Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how the Nakamura Yukaku District in Nagoya has changed after the Prostitution Prevention Law in 1956. It was very strictly controlled as an old red-light district. Recently there is a noticeable trend of transforming these previous sexual spaces into senior care facilities.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines how yukaku (aka red light) districts have changed after the Prostitution Prevention Law in 1956. The region of analysis is the Nakamura Yukaku District, a previous red-light district, located to the west of Nagoya Station. Before the 1956 law, brothels were packed in one determined place as a yukaku under the jurisdiction of national authorities. In 1923, the Nakamura Yukaku District was established in order to relocate the Asahi Yukaku District in the Osu, Nagoya, area. The relocation purpose was to conceal such business from the growing urbanization of the Osu area. The Nakamura Yukaku District was enclosed by a moat to prevent prostitutes from escaping the specified district. Today many yukaku in Japan continue to function as red-light districts whilst others have been preserved as tourism areas.

In the Nakamura Yukaku District case, there is still one pornographic movie theater and many brothels in action. However, some of the old yukaku buildings have been renovated into traditional Japanese restaurants. Additionally, two other former brothels have been transformed into senior care facilities. The former Nakamura Yukaku District's administration building location is now a large supermarket. Another of the yukaku buildings was rebuilt as a drug store. Not only shopping places, but restaurants, a hospital, and a school are standing there today. This means that the formerly named Nakamura Yukaku District is not only a special sexual space but also an everyday life space.

Today one of the societal challenges facing Japan is the care of its large aging population. The transformation of focus from a pleasure area to a senior care area that is still relying on stereotyped women's work in harsh, low paying work environments is a possible, yet, unanticipated effect of the hopefully soon to be archaic patriarchal system. The Nakamura Yukaku District has historically been officially organized as a sexualized space for a long time. Presently, it's officially supported as a welfare space with a gender-biased system still in place. This examination questions the possibility of this organization being a continuation of gender stratification.