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'Ugly history': Battle to restore iconic Japan brothel building
Taiyoshi Hyakuban hasn't functioned as a brothel for decades, and now operates as a restaurant, but it is seen as a symbol of the surrounding neighbourhood.
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This picture taken on October 12, 2021 shows the exterior of Taiyoshi Hyakuban, a former brothel-turned-restaurant in the historic Tobita-Shinchi red light district in Osaka. (AFP/Philip Fong)
A
t the corner of a red-light district in the Japanese city of Osaka stands an unlikely architectural gem: a century-old former brothel at the centre of a restoration campaign.
Taiyoshi Hyakuban hasn't functioned as a brothel for decades, and now operates as a restaurant, but it is seen as a symbol of the surrounding neighbourhood, which is still associated with the sex industry.
Experts say the wooden two-storey structure is a rare original example of architecture from the Taisho era of 1912-1926.
"Most Japanese architecture dating from a century or more burned down in wartime air raids or big fires," Shinya Hashizume, a professor of architectural history at Osaka Prefecture University, told AFP.
"Old brothel buildings, in particular, have rarely survived," he said on a visit to the site.
Taiyoshi Hyakuban has dozens of Japanese and Western-style party rooms, some featuring delicately painted sliding doors and ceilings with ornate inlays.
Murals of festivals, goddesses playing traditional instruments and Dutch merchants in old-fashioned clothes adorn the suites, which surround a garden where towering "yin and yang" rocks represent men and women.
