Kabukicho is booming with the “papa-katsu bubble”… Shocking tactics used by hosts who “will stop at nothing” to stand out.

Eighty women were caught red-handed waiting for prostitutes on the streets of Okubo Park and other areas.
Forty-two “Toyoko Kids” were rounded up and taken into custody.
The owners of the unlicensed “Men’s Con Cafe” and two others were arrested.

The incidents in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, also known as Asia’s largest entertainment district, never cease. There is a person who is rumored to be controlling such a nightlife district behind the scenes. He is the self-proclaimed “YouTuber who is the craziest YouTuber in Shinjuku,” a.k.a. “Shinjuku’s Woman,” or NEKI. We asked NEKI, who receives close to 100 flame stories a day, about her “manipulation” of Kabukicho.

The world is in a recession, but Kabukicho is in a bubble. Both host and cabaret club operators can make money if they open new establishments, so tenants are fighting over tenants, and even for a “small box” of about 15 tsubo, operators are willing to pay three to four times the market rate for the space.

The clientele is younger than before Corona. I used to have the impression that the youngest girls who started going to hostesses were 24-25 year olds in their second or third year of business, but now there are many girls around 19 or 20 years old. In the past, sex work was the standard way for young girls to earn money. But now, with the development of SNS, “stand-up sex” and “papa katsura” are becoming popular. Nowadays, however, with the development of social networking sites, it has become easy to make a rough income through “stand-up sex” and “papa-katsu”. The money earned by young girls in this way is being dropped into Kabukicho.

Mr. NEKI describes the current situation in Kabukicho as follows. She is a beautiful woman with long, shining hair, good looks that cannot be hidden even by a mask, and an outstanding style. Despite her appearance, however, the words she utters are as if she were a business manager.

She is also the executive director of a company that handles PR for nightclubs and other businesses.

On her YouTube channel, she mainly posts videos introducing selected Kabukicho inflammatory news at a pace of once a week. The channel has about 14,000 subscribers. Not a small number, but probably quite modest for content in Kabukicho, where the big ticket items fly around. Mr. NEKI explains the management mechanism.

We are “Tei”, a YouTube channel that introduces news on the flames, but some of the flames are our own. Hosts and cabarets are in a world where they need to stand out. We receive many requests to “set them on fire” in order to promote their establishments. Such corporate projects are one of the pillars of our revenue.

The fee for flame requests basically starts at 500,000 yen, although some light crafting can cost as little as 100,000 yen. NEKI reveals his techniques for creating flames.

Stories that make enemies of women are easy to ignite. For example, I prepare several fake accounts of female customers who have found out that their favorite host has a girlfriend. Then, have those fake female customers post things like, “I work hard every day sucking my uncle’s dirty pussy, but my favorite guy was having fun with his girlfriend behind my back. I play the role of the host’s girlfriend, but I continue to make posts smelling that we are having fun together. Then gradually, the poor female customers who are not being looked at by their guesser will gather to support them. At the same time, the hate for the host’s “girlfriend” builds up.

After a few weeks, when the groundwork has been laid for a flame war, the top pictures of several fake female customers’ accounts are all changed to “Shinjuku no Onna”. The female customers and the host’s “girlfriends” are all revealed to be the work of “Shinjuku-no-onna” herself. The fact that they have trampled on the feelings of those who have been supporting the female customers so far, well, they go up in flames. It’s a total burnout.”

To put it worse, Mr. NEKI is a “little girl” who is just under 20 years old by the looks of it. If he is flaming as much as he likes, he is likely to be stared at by the coy people of Kabukicho. …… What is the reason why she can be so aggressive in her activities?

I am actually the sixth generation of “Shinjuku no Onna” (Shinjuku Woman). The “Shinjuku Onna” account was launched in 2013, when the penetration rate of LINE was still in the 40% range, and we have been marketing using social networking services since then. Over the past 10 years, my predecessors and I have built good relationships with the bigwigs in Kabukicho and accumulated know-how on SNS, including flame wars. Therefore, it is common knowledge in Kabukicho that “Shinjuku no Onna” is content that deals with flames, and we are also able to handle branding for nightclubs,” said NEKI.

We asked Mr. NEKI about his ambitions for the future.

When you open a restaurant, I don’t think you have a choice but not to post your restaurant on the “Eat Log. In comparison, “Shinjuku-no-Onna” is still a content that divides opinions on whether or not to use it, depending on the restaurant. Like “Eating Log,” if something happens in Kabukicho, “Shinjuku-no-Onna” will be used. I want it to grow into an indispensable part of the nightlife.

In this age of social networking sites, where people are constantly being swept up in “flames,” the day when NEKI’s ambition will be realized may be closer than we think.