Kabukicho
Kabukichō (歌舞伎町) is an entertainment and red-light district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Kabukichō is the location of many hostess bars, host bars, love hotels, shops, restaurants, and nightclubs, and is often called the "Sleepless Town". The district's name comes from late-1940s plans to build a kabuki theater: although the theater was never built, the name stuck.
The area has many movie theaters, and because it is located near Shinjuku Station, Seibu Shinjuku Station, and several other major railway and subway stations, tickets to its top attractions can be scarce.
Some of Tokyo's finest restaurants are located in Kabukichō. As more than one wit has observed, Kabukichō consists of the high-class, low-class, and no-class, all in one relatively small area.
The offices of the city government of Shinjuku are also in Kabukichō.
History
Originally, the area was known as Tsunohazu and was a swamp. After the Meiji Period, the area became a duck sanctuary. As the Yodobashi Purification Plant was built in 1893, the ponds were filled in. In 1920, a girl's school was built here, and the surroundings were developed into a residential area. During World War II, the bombing of Tokyo in 1945 razed the area to the ground. After the war, a kabuki theatre was planned to be built here and the town changed its name to Kabukichō. Though the theatre was cancelled due to financial problems, the name remained. Kabukichō was quickly redeveloped after the war, mainly due to the efforts of the overseas Chinese in Japan who bought land left unused after the expos and greatly developed them. Examples of such people include the founder of Humax Pavilion[1], Lin Yiwen, who started his business with a cabaret. .
At present, Kabukichō has transformed from a residential area to a world famous red-light district housing over three thousand bars, nightclubs, love hotels, and the like. Recently, tourism from China and Korea are on the rise, and so, many tourists can be seen in Kabukichō even during daytime.
Crime
Many of Japan’s infamous yakuza and Triad (Chinese mafia) are to be found in this area, although they may be difficult to detect by foreigners and native Japanese alike. Also, as of recently the Tokyo Gov. Ishihara has cleaned the area of the Chinese mafia mostly on visa violations, however the void has been filled by the African (mostly Nigerian) mafia. According to a spokesperson of Metropolitan Tokyo in 2004, there are more than 1000 yakuza members in Kabukichō, and 120 places under their control.
Nonetheless, Kabukichō's reputation, of being a dangerous or otherwise unseemly area, is highly exaggerated. There is little reason for visitors to be concerned for their physical safety. With this said, women, especially foreign women, are advised to be wary of harassment or solicitation, particularly recruitment for employment in hostess bars. Couples are never harassed; and in the early evening there are numerous adult couples, some with children in tow, patronizing the high-class establishments. Lone individuals wandering the area aimlessly late at night are a different matter.
Entering the new millennium, laws were more strictly enforced and patrols became more frequent. These, adding to the installation of fifty closed-circuit cameras in May 2002, reduced criminal activities in Kabukichō, amidst controversy.
Crimes caused by illegal immigrants are also a problem. According to a 2002 report by the Immigration Bureau, over 75% of the illegal immigrants are either Korean, Chinese, Thai, or Russian. But since the bureau set up an office in Kabukichō in 2003, the number of illegal immigrants here have reduced drastically.
In 2004, the police undertook an operation clamping down illegal clubs and brothels, causing many to go out of business. Also, there is a movement to rid Kabukichō of the yakuza, known as the Kabukicho Renaissance.
Kabukichō in the arts
Kabukichō is featured in a number of mediums:
- The set design of the movie Blade Runner was partly inspired by Kabukichō.
- Fuyajō, novel by Hase Seishū
- A Guide of the Sleepless Town, novel by Lee Xiaomu
- In the Miso Soup, novel by Ryu Murakami.
- "Kabukichō No Joō", song by Shiina Ringo
- School of Water Business, novel by Hikaru Murozumi
- Yakuza, game by Sega.
- Ugly Americans, novel by Ben Mezrich
- In the manga and anime City Hunter by Tsukasa Hojo, Ryo Saeba is a frequent visitor to Kabukichō.
References
External link
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