Author(s): Araki

Art and Design

This collection offers a privileged view of Tokyo's underworld by Japan's greatest photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki. Between 1983 and 1985, when Tokyo's sex industry was in full flower, Araki prowled Shinjuku, Tokyo's famous red light district, taking pictures in the sex shops and clubs. His project came to an abrupt end when the district was closed by judicial decree in 1985. Araki's photographs form a historical record of Shinjuku's glory days and a portrait of a lesser-known side of Tokyo life.