Details About Ancient Japan That Definitely Weren't In The History Books
There's a recurring problem with a lot of high school history classes. Teachers give students an overview of major events and eras, but they never go into the gritty details of what life was actually like for the people living through them. Case in point: ancient Japan. Nowadays, when we think of Japan, we picture Zen gardens and kanso-inspired lifestyles. However, if you jump back in time through the centuries, you realize just how brutal and unforgiving much of the day-to-day routines were.
Lead Makeup
Many women caked-on makeup every morning before leaving their home. But, while it may have looked more appealing to the eye for men, tons of them died due to lethal amounts of lead contained in early compositions.
Collecting Soil
At one point in time, there was a shortage of livestock, which meant a shortage of manure. So, people started collecting their own soil — which quickly became a valuable commodity — to use instead.
Infanticide
Farmers usually lived the poorest lives out of the entirety of the population. Sometimes poverty was so substantial that families engaged in infanticide, meaning they would kill their own children while they were just days old to avoid the burden.
"Pleasure Quarters"
Today, prostitution is illegal in Japan, but centuries ago it was actually allowed. Clients would visit "pleasure quarters" to meet with women. As you can imagine, sexually transmitted diseases ran rampant through them all.
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