expression, noun
bathhouse thievery; stealing clothes and valuables at a bathhouse
Historical term for a specific type of theft that occurred in Edo-period public bathhouses, where a thief would steal bathers' belongings while they were bathing.
江戸時代には、板の間稼ぎという風呂場での窃盗が問題になった。
In the Edo period, a type of bathhouse theft called 板の間稼ぎ became a problem.
Compound of 板の間 (ita no ma, 'boarded floor', referring to the changing area of a bathhouse) and 稼ぎ (kasegi, 'earning' or 'work'), literally 'boarded-floor work', a euphemism for stealing from bathers.