Remnants of Flowers, Memories of Lights - Yoshiwara, Meiji Period, 1868-1945

Remnants of Flowers, Memories of Lights - Yoshiwara, Meiji Period, 1868-1945
After the Meiji Restoration, Yoshiwara was temporarily abolished by the brothel liberation ordinance, but was reorganized as a publicly licensed area and continued to exist. Customs were placed under the supervision of the police, and were reconstructed in the order of the modern state. In the mid-Meiji period, electric lights were introduced and incandescent lamps replaced lanterns at night, and Western-style brothels lined the streets. Traditional performing arts such as the courtesan courtesan and the shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese banjo) continued to be performed, and women called geisha and prostitutes were redefined as both artistic and colorful. During the Taisho period (1912-1926), the area became a social gathering place for the political, financial, and cultural elite, and Kafu Nagai and Yasunari Kawabata depicted the scene in their literature. However, problems of human trafficking and poverty persisted, and after being destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake,
it was rebuilt in the early Showa period, but was destroyed by fire during the war. After the war, the area changed its form and inherited the spirit of the entertainment district culture, leaving behind a culture of sophistication and glamour in today's nightlife district.