domestic service; working as a housemaid
Archaic term referring to live-in domestic service, typically by young women in pre-modern Japan. Not used in modern contexts.
In the Edo period, many young women went into domestic service.
Modern, polite term for a domestic helper, unlike the archaic 女中奉公.
Modern term for a housekeeper or maid, often used in contemporary settings.
Compound of 女中 (maidservant) and 奉公 (service, apprenticeship). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term reflects the practice of live-in domestic service in pre-modern Japan.