skeletons wrapped with flesh patterned male and female. When our breath expires, our skin ruptures, our sex disappears, and superior and inferior are indistinguishable. Beneath the skin of the person we caress today, there is no more than a skeleton propping up the flesh. Think about it! High and low, young and old, male and female: it is all the same. If you awaken to this one basic truth, you understand.” Jigoku's fame soon ensure that there was enough money to buy her freedom. At first her prospects were bleak (no family or home), but then she found work at Chef Yamas restaurant. It was there that she met Masu, a samurai who was rough around the edges but did have a good, honorable heart. At first she introduced herself as Jigoku, but then changed her mind. Otoboshi was her name, she told him and Masu began to come not just drink sake but also to visit with her. The two fell in love and soon married, producing a son and a daughter together.