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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.

The Yoshiwara was the only licensed district in Edo. The authorities attempted to control prostitution and other such unsavory activities by giving them somewhere legal to be, and limiting them to that space. From time to time, the shogunate would crack down on illegal prostitution operating elsewhere in the city. Sometimes, as in [[1842]] when over 4,000 prostitutes were arrested, they were simply relocated to the Yoshiwara; other times, of course, the penalties were harsher. On one occasion, in [[1639]], eleven managers of bathhouses and other Yoshiwara operations were crucified outside the Great Gate of the district for illegal activities committed outside the quarter.

The Yoshiwara was the only licensed district in Edo. The authorities attempted to control prostitution and other such unsavory activities by giving them somewhere legal to be, and limiting them to that space. In the 1840s, there were around 7000 prostitutes operating in the Yoshiwara; historian Amy Stanley estimates a total of 10-15,000 operating within the greater Edo area, including roughly one thousand ''[[meshimori onna]]'' (serving girls) at post-station inns, and whatever number of prostitutes operating in unlicensed districts.<ref>Amy Stanley, ''Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2012), 2.</ref> From time to time, the shogunate would crack down on illegal prostitution operating elsewhere in the city. Sometimes, as in [[1842]] when over 4,000 prostitutes were arrested, they were simply relocated to the Yoshiwara; other times, of course, the penalties were harsher. On one occasion, in [[1639]], eleven managers of bathhouses and other Yoshiwara operations were crucified outside the Great Gate of the district for illegal activities committed outside the quarter.

Not only a center of prostitution and related activities, the Yoshiwara was also a center of cultural production. While most novelists, artists, publishers and the like made their homes in the commercial districts closer to the center of the city, some lived in or just outside the Yoshiwara, taking the environment as a muse, and the Yoshiwara customers and residents as patrons. [[Tsutaya Juzaburo|Tsutaya Jûzaburô]], likely the most famous of Edo period publishers today, was born and raised in the district; he was the son of a brothel owner, and was adopted as a child by the owner of a teahouse. As an adult, he maintained his shop just outside the Yoshiwara's gates for ten years, from [[1773]]-[[1783]], after which he moved to Toriabura-chô, where most other publishers were located. The author [[Santo Kyoden|Santô Kyôden]] ([[1761]]-[[1816]]) similarly lived much of his life in the Yoshiwara, running a tobacco shop there, and marrying two ''[[shinzo|shinzô]]''<ref>Teenage attendants who had not yet become full-fledged courtesans, or those who wouldn't or couldn't become full-fledged courtesans on account of not possessing the beauty, wit, and/or various skills necessary.</ref> over the course of his lifetime.<ref>Segawa Seigle, 150.</ref>

Not only a center of prostitution and related activities, the Yoshiwara was also a center of cultural production. While most novelists, artists, publishers and the like made their homes in the commercial districts closer to the center of the city, some lived in or just outside the Yoshiwara, taking the environment as a muse, and the Yoshiwara customers and residents as patrons. [[Tsutaya Juzaburo|Tsutaya Jûzaburô]], likely the most famous of Edo period publishers today, was born and raised in the district; he was the son of a brothel owner, and was adopted as a child by the owner of a teahouse. As an adult, he maintained his shop just outside the Yoshiwara's gates for ten years, from [[1773]]-[[1783]], after which he moved to Toriabura-chô, where most other publishers were located. The author [[Santo Kyoden|Santô Kyôden]] ([[1761]]-[[1816]]) similarly lived much of his life in the Yoshiwara, running a tobacco shop there, and marrying two ''[[shinzo|shinzô]]''<ref>Teenage attendants who had not yet become full-fledged courtesans, or those who wouldn't or couldn't become full-fledged courtesans on account of not possessing the beauty, wit, and/or various skills necessary.</ref> over the course of his lifetime.<ref>Segawa Seigle, 150.</ref>