Kabukichō

Tokyo’s most notorious red-light district, which lies east of Shinjuku Station and north of Yasukuni-dōri, is made up of soaplands (bathhouse that offer sexual services), love hotels, peep shows, pink cabarets, porn booths, ‘nurse’ pubs, prostitutes and strip shows, all well attended by drunken salarymen out for the night. Female voices wail out invitations in accents from the Philippines, Thailand and China as well as Japan, while Japanese punks eke out a living passing out ads for karaoke boxes and peep shows. For the ladies, there are ‘men’s’ bars, with photos of foppish Japanese blokes with shaggy hair dyed along the spectrum from platinum to auburn, peering out from backlit signs and waiting to do for the gals what hostess bars do for the guys. Remarkably, the area is generally safe (and much more interesting) to walk through at night, though it’s wise to go with a friend or more or you may find yourself the object of unwanted, and irritating, attention (both for males and females). However, most places are aimed solely at Japanese clients, hence foreigners are generally not permitted.