Tobita Shinchi is now “more successful than the Expo” and on the other hand… The lost scenery of the “Chon-no-Ma” town that has disappeared.
Report on Tobita and Matsushima after the opening of the Expo
On April 13, the opening day of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, Shintayama Shinchi, one of the five major new areas in Osaka, was temporarily closed. On the other hand, the Matsushima Shinchi, located along the Osaka Metro Chuo Line on the way to the Yumeshima site and the closest Shinchi to the Expo site, was the focus of much attention, with many wondering what would happen to it. However, it was reassured by the fact that it remained open for business during the Expo period. Tobita Shinchi, Japan’s largest “ryotei” district, and two other Shinchi (Imazato and Takii) also remained unchanged. Before the Expo, pessimistic speculation was rife on the Internet that all the five major shinchi would be closed or that they would be subject to a major crackdown, but only the Shinta-yama shinchi showed any movement as a result of the Expo.
On social networking sites, there were comments such as “Tobita Shinchi was the busiest during Golden Week in the Minami area,” “I would rather go to Tobita than the Expo,” and “Personally, I would rather go to Tobita than the Expo. To verify the reality, we visited Tobita Shinchi and Matsushima Shinchi in late May.
A quick glance at Tobita Shinchi revealed no significant changes in the number of customers or the business methods of the stores. The number of foreign customers remained the same, with two or three East Asian groups from China and Korea being the most noticeable. There are also dark-skinned South Asians and Caucasians. Occasionally, a blonde-haired Caucasian woman comes sightseeing with her group and enters the main street.
During our visit, we often saw groups of about 20 to 30 Caucasians around the ryotei district, led by guides. When we talked to locals, they told us that the number of foreigners has increased since before the Expo was held, and while previously there were many Chinese, now people from various countries come to the area on tours. As the mothers of several ryotei restaurants advertised the effect of the Expo on their job sites before the Expo, saying that the event was sure to be a great success, the number of customers seems to be on the increase overall.
As usual in Matsushima Shinchi, there were few customers and the town was deserted. The only foreign visitors were two Koreans in a group. When I asked the woman calling out to the customers, “Did the number of customers increase after the Expo? She replied, “No, it hasn’t changed. However, the level of women in ryotei restaurants seems to have risen a little. There were many beautiful women who looked like they could be found on the main street of Tobita Shinchi. It was a pleasant discovery.
Even though the Expo was held, Godai-shinchi was safe. However, one never knows when the backstreet entertainment areas will be exposed. Nowadays, you can hardly find them anywhere but Osaka, but until just 20 years ago, colorful districts like Tobita-shinchi and Matsushima-shinchi existed in many parts of the country. How did they come into being, flourish, and then disappear? In this article, I would like to introduce the rise and fall of the major “chon-noma” districts that have disappeared.
First, let’s look at two areas where “chonen” buildings were left in ruins after they were expunged.
Row of battered one-story houses…Okinawa “Maebaru
About 20 minutes by car from the center of Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture. In a residential area south of Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City, there used to be a “chonoma” area called “Maebaru Social Street” (also known as Shinmachi), which began around 1950 when residents established a brothel to protect local women from American soldiers. It eventually became famous nationwide as an entertainment district for Japanese tourists.
At its peak, there were more than 100 Okiya brothels with 300 to 400 women working there, and it became very popular because it was open 24 hours a day and young Japanese women could be played with for as little as 5,000 yen per 15 minutes.
However, in order to improve public morals in the surrounding area, the Okinawa Prefectural Police, Ginowan City, and citizens’ groups began a cleanup effort in 2009. The Ginowan Police Department repeatedly patrolled and entered the area with patrol cars, and asked duty questions of cars entering and leaving the area. Ginowan City held a citizens’ rally for “Shinmachi Environmental Cleanup” and began citizen patrols. As a result of these diligent efforts, the “Chonma” area was destroyed in early 2011, forcing an end to the half-century-long history of the area.
The cleanup was also part of the redevelopment of the Futenma base site in anticipation of its return. After that, the operators tried to revive the area by opening a men’s esthetic salon, but repeated complaints from nearby residents led to their being busted. The rental of the brothels was difficult to come by, and the dilapidation of the buildings became a problem. The prostitution district, which has been called “a negative legacy of the U.S. military occupation” and “a disgrace to Okinawa,” has been reduced to a row of dilapidated one-story buildings, many of which have been demolished and replaced with vacant lots.
