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Akasen (赤線) is Japanese slang and a collective term which was used to identify districts in Japan where prostitution and the sex industry flourished until 1958.
Akasen means literally "red-line". The districts were the designated regions for state-regulated prostitution. Hundreds of government-sanctioned brothels and other adult entertainment parlors were operating in these districts, with the most popular being Yoshiwara in the Akasen region in Tokyo.
Another term Aosen (青線), literally "blue-line", was used for "non-permitted" or "non-legal" districts.
Akasen is often compared directly with the term red-light district in the west.[1] However, this does not explain why the counterpart "non-permitted districts" were called Aosen (blue-line).
Abolition
On January, 1946, GHQ issued an order nationwide to abolish commercial brothels. A portion of the brothels and parlors changed their name to cafē (カフェー) or ryōtei (料亭) in order to stay in business.
In 1958, the Anti-Prostitution Law (売春防止法 baishun-bōshi-hou) was enforced, thus officially abolishing the name Akasen and the districts. However, this did not mean the sex related industry disappeared. To remain in operation, businesses such as soapland (ソープランド sōpurando) and fashion health (ファッションヘルス fashion herusu) are required to file a license application for permission to abide by the sex industry law (風俗営業法 fūzoku-eigyō-hou) in modern days.
See also
- Street of Shame (Akasen chitai) Mizoguchi's 1956 film
- Susukino
References
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