Yoshiwara: Geishas, Courtesans, and the Pleasure Quarters of Old Tokyo

"Lust will not keep…Something must be done about it."—inscription at the entrance to Yoshiwara

For over a hundred years the Western world has heard whispers of the pleasure city, Yoshiwara, set behind its walls in the city of Edo itself, which is today called Tokyo. Here was an eastern red light district, the place for the hedonists, the woman-seekers, the sensual plasure-hunters of old Japan. There, behind moated walls, an erotic Japanese world unmatched by the West was created by beautifu...