Beniko, a former sex worker, is now trying to capture the spirit of a historic Tokyo red-light district through photography
From
To
In its mid-17th to 19th century heyday, Yoshiwara was home to high-class courtesans who sold a world of luxurious closed-door entertainment an…
Beniko, now 52, spent a decade working in one of these so-called soaplands after a difficult childhood
The Yoshiwara red-light district was originally built in a different part of Tokyo in 1618, with entry tightly controlled to stop the women fr…
Speaking openly about sex is still somewhat taboo in Japan, but Beniko has always shown her face, including on her YouTube channel -- making h…
Beniko's photos, taken in Tokyo and other Japanese red-light districts, focus mainly on the buildings and rooms used for sex work, which are u…
It's late morning and steam is rising from water tanks atop the colourful but opaque-windowed "soapland" sex parlours in a historic Tokyo red-…