A Mass Exodus to Evade the Police and YouTubers… The New Reality of the “Streetwalkers’ District” and Its Clients Gathering in Kabukicho’s Love Hotel District

A mass exodus from Okubo Park to avoid increased crackdowns and YouTubers

A midsummer night in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho. Amid temperatures so high that sweat beads on your forehead just from walking, women were waiting for customers in the love hotel district.About four years ago, “streetwalkers”—women in financial distress selling their bodies around Okubo Park—became a social issue. While their plight remains unchanged, the circumstances surrounding these streetwalkers have changed dramatically—

Currently, there are almost no streetwalkers to be seen at Okubo Park. It seems that gathering around the park has become too risky due to intensified police crackdowns. Similarly, the number of men seeking to pay for sex has also decreased. This is reportedly because they fear having their faces filmed by YouTubers or being stopped and questioned by the police if they’re seen with a streetwalker.

Where did the men and women who used to be around Okubo Park go? When this reporter investigated, they found them in the love hotel district. One of the streetwalkers explained the reason for the move.

“It’s to avoid trouble, like having my face exposed on social media. There aren’t many curious onlookers in the love hotel district. Another major factor was that last July, four women waiting for clients at Okubo Park were arrested on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Law, and all of their faces and real names were published in the news.”

Fearing trouble, the number of new streetwalkers, curious onlookers, and first-time clients has decreased. Those who have moved to the love hotel district are the “regulars”—both the streetwalkers and the men who buy sex. Perhaps because of the ease and comfort they feel with each other, they can be seen chatting and laughing on the street with drinks in hand. It has effectively become an “open-air girls’ bar.”

Regular male customers wander through the love hotel district with a drink in hand, searching for the few new streetwalkers. If there are no new faces, they exchange lighthearted conversation with the streetwalkers they know.

“Since there are fewer opportunities to be approached by customers, I’ve had regular women who are short on cash ask me, ‘Buy me a drink,’” says one regular customer.

One reason so many people are drinking on the street is that alcohol also serves as a means of verifying age. Under current law, the act of prostitution itself isn’t punishable, but if the partner is a minor, it’s an immediate violation. The method devised to get around this is to “send her to buy alcohol.”

“(The man) gives the girl 1,000 yen and tells her, ‘Buy some alcohol with this,’ sending her to a convenience store. Since she has to show her ID to the clerk when making the purchase, that serves as age verification. It’s a safe method that avoids having to show ID yourself,” said another regular male customer.

As a result, the john ends up with the alcohol. After the act takes place at a hotel, they walk around the Kabukichō area while drinking.

Unless the suffering of the women standing on the streets of the nightlife district is alleviated, the problem of “streetwalkers” will not be resolved. It continues to exist, merely changing its form and location.

From the September 25, 2026 issue of *FRIDAY*