Red Line/Blue Line

Japanese: 赤線･青線 - あかせんあおせん

Administrative divisions established by instructions from the occupying forces after Japan's defeat in the Pacific War. The name was derived from the fact that red or blue lines were drawn on maps to enclose the divisions. Red-line districts were areas where establishments known as special restaurants, which employed prostitutes, were concentrated. Since the Meiji period, establishments that employed licensed prostitutes, or public prostitutes, were gathered within one area and called brothels until the Pacific War. From the mid-Meiji period, establishments that gathered private prostitutes (who were tolerated) and employed them for prostitution were forced to form settlements under the name of "meishuya." The buildings of brothels were large, but meishuya were small houses of around three rooms.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

太平洋戦争敗戦後の進駐軍の指示による行政区分。地図上に赤線あるいは青線をもって区分のかこみをつけたことから生じた名称。赤線とは特殊飲食店と称された，売春婦を置いて売春をさせる店が集まっていた地域である。太平洋戦争中までは，明治以来，許可された売春婦すなわち公娼を置いて売春をさせる店を一区域内に集めて遊郭といった。黙認されている私娼を集めて売春させる店は明治中期から銘酒屋と称して集落を作らされた。遊郭の建物は大きかったが，銘酒屋は3部屋ぐらいの小住宅の形式であった。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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