Has the area become a dangerous zone with black catchers and stand-up guys? The present state of “Kabukicho Fuzoku” in Shinjuku

Suddenly, a couple of black guys got into it.

“You’re taking the funny picture,” they said.

Suddenly, I was grabbed by the shoulders from behind. When I turned around, I saw a black man, about 185 cm tall, with a face like something out of a hard-hitting action movie, staring at me with eyes as cold as ice and as sharp as knives. I knew instantly that I was in trouble.

It was past 10:30 p.m. on Nakamise-dori, a street in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, lined with pincaros, soaps, health clubs, and other establishments. I was taking pictures of the night streets of Kabukicho with my digital camera while I was there for an interview. After photographing the night view of the Shinjuku Toho Building with Godzilla’s face in the center of Central Road, I went into Nakamise-dori to check out the sex stores and took pictures of the night view.

The blacks were demanding something from me in English mixed with their broken Japanese. Apparently, they were demanding to see the photos. In a dimly lit alley in the middle of the night, two men with dark skin like a huge wall looked down at me with piercing eyes from above, and I felt so oppressed that I could hardly move.

Pushed by the black men’s swordplay, I felt I was in danger, and had no choice but to show them the photo I had just taken on the screen of my digital camera. I had no choice but to show them the picture I had just taken on the screen of my digital camera, because otherwise I would not be released from my confinement. When the two blacks confirmed that they had taken a picture of an ordinary cityscape, they turned around and left the scene.

When I involuntarily said, “Surprise! One of the black men looked back at me on his way back to Central Road and said bluntly with an awakened expression on his face.

‘Baka ya fool ……’.”

A group of five white men and women who were watching the whole thing around us were stunned.

They were scared. I was deeply relieved when they left the place safely, without taking anything or getting hurt. At the same time, I was reminded of the danger of Kabukicho.

Japan’s busiest entertainment district after the COVID-19 crisis

About 10 years ago, I once got tangled up with a strong black man in Kabukicho at night. On a winter evening around 8 p.m., I was taking pictures of a girls’ bar sign on Sakura-dori when a large black man resembling Mike Tyson (professional boxer and world heavyweight champion) in his prime tangled with me from behind, and when I tried to avoid him, he grabbed me by the chest and almost hit me. At that time, I managed to escape without showing him my picture. Again, late at night on Sakura-dori, there was a huge black man who looked like a martial artist, Bob Sapp. I felt threatened and scared by his large presence that intimidated the surrounding area.

Passing through Central Road, I went to see Okubo Park and, as reported recently, there were Japanese standees in the vicinity. On that day in late October, there were more men who looked like customers than women. Seeing the bodycon gal, he said, “I’m here. What are you going to do?　Do you want to buy one?　Shall we buy them? I was impressed by two men in their 30s who were excited to see the bodycon gals. It was like a tourist attraction. They seemed to have no sense of guilt. They probably don’t know that prostitution is illegal because there are no penalties for those who buy.

On Kabukicho Ichibangai, a crowd had gathered in front of a building near the red arch. Following the people’s gazes, I saw a woman’s raw legs through the glass window of a girls’ bar called “M” on the second floor, and she was on the verge of panting. Kabukicho is the only place in Japan with such a bar.

The restaurant on the second floor of the Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, a new landmark, is packed with inbound customers. Even late at night, the streets are filled with touts from the water business, and a tremendous number of people are milling about. Kabukicho is the busiest entertainment district in Japan. I feel the same way every time I come to Kabukicho after touring local entertainment districts on my research trips, and this time was no different.

At the end of October alone, a host club where a host punched a female customer over the payment of accounts receivable was shut down, a men’s concept café that coerced female customers into appearing in adult videos was busted, and security guards went around warning people not to eat or drink on the street on Halloween, A variety of events are taking place every day.

Kabukicho Fuzoku” Today

In the 1980s and 1990s, Kabukicho had a strong image of “adult entertainment,” and “Kabukicho’s Fuzoku” was a hot topic in the media. However, since the purification campaign of the 2000s, the momentum of the past has disappeared. These days, the media only report on the various troubles surrounding the host clubs and the street vendors that appear in the Okubo Park area. Although not so much attention has been paid to them, Kabukicho’s sex clubs are still going strong.

The main type of business is storefront health clubs, and 14 of them are operating in Kabukicho and its vicinity. This is followed by nine soapland establishments scattered throughout the area. There are also three pin saloons and one strip joint. In addition, there are far more than 300 deli-heru, hotel-help, and other business travel-type sex establishments available in Kabukicho. Kabukicho, “one of the largest entertainment districts in Asia” and “the nightless city of the Orient,” is still booming, although it has become healthier than it was around 2000, before the Operation Cleanup.

In Kabukicho, the store-type adult entertainment establishments have seen a succession of business changes to low-priced establishments over the past decade or so: two health clubs have been converted to super-cheap hand jobs and masturbation clubs, and one high-class soap has been drastically reduced in price to become a mass-market establishment. On the other hand, price hikes continued due to the consumption tax hike and high prices, and some soaps revised their prices and raised them by several thousand yen. The same was true for health clubs and pinsaro (pin salon), where the market price was raised by about 1,000 yen. There used to be three strip theaters 10 years ago, but they closed one after another, and now there is only one.

Why did this happen? A major factor is the slump in consumption due to the stagnant Japanese economy. Struggling to attract customers, brothels renewed their businesses and changed their format to softer, lower-priced establishments. The increase in the number of hand-job and masturbation parlors may be due in part to the COVID-19 crisis, in which intense contact was frowned upon. The decrease in the number of strip theaters is a sign of the times. In today’s age of sex clubs, dating services, stand-up dances, and adult media, it is inevitable that the demand for traditional nude theaters will shrink.

On the other hand, the number of business trip-type brothels has been increasing year by year, contrary to the decline of shop-type brothels, and has further diversified over the past decade. This September saw the grand opening of the industry’s first short-course delicatessen, “Sakkutto nude bye-bye. In July, a new store based on the theme of the popular “guessing game” appeared on the market. TOKYO IDOL ACADEMY – My own personal “Suishikatsu life”” is based on the concept of “school, idol, cosplay, and loli,” with the introduction site claiming that “idols will visit you” and “your own personal Suishikatsu life. Prices start at 16,000 yen for 70 minutes, and are based on the experience, knowledge, and know-how of the Tora no Ana Group, which has been in business for more than 15 years and boasts nationwide recognition.

In the future, the number of shop-based services is expected to gradually decline, while the number and variety of business trip-based services will further increase. In addition, it is expected that internationalization will continue to advance, and the number of brothels that are available to foreign customers will increase. Already, high-class soap “Don Juan”, mass soap “Deep Sea Fish”, and long-established health club “Shinjuku Strawberry Jam” are accepting foreign customers with special rates. There is no doubt that Kabukicho’s sex establishments will continue to adapt to the changing social environment over time.

In the paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD,” Ikoma carefully selected a list of 33 “Kabukicho Fuzoku” establishments that are still going strong.