Kabukicho: Tokyo Red Light District - Read This Before You Go [2023 Updated] (2024)

Have you ever heard about Tokyo red light district? Do you know anything about it? Are you curious about this place?

Well, the red light district mentioned here is Kabukicho. Known as a “Sleepless Town”, it seems to have a variety of appealing things for you to explore and experience.

In this blog, you will get a lot of information about Kabukicho as well as many suggestions on what to do in the district. Now, let’s read it!

1. Background Information About Kabukicho – Adult Alleys

Kabukicho is a district located in the Shinjuku ward in Tokyo, Japan. It was originally a vast swamp with the name ‘Tsunohazu’.

In 1920, the Japanese government built a school for girls here and the surroundings were developed into a residential area. Unfortunately, the bombing of Tokyo in 1945 during World War II destroyed the area completely.

After the war, a kabuki theatre was planned to be built in the district, but the construction was canceled due to financial problems. There is no kabuki theatre in existence; however, the name still remains and that’s why Kabukicho got its name.

The district has developed quickly since the war ended and it is now a really fantastic place of entertainment with both daytime and night activities.

During the day, Kabukicho appears to be a quiet town with big classic theatres, batting centers, some big hotels, and restaurants. Therefore, it can be a suitable place for the whole family throughout the daytime.

However, when the moon has risen, a strong ‘adult’ atmosphere prevails here. The night is the time when all of Kabukicho’s streets become alive and the entire district is filled with luminous signboards and deafening music from the houses.

Fun stuff: If you want to book a girl in Kabukicho, the price will be varied based on how long you want to stay with her. Basically, the price for 60 minutes starts from 23,000 JPY (~$160). The price for 120 minutes starts from $85,000 JPY (~$580).

There are over three thousand bars, nightclubs, karaoke, massage parlors, pachinko rooms, love hotels, and cabaret clubs for hosts and hostesses here.

If exploring Kabukicho further, you can even discover strip-tease clubs and soaplands where prostitution sometimes happens. In this sense, you can see why Kabukicho is called the ‘Tokyo red light district“.

With several pieces of information above, you have known something about Tokyo red light district right? Having read the blog so far, you may wonder what you can do when you visit Kabukicho. So, let’s continue with the second part of the blog in which you will know many interesting things to do in the district.

Book a night tour in Kabukicho with local tour guide here: Kabukicho and Shinjuku Golden Gai Night Tour

2. Top 10 Things To Do In Kabukicho – Tokyo Red Light District

• Grab A Drink At Golden Gai

Golden Gai, one of the most popular drinking spots in Kabukicho, is a combination of different tumbledown bars which have their own style and atmosphere. Coming here, you can experience the elusive unpolished side of Tokyo life.

There are about 300 bars in Golden Gai for you to choose to have a seat in and enjoy your drink. If you go to the tiny bars in big groups, you may have to split up as these bars only seat single digits.

Wandering through the alleyways of Golden Gai, you can clearly see that seating charges in the bars are marked on the doors and some bars do have signs saying ‘no foreigners’, ‘no tourists’, or ‘regulars only’. Therefore, one suggestion for you here is that you should pay attention to the signs and choose somewhere that really welcomes you.

• See What’s On Offer

Strolling around Kabukicho is always fun as you can see how all of the things here work. You will see how smart some shops are because they could be a knock-off Apple store. Chosen on your iPad displays, the lucky girl will wait for you upstairs.

On the other hand, some shops are not really subtle with no PG displays, but manga style.

Kabukicho houses many sex shops, girl bars, host and hostess clubs and the like. There are even special bars only for groping in this red light district. Besides, a series of JK (joshi-kosei) bars also exist here and offer various services from high school girls. However, this creepily booming business is being prevented by police with new laws.

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• Get Lost In “Piss Alley”

Piss Alley, also known as Memory Lane, is the grimier, darker and more food-oriented version of Golden Gai. Arriving here, you should think you are like a dropout and always drunk, you’ll have a lot of fun. However, you don’t know where you’ll end up. You’ll be lost in Piss Alley. Are you interested in this experience?

All food stalls here serve a variety of unidentifiable meat on a skewer and if you can identify it, perhaps you don’t feel like eating it.

Piss Alley is absolutely a perfect place for those who are seeking adventure with lots of beer, plenty of meat, a risk of food poisoning and new friends.

• Spend The Night In A Love Hotel

If you want to make your night in Tokyo red light district unforgettable, try spending it in a love hotel. All kinds of weirdness are available for you to experience whether you choose the full night stay or just a ‘rest’.

Depending on your budget, you can enjoy your own private Jacuzzi, costumes, in-room light shows and many more. In Kabukicho, you can find some love hotels quite unattractive, the more fancy ones such as Bali Hotel An Resort or Hotel Moana are highly respectable.

