湯女ゆな

noun

female bath attendant; woman who assists bathers at hot springs

Historical role in Edo-period bathhouses and hot-spring resorts; these women attended to guests, scrubbed backs, and sometimes provided other services.

• 江え戸ど時じ代だいの湯女ゆなは、客きゃくの背せ中なかを流ながしたり、髪かみを洗あらったりした。

  In the Edo period, yuna washed customers' backs and hair.

noun

bathhouse prostitute

Archaic term for a yuna who also engaged in prostitution, often associated with the less reputable bathhouses of the Edo period.

• 湯女ゆなの中なかには、売ばい春しゅんを行おこなう者ものもいた。

  Some yuna also worked as prostitutes.