‘Hey oniichan (big brother), you want to come in and check out photos of our girls?”
It’s only a little after 10 a.m. on a weekday, and middle-aged men with sluggish gazes — wearing grandpa sweaters and jersey pants — are trying to coax passersby into the brothel-esque bathhouses known as “soaplands” that line the streets in the northeastern corner of Senzoku, a neighborhood in Tokyo’s Taito Ward. The area is still referred to as Yoshiwara, for the pleasure quarters of the same name that flourished here during the Edo Period (1603-1868).
It’s also the birthplace of Tsutaya Juzaburo, an 18th-century media maverick known for “discovering” and catapulting to stardom ukiyo-e masters such as Utamaro, Sharaku and, to a lesser extent, Hokusai.
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.