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

### A spectacle shaken 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 constantly bustling as the center of the common people's culture. Various entertainment venues such as photo studios, theaters, lecture halls, and hanakashiki (flower palanquin) lined the streets, and the sounds of musical bands rang out before noon, mingling with the clatter of geta (wooden clogs) and the call of the crowds, creating such a bustling atmosphere that even conversation was drowned out. The back streets were lined with whorehouses masquerading as famous liquor stores, and the glamor of the front streets and the obscenity of the back streets combined to reflect the contradictions of the city. Although the public avoided them as obscene, for young people they were the gateway to an unknown world and a rite of passage to challenge the norms of the city.

The Great Kanto Earthquake, however, drastically changed the face of the city. The Twelve Floors, the symbol of Asakusa, collapsed, and the brothel in Senzoku-cho was destroyed by fire. As part of the imperial reconstruction project, Asakusa was rebuilt through rezoning, the introduction of noncombustible buildings, and the construction of fireproof roads, and became a symbol of modern urban planning. At the same time, the movement to abolish prostitution gained momentum, and as criticisms of the public prostitution system and the control of public morals were strengthened, name sake shops and private brothels became targets of surveillance, and the backside of Asakusa became a symbol of social contradiction.

Even so, Asakusa's hustle and bustle did not disappear, but continued to live on, changing its form as a theater district and a review district. The voices of callers, the light from naked light bulbs, and small conversations in the alleyways convey the raw temperature of people spilling over from urban planning and regulations, and still awaken the expectations and anxieties latent in the city.