This post uses short self-quotes from a Twitter thread to narrate a photo tour of Kabukicho, the red-light district in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The pictures here are drawn from the Kabukicho photo gallery on The Gaijin Ghost home page.
Yasukuni Dori
“On #YasukuniDori, the entrance to #Kabukicho is marked with a red gate. Appropriate, since this is the largest red-light district in Japan.”
Ichibangai
“If you envision a Tokyo littered with neon signs, streets like Ichibangai in #Kabukicho do conform to that ‘Blade Runner’ ideal of the city.”
Robot Restaurant
“For foreigners, including celebrities, the most famous spot in #Kabukicho would undoubtedly be #RobotRestaurant, where giant fembots loom.”
“A #Shinjuku institution, #RobotRestaurant is pure Vegas kitsch, w/ guitarists in spiky armor, and girls in sequin bikinis riding neon tanks.”
“The true Tokyo: robo-cabaret? Or is it just for tourists? You'd be surprised how many suburbanites here have not heard of #RobotRestaurant.”
The entrance gate to Sakura Dori, the street in Kabukicho where Robot Restaurant is located.
“Other novelty dining options in #Kabukicho include tachinomiya, or standing bars, and The Lockup, a theme restaurant evoking a horror jail.”
The Lockup
Tachinomiya (Standing Bars)
“Entertainment/lodging options in #Kabukicho include arcades (called game centers in Japan), karaoke castles, capsule hotels and love hotels.”
Arcades (Game Centers)
Karaoke Boxes
Note the song. The music video for Muse’s “Panic Station” was filmed at Robot Restaurant.
Capsule Hotels
A window full of soccer balls in a store that used to be located near Hotel Colorful P & A, one of Kabukicho’s numerous love hotels.
Love Hotels
The Humax Pavilion
“Back on Ichibangai, the Humax Pavilion holds night bowling with misspelled English signs, and shabu-shabu with perfect pentagons of meat.”
The Seedy Side of Kabukicho
“Without a doubt, there is a seedy side to #Kabukicho, where hostess clubs and soaplands ply their so-called ‘water trade,’ or mizushobai.”
“Anecdotally, a daytime stroll through #Kabukicho once prompted a tout to accost The Gaijin Ghost and ask, ‘Are you looking for a sex club?’”
“It is not unheard of to circle the block once in #Kabukicho and have 8 different touts try to lure you in to 8 sketchy night establishments.”
“Best advice: exercise caution in #Kabukicho. Blow a referee whistle, if you need to, and run shrieking to the Don Quijote safety station.”
Shinjuku Golden Gai
“In #GoldenGai, another #Shinjuku institution, near Kabukicho, Tokyo time-warps, its streetscape morphing into a narrow maze of dive bars.”
Trees illuminated like champagne glasses on Kuyakusho Dori. Golden Gai is around the corner from the Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel.
Hanazono Shrine
For more pictures of Hanazono Shrine, check out the Film Lover’s Guide to Tokyo - Big Hero 6 post.
Toho Cinemas Shinjuku
“Since Tokyo secured the Olympic bid in 2013, and since #TohoCinemasShinjuku opened in 2015, #Kabukicho has become somewhat more gentrified.”
“You can tell they are making more of an effort to clean up the area, and crack down on things like street solicitation. Yakuza nest no more?”
Godzilla Road / Godzilla Head
“Even in the daytime, #TohoCinemasShinjuku is a *monster* draw, w/ its MX4D and IMAX theaters. Tourists always love to see the #GodzillaHead.”
The tree-lined pedestrian street that leads from the East Exit of Shinjuku Station to Yasukuni Dori / Kabuki Central Road (a.k.a. Godzilla Road).