NationStates Jolt Archive

The good old Mainich (source of many of my postings on news from these fair shores) ran an interesting article on this.

The day the red lights went out in Japan

Exactly 50 years ago today (April 1), Japan's formal ban on the centuries old act of prostitution came into effect.

The Prostitution Prevention Law outlawed the world's oldest profession even though it had long been one of Japan's most lucrative.

But the law was filled with loopholes and even today the sex business remains one of Japan's biggest industries.

The fight to end prostitution began in earnest following Japan's defeat in World War II, with newly liberated women Diet members in the vanguard of the fight.

After several attempts at legislating against the practice during the Occupation from 1945 to 1952 and again after Japan regained its independence in 1952, what became the Prostitution Prevention Law finally passed through the National Diet in 1956.

Its enactment was held off until April 1958 to give workers in the industry time to find new professions or enter into government-run rehabilitation centers (where the cost of feeding the occupants was famously less per day than what the Tokyo Metropolitan Government would pay for meals for dogs awaiting euthanasia in pounds).

Critics of the law bring up the topic of the multi-trillion yen sex business of today and point out that the legislation was enacted on April Fool's Day.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/photospecials/graph/080331baishun/index.html

There are about 35 photo's of the old red light district. (Yes, all work safe.)

Yeah! Let's celebrate With blackjack, and hookers...in fact forget the blackjack.

the legislation was enacted on April Fool's Day
Beautiful.

I think parliaments should only be allowed to be in session once a year, on the 1st of April. With a bit of luck, every law will end up like this one. ;)

Talk about an april fools joke running out of hand ;)

I find it amusingly ironic that women diet members led the campaign for the government to tell women what they can and cannot do with their bodies.

Driving prostitution into the black market has never been good for the individual women in that line of work.

I doubt that prostitution will ever be eliminated, no matter how illegal it is. As long as humans have a sex drive, I think it will remain.

To be fair, it was also an attempt to stop two very real problems.

First, the Yakuza was basically running the prostitution industry. It was their primary source of legitimate income and a fantastic way of laundering money from their illegitimate sources (primarily smuggling, illegal gambling and the expanding drug trade).

Second, many of the women involved were basically slaves, sold from brothel to brothel and seeing none of the wealth their work brought the owners.

While the first issue has been utterly unsuccessful, the second has had a measure of success.

To be fair, it was also an attempt to stop two very real problems.

First, the Yakuza was basically running the prostitution industry. It was their primary source of legitimate income and a fantastic way of laundering money from their illegitimate sources (primarily smuggling, illegal gambling and the expanding drug trade).

Second, many of the women involved were basically slaves, sold from brothel to brothel and seeing none of the wealth their work brought the owners.

While the first issue has been utterly unsuccessful, the second has had a measure of success.

Indeed.

And as for the organized crime influance, I understand that it's still strong in certain sectors, but not in others. Certainly the self organized enko type sex trade isn't un der the Yak's thumbs...