User:MenoEnds/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Yoshiwara

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
(Briefly explain why you chose it, why it matters, and what your preliminary impression of it was.)

The first chapter of our textbook was primarily set in and about Yoshiwara and, as is noted on the Talk page for Yoshiwara, the district was highly influential to Edo culture. So I thought it was a relevant starting point. Also I didn't see the point in doing one of the articles we already went over in class.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

Good, strong lead section giving an overview of the topic and its importance. Concise but informative.

I thought the content was pretty well-balanced, giving a concise but thorough overview of the district's history. I think more could be written on Yoshiwara's cultural and economic impact on Edo and its legacy in modern Japan, though.

The tone seemed very neutral. Most of the information is in the 17th and 18th century section. I think more could be added to the 19th through 21st centuries.

The sources are varied and reputable (although there are a couple spots where citations are still needed, so more sources should be added). There's a nice list of external links as well.

The organization is mostly okay, but I'm not sure about the "People and Services" section. I think it would be better to include that information in the context of Yoshiwara's history instead of listing it by itself. Especially since dividing it this way means all these groups are put together, not separated by time, location, or activity. Since many of these people and services have their own Wikipedia pages with more information about them, I don't see an issue in just listing them in their context within the historical sections and then readers can click through to get more detailed information.

The images are fascinating and relevant. 10/10 image choice.

Surprisingly, there is almost no discussion on the talk page. No one has even posted since 2006 when the article was ranked as being of high importance. Given the importance and breadth of the topic, its presence on several WikiProjects, and how many other articles would be improved by being able to click through and get some foundation knowledge of Yoshiwara, I'm surprised by how little work has been done on it.

Overall, it's a pretty good article with a good lead and excellent images, but I think it could be improved with more detail about Yoshiwara's history and relevance and I would remove the "People and Services" section altogether, relocating some of that information to elsewhere in the article. I would classify it as underdeveloped. It's a good start but more work could be done.