A spectacle swaying in a sea of crowds: Asakusa's freak show and urban shadows (Taisho to early Showa periods)

A spectacle swaying in a sea of crowds: Asakusa's freak show and urban shadows (Taisho to early Showa periods)

From the Taisho era (1912-1926) to the early Showa era (1926-1989), Asakusa was the center of popular culture and was covered with a flood of freak shows. Various entertainment such as photo studios, theaters, lecture halls, ballroom dancing, and hanakashiki (flower palanquin) lined the streets, and the sounds of musical bands and geta (wooden clogs) intermingled before noon, creating such a clamor that even conversation was drowned out. The back streets were lined with whorehouses masquerading as fine liquor stores, reflecting the contradictions of the city by combining the glamorous front facade with the obscenity of the back streets. Although considered obscene by the public, for young people it was a gateway to the unknown and a place to test the norms of the city. Eventually, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 consumed the city, and the brothels of the Twelfth Floor and Senzoku-cho, which had been symbolic of the city, disappeared. Reconstruction projects led to the expa
nsion of roads, the introduction of noncombustible buildings, and the development of parks, and Asakusa was reborn as a symbol of a modern city. Meanwhile, the movement to abolish prostitution gained momentum, and criticism of the public prostitution system and sanitary regulations were strengthened. Nevertheless, Asakusa's hustle and bustle lived on, transforming itself into a theater district and a review district, and maintaining the heat of the city along with people's memories of it.