The Yoshiwara of the Edo period, from the Horeki era to the Late Edo era.

The Yoshiwara of the Edo period, from the Horeki era to the Late Edo era.

From the Horeki period onward, Yoshiwara underwent a major transformation from the ceremonial entertainment for the upper classes, which involved inviting a tayu to a licensed geisha house, to a storefront system where patrons played directly in a geisha house. With the end of the prosperity of the Genroku period, and the tightening of the shogunate's finances and the continuing decree of thrift, the opulent "ageya" system became unsustainable, and Yoshiwara was forced to change the way it played itself to ensure its survival. Guests were no longer invited to the gates, but instead came to enter the gates themselves, and the main players in the entertainment business shifted from feudal lords and wealthy merchants to merchants and middle-class warriors. Hikitechaya supported this change by guiding customers, assigning brothels and prostitutes, and handling the payment and collection of fees, making it easier for the common people to enter Yoshiwara. Fees were subdivided, allo
wing for realistic choices based on time and grade, and prostitutes were positioned from being symbolic figures to being revolving, profitable entities. The disappearance of the "ageya" system and the shift to a storefront system did not mean that Yoshiwara's status had declined, but rather that Edo society had matured to the point where the culture of the common people, enjoying themselves while balancing their books, had become the mainstay of society.