Эдо кезеңіндегі Йошивара қызыл шам ауданы

Famous red light district of Edo period Japan
the Tokyo red light district

Yoshiwara (吉原) 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. 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. Though contracts of indenture often did not last more than five to ten years, the debt sometimes accrued by these women could keep them working there for much longer. However, a significant number either served out their contracts and married a client, went into other employment (including other forms of prostitution), or returned to their family homes. In these cases, the advanced payments a woman's parents received could be used to fund her dowry. Despite this, many women also died of sexually transmitted diseases, or following failed abortions, before completing their contracts. If chosen to receive the correct training at a young age, a girl indentured to a brothel could become an apprentice to a high ranking courtesan; when the girl was old enough and had completed her training, she would become a courtesan herself and work her way up the ranks. Another path to success and eventual freedom for a working woman in Yoshiwara was for a rich man to buy out her contract from the brothel, and thus keep her as his wife or mistress; a further path would be for a woman to work successfully enough that she could eventually buy her own freedom, though this was an uncommon and infrequent occurrence. Social classes were not strictly divided in Yoshiwara; a commoner with enough money would be served as an equal to a samurai, and though samurai were discouraged from entering Yoshiwara, they often did so, the only requirement being that their weapons be left at the town's entrance. By law, brothel patrons were only allowed to stay for a night and a day at a time. Like all official policies for Yoshiwara, this was rarely enforced. Following its inception, Yoshiwara became a strong commercial area, with the fashions created in the town by prostitutes changing frequently and creating a great demand for merchants and artisans. Traditionally, prostitutes were supposed to wear only simple blue robes, but this was rarely enforced. In contrast, the highest ranking oiran (courtesans) came to be emblematic of the height of Edo period fashion, wearing colourful and expensive silk kimono alongside elaborate hairstyles and a number of hair accessories; these outfits frequently dictated the contemporary trends of fashion in Japan of the time. Despite the reputation of Yoshiwara and its highest ranking courtesans, most prostitutes working in the area came from poor families, would be commonly exploited, and were so poor that, when they died, their bodies would be brought anonymously to Jōkan ji temple and left at the back entrance, a proper burial being too expensive to afford. The temple therefore also became known as 'Nage komi dera' ('Throw away temple'); a memorial in the temple to thousands of anonymous prostitutes of Yoshiwara was consecrated in the Meiji era.

The area had over 9,000 women in 1893, many of whom suffered from syphilis. In 1913, the area was damaged by an extensive fire, and further damaged to the point of near obliteration a decade later by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. However, Yoshiwara remained in business as a traditional red light district until prostitution was outlawed by the Japanese government in 1958 following World War II. Though technically illegal – with the definition of prostitution under the Prostitution Prevention Law being 'compensated penetrative sex with an unspecified person' other forms of sex work that do not violate this law continue to exist in the modern area of Yoshiwara, with the portion of the town near Minowa Station on the Hibiya Line, now known as Senzoku Yon chōme, retaining a large number of soaplands and other façades for sexual services.

People involved in "the water trade"; 水商売; mizu shōbai would include hōkan (comedians), kabuki actors, dancers, dandies, rakes, tea shop girls, Kanō (painters of the official school of painting), courtesans who resided in seirō (green houses) and geisha in their okiya. The sex workers found within Yoshiwara would consist of [[:ja:遊女 (; the district's rank and file prostitutes), kamuro (young female students), shinzō (senior female students), hashi jōro (lower ranking courtesans), kōshi jōro (high ranking courtesans just below tayū), tayū (high ranking courtesans), oiran, yarite (older chaperones for an oiran), and the yobidashi who replaced the tayū when they were priced out of the market. In addition to courtesans, there were also geisha, apprentice geisha, otoko geisha (male geisha), danna (patrons of geisha), and the female managers of teahouses and okiya. The lines between geisha and courtesans were, officially, sharply drawn soon after the inception of the geisha profession; laws were passed forbidding a geisha from being sexually involved with a customer. In reality a number of exceptions existed, with geisha ranging from little more than yūjo themselves to geisha who offered only artistic entertainment and companionship. The street grid pattern and the temples and shrines from times past still exist.