also: らしゃめん · ラシャメン
Rare term for sheep; the word is usually written in kana. This sense is uncommon and may be encountered only in historical or specialized contexts.
foreigner's mistress
Obsolete derogatory term for a Japanese woman who was the mistress of a foreign man, especially during the late Edo to early Meiji period. The term originated from the belief that Western sailors kept sheep on their ships for sexual purposes.
See also: 洋妾
In old documents, ラシャめん can refer to sheep.
In the treaty ports of the late Edo period, there were women called ラシャめん.
A more formal historical term for a foreigner's mistress, without the derogatory nuance of ラシャめん.
Hiragana-only spelling.
Katakana-only spelling.
Rarely used kanji form.
Rarely used kanji form.
Rarely used kanji form.
The word is a compound of ラシャ (raxa, a type of woolen cloth) and 綿 (men, cotton), originally referring to sheep. The second sense arose from the derogatory belief that Western sailors kept sheep on their ships for sexual purposes.