Red-Light District in the Twilight
たそがれの遊郭
- Birth Year
- 1928
- Death Year
- 2019
- Date
- 1954 (printed in 1988)
- Technique, Material, Format
- gelatin silver print
- Dimension
- 33.8 x 49.7 cm
- Category
- Photograph or Moving Image by JapanesePhotographer/Artist
- Inventory Number
- 88-PHJ-046
In the days after the end of World War II, there were areas in Yokohama with brothels catering to Allied soldiers and Japanese men. They were called akasen, meaning “red-light districts,” and this photo shows the women who worked in them. Gathered under neon signs reading EDEN and BAR, the women wear evening dresses and high heels. One wonders what they might be looking at. In the foreground, the image is blurry, but several people are visible. They too are residents of this town, and as part of the annual Obon Festival, they are marching through the streets chanting Buddhist prayers and beating drums. Blending in with these marchers, Tokiwa Toyoko secretly took photos of the women of the red-light district.
(OSAWA Sayoko)