Tokyo’s failure to meet the Trafficking Protection Act’s minimum standards for
the elimination of human traffi cking resulted in its rating as Tier2 in the 2007 U.S.
Department of State’s Trafficking in Person’s Report. Thus, this calls for the much needed
healing center for victims of sex trafficking to heal and transition back
into society in Tokyo, Japan. Therefore, this thesis investigates ways of achieving
convalescence through space, by recalibration of the senses. Convalescence refers
to the gradual recovery of both health and strength after either illness or trauma.
In this case, victims of sex trafficking were continuously forced to work in haptic
environments that include physical and psychological abuse over a prolonged
period. Consequently, these victims are debilitated in their senses; causing negative
memories, loss of dignity, and cynicism that comes with it. By recognizing these issues,
architectural space is manipulated to reverse this negative process of the victim.