Horinouchi, Kawasaki, where sexy foreign women used to draw customers
Horinouchi in Kawasaki is known as one of the “three major soap towns” in Japan, along with Yoshiwara in Tokyo and Fukuhara in Kobe, but there used to be many “chon-no-ma” in this area as well. In 1965, after the Anti-Prostitution Law was fully enforced, the Kawasaki East District Cuisine and Restaurant Association was established in Horinouchi-cho. The restaurant association was in name only, but in reality it was an illegal adult entertainment business. During the bubble period, there were more than 70 restaurants in the area, and it was very active.
Around the year 2000, there were many stores dotted among the soaps where Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean women in nude and indecent costumes were seen through the glass windows during the daytime. I went there many times to report on the event, and the shocking scene of sexy foreign women flamboyantly exposing themselves left a strong impression on me, reminding me of “588 (Oparupal),” a huge brothel district in Seoul, Korea.
Illegal brothels had been thriving, but were on the verge of destruction after several roundups and busts were carried out starting in 2009. The busts were said to have been carried out because they were employing illegal aliens, following the example of the “Chon-no-Ma” in Koganecho. Most of the establishments have since disappeared, and there is no longer the extreme disorder of public morals that existed before. The “chon-no-Ma” has changed its female workers from young foreigners to mature Japanese, and only a few “chon-no-Ma” still remain today. The police and local residents seem to tolerate them because they operate quietly and quietly.
In Horinouchi, one can still see the stores that were used in those days. The dilapidated appearance is “the remains of the dreams of the great ones.
Even the mayor of Sagamihara was appalled by the “shame of the city”…Machida’s “Tambo” in Sagamihara.
While some “chonma” areas have fallen into ruins and become desolate, there are areas that have been cleaned out and redeveloped. One representative example is the “chonma” area known as “Tambo” in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The birth of this colorful district began when a “starch factory” was built in the area of rice paddies during the war, and after the factory went bankrupt after the war, Korean and Korean residents came to Japan and the former site became a “blue line” special restaurant district. The reason for this was that the factory went bankrupt after the war.
Japanese women served customers for a while, but from around 1975, foreign women from Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Scandinavia, Brazil, and other countries began to engage in prostitution. The number of foreign women continued to increase, including those from China and South American countries, and at its peak in 1998, there were as many as 83 illegal brothels with red and pink lanterns at their entrances. The area became known as “Machida’s Tambo” because of the concentration of stores near the south exit of JR Machida Station in Machida City, Tokyo, which is adjacent to Sagamihara City.
The area was an extremely unsavory and inaccessible neighborhood for the general public, and many people felt that it was a “disgrace to the town. The mayor of Sagamihara City, who came to inspect the area, is said to have muttered to himself, “I didn’t know there was such a place in Sagamihara City.
In 1998, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police and the Sagamihara Minami Police Station carried out a major bust. The police began cracking down on prostitutes on the grounds that foreigners were illegally staying in Japan, but even after a temporary crackdown, they would resurface after a while. The fact that the area borders Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture also made matters more difficult, necessitating an unusual joint crackdown by the Metropolitan Police Department and Kanagawa Prefectural Police.
The campaign to eradicate illegal brothels continued, and by January ’06, they were completely destroyed. The long-held wish of not only the neighborhood residents but also the cities of Sagamihara and Machida was fulfilled. Some of the demolished and cleared land has been reconstructed into condominiums, while the rest has been turned into parks, hourly parking lots, and vacant lots.
The “Chon-no-Ma” district, which was born after World War II and once housed more than 80 stores, has disappeared without a trace.
In Part 2, we will discuss “Kannami Shinchi,” another example of redevelopment after the “chon-noma” area was cleared out, as well as the old “chon-noma” area that was reborn after the buildings were reused following the exposé. The article also describes “Kannami Shinchi,” another example of a redeveloped area, and the former “Chonoma” district, where buildings were reused and reborn after the exposé.
Interview, text, and photographs： Akira Ikoma
