Shinmachi (新町) was a in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, built between 1615 and 1623, and operating until its destruction in World War II. It was situated roughly two kilometers southwest of Nakanoshima. Today, it is mostly a tourist attraction and historical site. Throughout the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

(1603–1868), there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto,

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

, and Osaka. The

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

attempted to control this by restricting prostitution to designated city districts, known as ''yūkaku''. These districts were Shimabara in Kyōto (est. 1640Anne Louise Avery, ''Flowers of the Floating World: Geisha and Courtesans in Japanese Prints and Photographs, 1772–1926'' ( Sanders of Oxford Exhibition Catalogue, March 2006)), Shinmachi in Osaka (est. 1624–1644) and

Yoshiwara was a famous (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shima ...

in Edo (est. 1617). These restrictions and controls did not derive from a moral opposition to prostitution, but out of a desire to compartmentalize certain types of activity within the cities.

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought ...

and jōruri theatres, and other related entertainment establishments were similarly controlled.

References

External links

(Ruin of Shinmachi Bridge:East Gate) Geography of Osaka Sexuality in Japan Red-light districts in Japan Tourist attractions in Osaka {{Osaka-geo-stub