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August 16, 2025
 

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KABUKICHO

A group of 19 host club owners in Kabukicho who own most of the host clubs in the area have pledged to ban the pay-later system by April and prohibit entry to those under 20 years old from January.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 26, 2023
How Japan's host clubs trap young women under mountains of debt
False promises of love — and even marriage — lead to huge bills for some as young as 18, who are often then coaxed into sex work to make repayments.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2023
Women arrested for prostitution in Shinjuku tripled in 2023
The issue of women going into prostitution as a result of loans used to finance host club visits has become a huge problem.
An area known as Toyoko in the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2023
High school girl arrested for selling cough medicine illegally
The arrest coincides with a surge of young people in Japan abusing over-the-counter drugs, such as cold medicine.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2023
Japan moves to strengthen crackdown on malicious host clubs
Some women end up with massive debts and are forced into prostitution to repay the sums.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 22, 2023
4 youths nabbed for unauthorized cough medicine sales
Reports indicate that more young people in Japan are overdosing on over-the-counter drugs such as cold pills and cough medicine.
By the finale, I had completely bought into Samurai Restaurant Time's spectacle — a neon-lit festival with chants and cheers.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 12, 2023
Samurai Restaurant Time gives kitschy thrills fit for Kabukicho
To replace the defunct Robot Restaurant, the neon-soaked streets of Kabukicho are serving up a kitschy second course.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 2, 2021
‘Tokyo Junkie’: Robert Whiting recounts a lifelong addiction to his adopted city
The author and longtime Japan resident tackles his hardest writing project ever — “interviewing himself” for a memoir on his life, the changing urban landscape and, of course, baseball.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 1, 2020
Kabukicho host clubs under fire for spreading coronavirus
Some media outlets are weighing the pros and cons of mounting an actual 'blockade' of Tokyo's well-known entertainment district.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2020
Tokyo enlists nightclub workers for Q&A-style videos to fight coronavirus
Alarmed by a spike in infections in Tokyo's nightlife districts, the metropolitan government has released educational videos in the form of a Q&A between nightclub hosts, a hostess and a doctor, hoping to stem the spread of the outbreak.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2020
Host and hostess bars in Japan scramble to adjust to COVID-19 reality
The industry faces an intensifying public backlash after reports emerged that a recent spike in cases stemmed largely from nighttime entertainment districts.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2020
Nightlife districts demonized over infection fears while grappling with coronavirus impacts
Heated media coverage has zeroed in on Kabukicho, catapulting the area to a new level of notoriety.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 13, 2020
Japan's rockin' pastor: Counseling those living on a prayer
No ordinary pastor, Kazuhiro Sekino wields a bass guitar like a rock star to bring his congregation together.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Oct 4, 2019
Rip-off bars are taking advantage of Japan's tourism boom
With the number of foreign tourists to Japan increasing by the year, authorities are warning visitors to steer clear of so-called rip-off bars.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Aug 3, 2019
Re-examining 2001's fatal Kabukicho blaze in the wake of the Kyoto Animation attack
Police have described the torching of Kyoto Animation, which killed 35 people, as the worst case of arson in postwar Japan. Given the shocking details of the attack that have emerged since July 18, it's certainly not hard to believe.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 18, 2018
Okinawa Paradise: A laid-back taste of Ryukyu culture
The earthly delights are numerous and varied in Kabukicho, Shinjuku's notorious, though now mostly scrubbed-up, red-light district. The pleasures offered at Okinawa Paradise, though, are strictly wholesome.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Jun 3, 2017
The not-so-shady world of Japan's singles bars
On May 22, the Yomiuri Shimbun published a curious article about Kihei Maekawa, a former administrative vice education minister who has said that he is willing to testify under oath about the Kake Gakuen scandal dogging Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 19, 2015
Yakuza infighting puts nation on edge
Around the start of this year, the weekly magazines — Shukan Taishu, Asahi Geino and Shukan Jitsuwa in particular — were brimming with articles feting the centennial anniversary of the Yamaguchi-gumi, which had gone from being a small group of tough guys on the Kobe waterfront in 1915 to Japan's...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 17, 2015
How one Kabukicho bar allegedly ripped off its drinkers
A promise of a fun night out with drinks and hostesses for just ¥4,000 in Tokyo's Kabukicho district led to a tab totaling ¥2.6 million — and a death threat.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 6, 2015
'Bottakuri' scams put the squeeze on the unwary
"On any given evening, you can see noisy quarrels between club staff and customers outside the local police box," attorney Katsuyuki Aoshima tells Asahi Geino (May 2), adding, "The police treat these as civil claims between the shop and the customer, and won't get involved, adopting the position of neutral...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 23, 2015
The changing face of Tokyo's 'red-light' district
"How would I describe Kabukicho? Frankly, I'm not sure," popular author Hirokatsu Azuma was quoted as saying in the now-defunct monthly Gendai magazine back in January 1999. "If you say it's a scary place, you could be right; and if you say it's a place where you can have fun, well, that's right too."...
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Japanese star convicted of indecent assault in Hong Kong
J-pop idol Kenshin Kamimura leaves the West Kowloon Law Courts on bail in Hong Kong on Wednesday, after he was found guilty of indecent assault of a woman who worked as his interpreter at a restaurant in Mong Kok district in March this year.
Tens of thousands left stranded at Osaka Expo by train service interruption
Visitors rest inside the Osaka Expo venue early Thursday morning
Welcoming foreign residents benefits Japan, three quarters of economists say
The streets of Tokyo's Ginza district in April. The number of foreign residents in Japan hit a record high at 3.76 million as of the end of last year, comprising just over 3% of the population.
Hiker missing in Hokkaido after bear attack found dead
The Rausu mountain range at Hokkaido's Shiretoko National Park. A man in his 20s who went missing after being attacked by a bear while hiking on Mount Rausu has been found dead.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Will Ishiba's critics be able to garner enough support for a leadership race?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's political survival likely hinges on whether a leadership race will take place within the Liberal Democratic Party following its decision to have its election committee canvass the opinions of party members and prefectural chapters on the subject.
Hidden rosters and the legacy of Japan’s germ warfare
Katsutoshi Takegami, 77, in his storehouse attic where he discovered his father's Unit 1644 documents
Osaka Expo highlights the challenge of holding events in Japan's scorching summer
People huddle near a large fan blowing icy-cold mist at the Osaka Expo on July 12. Amid Japan's relentless summer heat, organizes have put myriad measures in place in order to keep guests safe.
At Himawari Shokudo 2, Italian food with a Japanese soul
At Himawari Shokudo 2, chef Hozumi Tanaka serves Italian-inspired fare with a focus on Toyama produce, such as this appetizer of lightly blanched "hotaru ika" (firefly squid) served atop mixed wild plants and a crepe prepared from "yamato-imo" yam.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers
By Tomoko Otake

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