Yoshiwara Neighborhood 
If any single area of Tokyo was able to hold on the longest to the mystique and feudal charm of old Edo into the 20th century it was Yoshiwara (good luck meadow), the city's most famous "licensed quarter." Yoshiwara, originally a city district, was relocated by puriant authorities in 1657 to paddy fields north of Asakusa and outside the city-proper. A serious fire in 1913, and its near-total destruction by earthquake in 1923, took the blossom off Yoshiwara's bloom. However, the licensed quarter remained popular until prostitution was officially abolished nationwide in 1958, thirteen years after the end of World War II.
(Above:) Omon (Front Gate) of Shinyoshiwara, Tokyo. The O-mon ("Great Gate") marked the formal entrance into the Five Streets of Yoshiwara. This image is ca. 1903.
(Above:) Street Nakanocho Yoshiwara (Tokyo). Yoshiwara's main street, Nakanocho, ran the entire length of the quarter. A row of stores and drinking houses welcomed visitor, and shops rented amigasa, hats of plaited straw that were rented to customers wishing to conceal their identities.
(Above:) Shinyoshiwara Tokyo. A daytime Yoshiwara street scene, ca. 1910. Much of the district's business was conducted after dark. In the daytime, bedding would be aired out, brothel supplies delivered by wagon cart, and life along its streets would take on a more informal and leisurely pace than the nighttime.
(Above:) Yoshiwara, Tokyo.
(Above:) Untitled. Yoshiwara prostitutes, ca. 1903. Prostitutes from lesser brothels, though dressed in splendid silk kimono, would be displayed from behind wood barriers, sitting speechless and motionless -- sometimes for hours -- until they caught the attention of a passerby.
(Above:) Yoshiwara at Tokyo.