OSAKA -- Osaka Mayor Takafumi Isomura repeatedly says he wants to turn the city into an international tourist destination. But camera-toting foreigners snapping pictures of Tobita, one of its oldest and most famous neighborhoods, are probably not what either he or the local business community have in mind.
Located in the heart of downtown, about a 15-minute walk south of Kintetsu Abeno Station, Tobita -- which covers an area of nearly 12 blocks -- is one of Japan's last remaining traditional brothel districts. Unlike garish, neon-lit soaplands, Tobita's brothels are built of wood and look from afar like rows of traditional Kyoto-style teahouses. But get closer and the difference becomes immediately apparent.
Light pours from the open door of each establishment. Sitting in the genkan or on a chair by the entrance is an elderly woman who calls out to passersby: "Oniichan [Big brother]! Thirty minutes for 15,000 yen!"