female bathhouse attendant (Edo period); bathhouse scrubber and sex worker
Historical term for a woman who washed customers at public baths and also provided sexual services; often associated with 湯女 (ゆな).
See also: 湯女
At public baths in the Edo period, women called akakaki washed customers' backs.
Like yuna, akakaki sometimes also offered sexual services.
Standard kanji spelling for this historical term.
Search-only form using the kyūjitai 搔.
Kana-mixed spelling, common when the kanji 掻 is not used.
Irregular okurigana usage; the final き is omitted.
Compound of 垢 (あか, 'dirt, grime') and 掻き (かき, 'scratching, scraping'), from the verb 掻く (かく, 'to scratch'). Literally 'dirt scraper', referring to the job of scrubbing customers.