To circumvent the anti-prostitution laws, the brothels operate largely under the guise of being "Japanese-style restaurants" Ryoutei.
Tobita brothels, similar to how brothels in Amsterdam have women in the windows, tend to have a young woman kneeling by the genkan entryway or in the living room which is fully open to the street of the brothel to attract customers—an unusual practice for brothels in Japan. The area is popular with visitors from China, Taiwan and Korea.
One of the oldest buildings in the area, the Taiyoshi Hyaku, was given 'cultural property' status in The themed rooms of the brothel have been retained. On 16 January , the red-light district of Shinchi Otobe in the Namba district of Osaka, containing 2, prostitutes and brothels, burnt down. The area escaped the bombing of Osaka during WW2 , and continued to thrive until the Prostitution Prevention Law came into effect on 1 April However the area only closed for one night, the brothels re-opening as "restaurants" the next day.
To circumvent the anti-prostitution laws, the brothels operate as restaurants. Tea and snacks are served to the client in a private room.
Subsequent sexual contact between the "waitress" and the client is viewed as a "private affair" between them under Osaka's liberal interpretation of the law. The brothels organised themselves into a trade association, the Tobita Restaurant Association Tobita Ryouri Kumiai , [ 3 ] although some genuine restaurants in the area are members. It was reported in May of that all restaurants shops in the Tobita Restaurant Association were going to be closed on June 28 and 29, , for the G20 Osaka summit.
