Sweat, perfume and tobacco: the ambivalent labor of the dancehall girl

In his 1931 novella Dancers and Drawers (Dansii to zurosu), Tada Michio describes an enchanting figure, a dancehall girl on the streets of Tokyo: "With a cheeky bob and slim legs. With stockings of a color that matches her skin so well she looks like she's not wearing any. Her shoes are patent leather with high heels. Her gaudy salmon pink dress flutters in the wind as she steps along the pavement" (Tada 1931: 1).