New designer Yoshiwara souvenirs inspired by Tokyo history of prostitution

Yoshiwara was the main red-light district (yukaku) in Edo, the old name for Tokyo. Its legacy continues to resonate today: the area remains full of soaplands and prostitutes, and other parts of the east of the city, such as Ueno, Nippori and Akihabara, are also centers of cheap sex.

That being said, Yoshiwara is gentrifying to a certain extent — and here’s an interesting example, first reported on Spoon Tamago.

But for designer Yayoi Okano, Yoshiwara was more than just a neighborhood known for its sex trade. It was home.

Okano grew up in Yoshiwara where, despite its reputation, people looked out for each other. She recalls her and her friends getting to know the barkers who stood out on the street trying to get male clientele into their establishments. They’d talk to her and her friends, offering them water if they were thirsty.

Last year Okano decided to create a brand of Yoshiwara-inspired souvenirs called Shin-Yoshiwara (shin means “new”). Together with her friend and designer Daisuke Yokoyama, they came up with a fitting logo that proudly represents what Yoshiwara stands for. The pair of female breasts carries the characters of the name inside them, and is simple and classy without being overtly erotic. It’s a brilliant logo that doesn’t run or hide; it stands proud of its heritage.

The recently opened shop, Okano Yayoi Shouten, sells all kinds of items with an erotic, historical style, from old-style fans to hand towels, pens, clothing and more.

The motifs include a smoking oiran, the famous “top courtesans” who dominated the pleasure quarter of Yoshiwara.

What a great idea!

If you’re in Yoshiwara, pop in… before visiting a soapland.

Yoshiwara was established as a yukaku in 1617, one of the many ways the clever feudal government kept a tight lease on the population by giving them controlled outlets for fun. By the late 19th century, there were thousands of women working there as courtesans.

Though the akasen red-light districts thrived during the American occupation after the licensed brothels were closed, prostitution was made formally illegal in 1956, leading to the situation today where everything and anything is available — but not penetrative sex (at least, officially that is).

Yoshiwara today corresponds roughly to Senzoku 4-chome in Taito ward.