Changes

==History==

==History==

Established in concept in [[1618]], the Yoshiwara first opened for business in [[1626]]. At that time, courtesans' contracts were limited to ten years; however, they would later extend over much longer periods.

The Yoshiwara got its start when Shôji Jin'uemon was granted license in [[1617]] by the shogunate to consolidate all the brothels in the city into a certain area, the Yoshiwara neighborhood.<ref>[[Eiko Ikegami]], ''Bonds of Civility'', Cambridge University Press (2005), 268.</ref> Following the execution of this process, the Yoshiwara first opened for business in [[1626]]. At that time, courtesans' contracts were limited to ten years; however, they would later extend over much longer periods.

Within the first decades of its establishment, as with many other aspects of the Tokugawa realm, the shogunate made incremental attempts to control the activities of the district. Some of these policies were successful, and became standard policy; others were grossly ignored or otherwise did not last long. An example of the latter was a [[1640]] edict banning the Yoshiwara from operating at night. An example of the former, however, was an edict the following year banning the women of the Yoshiwara from leaving the district (except for particular circumstances, with authorization). Many of these policies carried over into the new Yoshiwara, rebuilt farther away from the city, past [[Asakusa]] to the northeast, following the [[1657]] [[Great Meireki Fire]] which destroyed much of Edo. It remained in that new location through the rest of the period, and this "New Yoshiwara" (''Shin-Yoshiwara'') then came to be called simply the Yoshiwara, while the old site retroactively came to be referred to as the "former Yoshiwara" (''Moto Yoshiwara'').

Within the first decades of its establishment, as with many other aspects of the Tokugawa realm, the shogunate made incremental attempts to control the activities of the district. Some of these policies were successful, and became standard policy; others were grossly ignored or otherwise did not last long. An example of the latter was a [[1640]] edict banning the Yoshiwara from operating at night. An example of the former, however, was an edict the following year banning the women of the Yoshiwara from leaving the district (except for particular circumstances, with authorization). Many of these policies carried over into the new Yoshiwara, rebuilt farther away from the city, past [[Asakusa]] to the northeast, just before the [[1657]] [[Great Meireki Fire]] which destroyed much of Edo. It remained in that new location through the rest of the period, and this "New Yoshiwara" (''Shin-Yoshiwara'') then came to be called simply the Yoshiwara, while the old site retroactively came to be referred to as the "former Yoshiwara" (''Moto Yoshiwara'').

Despite its marginal status, the Yoshiwara managed to exercise some degree of political autonomy, and pressure on the shogunate, at times. In [[1665]], managers of the Yoshiwara managed to persuade the shogunate to forcibly shut down much of the Yoshiwara's competition, outside of the district. This also marked the end of the phenomenon of ''[[yuna]]'', or bathhouse girls.

Despite its marginal status, the Yoshiwara managed to exercise some degree of political autonomy, and pressure on the shogunate, at times. In [[1665]], managers of the Yoshiwara managed to persuade the shogunate to forcibly shut down much of the Yoshiwara's competition, outside of the district. This also marked the end of the phenomenon of ''[[yuna]]'', or bathhouse girls.