Postcard New Yoshiwara – Tokyo’s red-light district

A postcard of New Yoshiwara 𠮷原, a red-light district (yūkaku 遊郭) in northern Edo (modern Tokyo) where brothels were officially allowed to operate from the mid-17th century until prostitution was banned in 1958. Other types of entertainment were also available to visitors, from theatre and dance to geisha artists; many artists worked here.

In one of the travel sketches published in the Celje newspaper Cillier Zeitung, Alma Karlin described her impressions of the neighbourhood she visited in the company of a young painter. Among other things, she noted that jorō 女郎 – women who sell sexual favours – were not labelled as sinners in Japan, unlike women in the West. At the same time, she reported on the difficult circumstances of girls who become jorō 女郎. She was not impressed with the status of the more socially prominent geisha, commenting that Japanese wives were “workhorses and breeding animals”. On September 1, 1923, shortly after Alma’s departure, the Yoshiwara district was severely damaged by a major earthquake. “4. Straße im Yoshiwara” is handwritten on the back of the postcard. (MV)