A Window Into Shimabara 島原への窓

• Prize
  Bronze in Editorial/Photo Essay
• Photographer
  Robin Yong
• Agency / Studio
  Www.robinyongphotography.com
• Technical Info
  Canon 5dm3, Everything Using Natural Lighting Only
• Photo Date
  12.2024

This is the 6th Hanamachi in Kyoto. There are no geishas here, only Tayū. Shimabara (嶋原) (often simplified to 島原, sometimes styled 嶌原), established in 1640, was the designated red light district (yūkaku) in Kyoto. By the 1970s, geisha were no longer registered in Shimabara. Tayū, who never disappeared entirely from Shimabara, were allowed to register as a special type of geisha following the outlawing prostitution, and continues to operate as a tourist district, and operates one ochaya.

Robin Yong is a multi-award winning Travel Photographer. He enjoys traveling to exotic destinations to befriend and photograph the locals. He is best known for his work on the Omo Valley tribes in Ethiopia, the Venetian Masked models in Venice, the Bokator boxers of Cambodia and the Maikos of Kyoto. He calls these works his Travel Portraits, his Art of Travel Medicine. For most of his works, he does not use flash, reflectors or artificial lighting, depending solely on natural lighting alone. The photos are often dramatic, colourful and extremely beautiful.