A Girl Jumped Onto “Godzilla Road”—Now the Tōyoko Kids Are Being Forced Out. Where Do They Go?

A girl jumped onto “Godzilla Road”

“The kids gathering here are those who have nowhere to belong, either at home or at school. Perhaps they are overly sensitive to connections with other people compared with ordinary people. Even over a trivial argument with a friend, some become convinced that they have been rejected and, before they can recover, resort to self-harm. Suicide attempts are constant, and recently, one of my friends also died after jumping from a building.”

So says A, a girl who frequents the Tō-yoko area. The “friend” she refers to is the woman who died by suicide on July 1.

On the night of July 1, a woman who frequented the Tō-yoko area of Kabukicho, Shinjuku, tragically died after jumping from a building. The location was Central Road, commonly known as “Godzilla Road,” an area with many pedestrians. The scene was cordoned off, and a pool of blood was visible at the point where she fell. A expressed her grief, saying, “We were still filming TikToks together until recently, so it doesn’t feel real.”

According to another friend, B, the woman who died had had an argument with her boyfriend the day before.

“I knew about it because she talked about it during a livestream. Apparently, he told her, ‘Go die!’ and she responded, ‘Fine, I’ll die!’ and they got into an argument. He seemed to be under the influence of an OD (overdose) at the time, but perhaps the girl took what he said seriously.

Apparently, they were always fighting. She had often said things like, ‘He hit me again just now.’ During a livestream, she also said that her boyfriend had threatened her while holding a kitchen knife, so I remember being worried about her. She died by suicide after that video.” (B)

The Tō-yoko area is reportedly undergoing a major change. The situation has apparently become quite dangerous, with members of organized crime groups frequenting the area and illegal drugs circulating. When asked about the situation, the kids gathering there repeatedly said that a lot of them hint at suicide. A, who spoke at the beginning of this article, was one of them.

The changes are likely connected to the gradual disappearance of the place known as “Tō-yoko.” The Tō-yoko kids originally gathered mainly around the area centered on Cine City Square, but after the plaza was fenced off around December 2023, they began congregating in front of a nearby 7-Eleven. However, starting around March this year, the ward began experimentally operating food trucks in this area as well, effectively eliminating the gathering place for those known as the Tō-yoko kids.

The new hangout was quickly closed off as well

In the area around the former Tō-yoko gathering spot, commotion had been unfolding day and night. People played music through speakers, drank alcohol while sitting on folding outdoor chairs that seemed to have been brought from somewhere, while others laid down cardboard and slept as though they owned the place. It was hard to believe that such behavior was taking place in the middle of a bustling entertainment district.

In recent years, the area has become known as a dangerous place following reports of overdoses involving over-the-counter medications and minors becoming involved in crimes. In an effort to dispel the negative image of the area as dangerous and unapproachable, the authorities have been bringing in food trucks and taking measures to prevent it from becoming a gathering spot. That is the current situation.

Around the end of May, the group began gathering behind the Kabukicho Police Box, on the grounds of the Tokyo Metropolitan Health Plaza Hygeia (commonly known as Hygeia). On the stairs of a plaza within the grounds, it looked as though the former gathering spot in front of the 7-Eleven had simply been relocated there. The distance was less than 100 meters.

However, this location was also fenced off and closed on June 29. From Hygeia’s perspective, it would understandably be unacceptable for its premises to become a gathering place. It was a natural decision.

So where will they go now that they have lost their place to gather?

Drugs and tout run rampant

The person who spoke with us was C, who has been around Tō-yoko for more than three years. Among the Tō-yoko kids, whose members are said to change frequently over periods of about three months, that makes her one of the longer-standing members. According to her, recently, there are more strange people and quite a lot of people are getting caught up in crime.

“There have always been plenty of strange and eccentric people around, but I get the impression that there are even more dangerous people now. They’re probably not exactly respectable people. They approach you with things like, ‘Why don’t you try it? You can make good money by setting someone up with a woman,’ or, ‘Could you sell this drug for me instead?’ They don’t care even if the person is a minor who has difficulty distinguishing right from wrong, so it’s extremely dangerous.”

Cases of people becoming involved in crime are also occurring frequently. Surely the authorities cannot simply overlook this situation. What does she think about the fact that they are increasingly being pushed out?

“Right now, there are still groups gathering in front of the 7-Eleven and groups gathering around the love-hotel district, just as they did before. Security guards hired by the authorities have always kept watch over us, but I feel like things have become stricter than they used to be.” (C)

According to her, groups gathering around the love hotels in Kabukicho hang out in spaces in front of the hotels and on the streets. And she says there are problems with the groups gathering in the love-hotel district.

“They seem somewhat different from the ordinary kids who came here because they had nowhere to belong at home or at school. If anything, they’re more like a violent group. They get into fistfights and engage in touts and drug dealing. I’ve also heard that some of the drugs are illegal. Newcomers sometimes come into contact with them without knowing what they’re involved in and end up getting caught up in crime, so the situation is extremely dangerous.” (C)

The Tō-yoko kids are now scattered around areas such as in front of the 7-Eleven, the love-hotel district, and around the Lawson near TOHO Cinemas. “Because regulations have become stricter, quite a lot of people have disappeared,”(C) she says, and many have also moved on from the scene. Each of the groups currently gathering has its own character, and new groups are also forming.

The environment surrounding the Tō-yoko kids has changed dramatically. They are by no means all well-behaved, but rather than simply excluding young people who have nowhere else to go, perhaps it is also necessary to connect them with some form of support.

・Japan Lifeline Federation
Phone: 0570-783-556 (10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.)

Home Page

・Yorisoi Hotline (General Incorporated Association Social Inclusion Support Center)
Phone: 0120-279-338 (24-hour service. For calls from Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima Prefectures, dial 226 at the end)

Yorisoi Hotline

・Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare “Unified Mental Health Consultation Hotline” and Social Media Counseling
Phone: 0570-064-556 (Hours vary by municipality)
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/hukushi_kaigo/seikatsuhogo/jisatsu/soudan_info.html
・List of Life-Support Counseling Services (List of counseling services by prefecture and government-designated city)
https://jscp.or.jp/soudan/index.html