The area was damaged by an extensive fire in 1913 , then nearly wiped out by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 . It remained in business , however , until prostitution was outlawed by the Japanese government in 1958 after World War II . Prostitution is technically illegal , although this supposed illegality has been accomplished by applying a rather strained definition of the term ( for example , the definition of " prostitution " does not extend to a " private agreement " reached between a woman and a man in a brothel )
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
Yoshiwara