Naked Director Author’s Insight: Midnight Shinjuku Kabukicho, Japan’s Wonderland
Where does this town's "attraction" come from? The Tokyu Kabukicho Tower towers over the town, a town of desire.
Twenty-one years ago. I was interviewing stand-up men in Okubo Park for FRIDAY.
The highly reputed series, “Assault! Murder, arson, illegal clubs, street hookers, and surveillance cameras.
It was the summer of the Japan-Korea World Cup, and I remember that red uniforms were conspicuous both in Kabukicho and in Shin-Okubo, the neighboring area.
The stand-up guy I approached at that time was a tall, good-looking guy with a perfectly white face. When I entered the hotel and checked him out, I found that he was a male vocational school student from South Korea. It was the year before Yon-sama became a big hit with the “Winter Sonata” series. We parted after just talking, but I wondered how the young man, now in his 40s, was doing.
He said, “The reason I have been able to do this job for so long is because I love it. I have a lot of freedom, and the pay reflects the effort I put in. I’ve been a host for 13 years now, and if I can stay for three years, that’s a long time.
Koga Ishikawa, 33, the representative of the Kabukicho host club “Majesty,” says, “I’ve been a host for 13 years.
He is a living witness to the host industry, having shared some behind-the-scenes stories with us in my book “Kabukicho Underground” (Komakusa Shuppan), which was published last spring.
When I met him again for the first time in six months, he had lost 13 kg, grown out his hair, and undergone a drastic change.
When I went to Las Vegas in October, I was shocked to see the body shape of foreigners. I thought, ‘Muscle is everything.
The world of hostesses is athletic, and it is said that there have always been many former members of the Self-Defense Forces.
Starting this month, we have banned the selling of hostesses.
The problem of accounts receivable from female customers in host clubs has become a social issue. The problem of accounts receivable from female customers has become a social problem, and is putting pressure not only on female customers, but also on the hosts.
The problem has become a social problem, not only for female customers, but also for hostesses. “Since there are so many host clubs, hostesses are forced to borrow money to buy expensive suits and accessories to prevent their rivals from taking them over, and they are forced to work for a long time with debts. Even hosts with sales of 100 million yen are sometimes in debt to their competitors. The world of hosts is a world of ostentatiousness and vanity.
The nights in Kabukicho are harsh. It was and still is.
