Changes

*''Japanese'': 吉原 ''(Yoshiwara)''

*''Japanese'': 吉原 ''(Yoshiwara)''

The Yoshiwara was the chief licensed pleasure district in [[Edo]], and the largest/most prominent such district in Tokugawa Japan, followed by the [[Shimabara]] in Kyoto, and [[Furuichi]] in [[Ise]]. As such, it was the center or subject of much popular culture, with many ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' prints depicting Yoshiwara subjects, many [[kabuki]] plays and popular literature set there, and many illustrated guidebooks to the district being published. [[Courtesans|Courtesans']] fashions also had a strong influence upon women's fashions in Edo, and Tokugawa Japan more broadly.

The Yoshiwara was the chief licensed pleasure district in [[Edo]], and the largest/most prominent such district in Tokugawa Japan, followed by the [[Shimabara (Kyoto)|Shimabara]] in Kyoto, and [[Furuichi]] in [[Ise]]. As such, it was the center or subject of much popular culture, with many ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' prints depicting Yoshiwara subjects, many [[kabuki]] plays and popular literature set there, and many illustrated guidebooks to the district being published. [[Courtesans|Courtesans']] fashions also had a strong influence upon women's fashions in Edo, and Tokugawa Japan more broadly.

While some scholars have quite rightfully emphasized the restrictive and oppressive nature of life & work in the Yoshiwara for the women who had been sold into service there, others (also rightfully) emphasize the district's refined, elegant cultural character, and significance as a site of incredible cultural efflorescence, and cultural activity beyond simply the sex trade alone. As [[Cecilia Segawa Seigle]] has written, "As the early Yoshiwara was primarily a place of entertainment and socializing, sex was a discreet and secondary aspect of the business. Indeed, [[Edward Seidensticker]] has gone so far as to liken an evening at the Yoshiwara to an afternoon of tea."<ref>Segawa Seigle, 152.</ref>

While some scholars have quite rightfully emphasized the restrictive and oppressive nature of life & work in the Yoshiwara for the women who had been sold into service there, others (also rightfully) emphasize the district's refined, elegant cultural character, and significance as a site of incredible cultural efflorescence, and cultural activity beyond simply the sex trade alone. As [[Cecilia Segawa Seigle]] has written, "As the early Yoshiwara was primarily a place of entertainment and socializing, sex was a discreet and secondary aspect of the business. Indeed, [[Edward Seidensticker]] has gone so far as to liken an evening at the Yoshiwara to an afternoon of tea."<ref>Segawa Seigle, 152.</ref>