Yoshiwara | EPFL Graph Search

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Yoshiwara was a famous yūkaku (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shimabara in Kyoto in 1640 and Shinmachi in Osaka. Created by the shogunate to curtail the tastes of and sequester the nouveau riche chōnin (merchant) classes, the entertainment offered in Yoshiwara, alongside other licensed districts, would eventually give rise to the creation of geisha, who would become known as the fashionable companions of the chōnin classes and simultaneously cause the demise of oiran, the upper-class courtesans of the red-light districts. Prostitution in Japan The licensed district of Yoshiwara was created in the city of Edo, near to the area today known as Nihonbashi, itself close to the beginning of the Tōkaidō road, the primary route to western Kyoto during the Edo period. The location corresponds to modern-day Senzoku 4-Chōme in Tokyo Taitō-ku. It was accessible via the Sanyo canal which was eventually filled in. In 1656, due to the need for space as the city grew, the government decided to relocate Yoshiwara, with plans being made to move the district to its present location north of Asakusa on the outskirts of the city. Having been established some decades earlier, the original Yoshiwara district burned down, along with much of the city, in the Great fire of Meireki of 1657; it was then rebuilt in its new location, named 'Shin Yoshiwara' ('New Yoshiwara'), the old location being known as 'Moto Yoshiwara' ('Original Yoshiwara'), though the moniker of 'new' was eventually dropped, with the rebuilt district becoming known simply as Yoshiwara. Yoshiwara was home to some 1,750 women in the 18th century, with records of some 3,000 women from all over Japan at one time. Many were typically indentured to their brothel; if indentured by their parents, a larger advance payment would often be received.

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Related concepts (19)

Yoshiwara

Geisha

Geisha (ˈɡeɪʃə; ɡeːɕa), also known as 芸子 (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or 芸妓, are a class of female Japanese performing artists and entertainers trained in traditional Japanese performing arts styles, such as dance, music and singing, as well as being proficient conversationalists and hosts. Their distinct appearance is characterised by long, trailing kimono, traditional hairstyles and oshiroi make-up. Geisha entertain at parties known as ozashiki, often for the entertainment of wealthy clientele, as well as performing on stage and at festivals.

Japanese traditional dance

Japanese traditional dance describes a number of Japanese dance styles with a long history and prescribed method of performance. Some of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese dance may be among those transmitted through the kagura tradition, or folk dances relating to food producing activities such as planting rice (dengaku) and fishing, including rain dances. There are large number of these traditional dances, which are often subfixed -odori, -asobi, and -mai, and may be specific to a region or village.