It's late morning and steam is rising from water tanks atop the colourful but opaque-windowed "soapland" sex parlours in a historic Tokyo red-light district.

Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, is Beniko -- a former sex worker who is now trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography.

"People often talk about this neighbourhood having a 'bad history'," Beniko, who goes by her nickname, told AFP.

"But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality."

In its mid-17th to 19th century heyday, Yoshiwara was home to high-class courtesans who sold a world of luxurious closed-door entertainment and fantasy.

The sole entrance to the lively walled pleasure quarters was a huge golden gateway topped with a figurine of Benten, the goddess of music, art, wealth and femininity.

In contrast, today the same point is marked by two plain pillars, and the brothels of the area in eastern Tokyo are often run under the guise of bathhouses.

Beniko, now 52, spent a decade working in one of these........

© International Business Times