On May 24, 1956, the Diet voted Japan's anti-prostitution statute into law, effective from April 1, 1957; but enforcement was postponed a year to give sex workers time to seek new livelihoods.
"On its last night of business, after the 106 houses — with fewer patrons than usual — saw off their customers at around 11 p.m., the lights finally began flickering out ... and the streets of the Yoshiwara, which in the past had been bright enough not to even need lamps, descended into a deep darkness. It had changed so much that, in that one instant, I said to myself, 'Where in the world is this place?' "
The above is excerpted from Toshiko Fukuda's memoir "Yoshiwara wa Konna Tokoro de Gozaimashita" ("The Yoshiwara Was This Kind of Place"). As proprietress of geisha house Matsubaya in Yoshiwara, Fukuda was on hand to observe the demise of Tokyo's oldest and largest licensed brothel quarters.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.