Concubinage fell into official disrepute in Japan in the late 19th Century when the Japanese discovered that Westerners considered it a barbaric practice. Many a wealthy Japanese male, however, continues to operate on the principle that two mates are better than one.
A stern exception to this easygoing rule is 70-year-old Mrs. Waka Yamada, who looks on concubines in about the way that Carry Nation looked on saloonkeepers. Sometimes admitted to the courts as a "special attorney," Mrs. Yamada argues her cause eloquently. Last January she won a precedent-shattering acquittal for a wife who admitted having murdered her husband's concubine.
Three weeks ago...
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