‘Ugly History’: The Battle To Restore Japan’s Iconic Brothel Building

WASHINGTONNEWSDAY.COM -- NOV 12

An unusual architectural jewel stands at the corner of a red-light district in the Japanese city of Osaka: a century-old former brothel at the center of a restoration operation.

Although Taiyoshi Hyakuban hasn’t been used as a brothel in decades and is now a restaurant, it is nonetheless considered as a symbol of the surrounding area, which is still linked with the sex business.

According to experts, the timber two-story structure is an unique authentic example of Taisho era architecture from 1912 to 1926.

“Most Japanese building from a century or more was destroyed in WWII air raids or large flames,” said Shinya Hashizume, an architectural historian at Osaka Prefecture University.

On a visit to the site, he observed, “Old brothel houses, in particular, have rarely survived.”

Taiyoshi Hyakuban contains dozens of Japanese and Western-style party rooms, some with ornately inlaid ceilings and beautifully painted sliding doors.

The apartments, which surround a garden with towering “yin and yang” rocks representing men and women, are adorned with murals of festivals, goddesses playing traditional instruments, and Dutch merchants dressed in period attire.

“What is so great about it is that the art is part of the architecture,” Masakazu Rokuhara, an architect engaged in the restoration effort, said.

Swinging red lanterns strung along the outside of the building’s second floor add a nostalgic elegance to the edifice at night, gently illuminating its red wooden siding.

However, sunlight reveals the urgent need for restoration, such as cracks in a massive wooden plaque over the entrance door and fading paint.

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