The Creation and Maintenance of Pleasure Areas in Japan: An Urban Spatial History from the Postwar Period to the Present Day

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K03246
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Human geography
• Research Institution: Nara Women's University
• Principal Investigator: YOSHIDA Yoko 奈良女子大学, 人文科学系, 教授 (70265198)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 遊興街 / 都市空間 / 権力関係 / ジェンダー / セクシュアリティ / 身体

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study analyzed and examined how Japanese entertainment districts were formed from the perspectives of political powers, gender, sexuality, and body in the cities where the Allied Forces entered after the defeat of the World War Ⅱ. Urban space at that time was a place where power relations at the political level between the victorious/dominated country were expressed. It was also a place where power relations born from the differences among various people, such as the Occupation Forces command, local administration, police, stationed soldiers, prostitution-related businesses and women, and local residents, were inscribed. The formation of entertainment districts can be seen as a process by which the complex intertwined power relations among people were reflected in urban space.

Free Research Field

社会地理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ジェンダーとは，社会的文化的につくられた性差であり，それゆえに，男女の力関係が組み込まれたきわめて政治的な概念として捉えることができる。こうした権力関係としてのジェンダーは，地理学が扱う空間や場所に表れることがあるため地図化を試みるが，ジェンダーにまつわる権力関係が空間や場所に潜んでいて，可視化・地図化できない場合もある。いずれにせよ，ジェンダーという視点を用いて，空間や場所に刻み込まれた権力関係を明らかにし，ジェンダーにまつわる権力関係を暴き出すという点で，本研究は意義がある。