A famous red-light district of the Edo Period located in Edo (present-day Tokyo) established in 1617 by the Tokugawa shogunate. As a result of its efforts to build up the town and samurai residences around Edo Castle, the shogunate displaced many townspeople, residences, and businesses, among them many brothels. These brothels petitioned the government for a red-light district where they could be consolidated. At first the shogunate ignored the petitions, but after many appeals, it officially recognized the petition led by Shouji Jin'emon (owner of Nishida-ya Brothel) in 1612, which promised to:

- disallow stays of consecutive nights
- investigate and return kidnapped girls
- report criminals

Yoshiwara was originally established near Nihonbashi. Later, after the Meireki fire of 1657, it was rebuilt north of Asakusa on the outskirts of the city.