Walk through former brothel cubicles that are now artists' studios
A red-light district reoccupied by artists
Koganecho, under the Keikyu railway viaduct along the Ooka River in Naka Ward, was a post-war unlicensed red-light district of tiny cubicles called chon-no-ma. A concentrated police campaign in January 2005 closed every business by that August, and since 2008 the city and a local management NPO have turned the cubicles into artists' studios and galleries.
Why it's unique
The claim is not the art but the conversion. A cleared red-light district deliberately reoccupied by artists in the same physical cubicles, as municipal policy, is a specific urban experiment that has not been repeated elsewhere in the country.
Roughly 250 cubicles were closed and about 30 artists now hold studios, recruited by open call. Four purpose-built studio blocks under the viaduct are named plainly Site-A to Site-D, and Site-A is the gallery where residents show.
Before you go
The concentrated time to go is the Koganecho Bazaar: in 2026 it runs 10 September to 12 October, 11:00 to 19:00, closed Thursdays, 1,000 yen for unlimited re-entry and free for high-school age and under, with a second free venue at Kamiooka. Outside Bazaar season the strip is free to walk and much quieter.
The crime-prevention posts are still part of the fabric; one, Kogane-X Lab, runs with a university seminar and sells a local Kogane Cider. The organisation's year-round website is currently broken, so for studio visits outside the Bazaar, phone or email the management centre.