Moreover, you can visit the movie-famous Hotel Atlas which offers discounts for girl groups.

• Get Running From Godzilla

Sitting right in the middle of Kabukicho, the giant Godzilla can be viewed from a far distance and becomes a great meeting place for everyone visiting the district. Godzilla was the official local ambassador and is now a permanent feature of Kabukicho. On occasions, he will light up and roar, which is very entertaining.

Besides, Godzilla is actually part of Gracery Hotel and you can book rooms with a view of his face or see him close up with a tour to the roof.

The Toho Cinema, which is in the same building as the hotel, is also a perfect place to watch movies either dubbed or subtitled on rainy days.

• See The Robot Restaurant In All Its Glory

Being called a restaurant, the famous Robot Restaurant is not a restaurant at all. It is definitely a center of robots with lots of them and these robots are usually ridden by girls in provocative outfits with very loud music.

The price of tickets to enter here is ¥8,000=$53.79, which is quite high, but you can buy cheaper tickets for under ¥5,800=$39.00 by online booking.

The Robot Restaurant is specially designed to cater for tourists who desire to experience neon, modern and weird Japan. Coming here, you should take it for what it is and enjoy it.

• Try Your Luck At A Pachinko Parlor

As a kind of legal gambling in Japan, pachinko is a very popular pastime and really addictive.

To begin, insert your money into the machine and wait for the happy crashing of tiny silver balls. You might win more or you might not, but it’s fun to try. Each tiny ball costs between ¥1=$0.01 and ¥4=$0.03, so it’s cheap if you just want to try. Your aim is to make the balls land between the pegs and the strength you use to turn the handle determines how strong they shoot out.

There can be some empty parlors which have reputations for low payouts, so be sure to avoid them. You can also check the stats on the top of each machine to find out which has the best chance of paying out.

• • But to play the game, you have to spend at least

  ¥1000 (~$7,15)

Liven Up Your Night At Lockup

Lockup is a great theme restaurant for you to start your night of weirdness with eyeballs in your drinks and brains for dinner.

A multitude of horrors will storm in to terrify you from the moment you step into the hallways with sirens and alarms to the prison-cell seating and to the zombies or monsters serving your food. So, enjoy your dinner but still keep your wits about you.

New update: Currently, this restaurant is closed.

• See 800 Years Of History At The Samurai Museum

The Samurai Museum is pretty small, but it has an impressive display of costumes, swords and other things to enjoy. The staff here are knowledgeable and they are always willing to answer all of your questions in English. Demonstrations by trained actors are also offered here and you can try on different costumes, too.

If you want to get deeper explanations to all sections in the museum, you can take a guided tour. The price of tickets for adults is ¥1,800=$12.10 and for children is ¥800=$5.38.

• Take A Breather At Hanazono Shrine

Meaning “flower garden”, Hanazono Shrine is one of the most historical Shinto shrines in Japan. Built in the Edo period by the Hanazono family, it was once part of the Imperial Gardens and later had a garden growing vegetables and flowers.

There are plenty of festivals held in the shrine including the popular Bird Festival in November and the two-horse festival in February as well as traditional ones like Setsubun and the New year ceremonies. If you fancy a drink, you can go to Golden Gai by heading down to the path to the left of the complex.

Kabukicho: How Safe Is It? Factors to Avoid

Kabukicho is mostly secure while continuing to live up to its seedy reputation as a red-light district, but one should still use caution when roaming the streets of Tokyo’s most notorious district.

Let’s look at some of the things you should probably steer clear of first.

• Promoters Of Restaurants And Street Vendors

Even though it has been illegal to sell goods on the street for a while now, promoters frequently approach people in Kabukicho with offers of cheap beverages, attractive women, and other deals. The information that these men frequently spread is either deceptive or outright false. It’s better to either politely decline or ignore these types of promoters if you come across them on the street and continue walking.

• Clubs For Hosts And Kyabakura (Hostess)

Despite the numerous humorous depictions of host and hostess clubs in well-known manga and anime, these places can send you on a very pricey downward spiral. The innocent attitude of hostesses conceals their motivation, which is profit, even though some could claim that they are a modern-day version of geishas with their attentive nature and beauty.

It is not uncommon for hostesses to pressure customers into purchasing one pricey drink after another, quickly running up an enormous tab for what is essentially just a few alcoholic beverages and a chat. A lot of hosts are similar. They will pressure women to drink all night long under the pretense of having fun, which will make the evening incredibly expensive.

• Drug Trafficking

Although it is officially prohibited and against the law in Japan, there have been reports of drug trafficking in areas known for their prostitution, most notably in the Roppongi neighborhood.

3. Is Kabukicho Really Dangerous?

Even tourists might feel secure in Kabukicho. But it’s definitely advised to be aware of the proper safety measures to take when going anywhere for the first time.

You should STRONGLY avoid attending shady bars that overcharge, getting too drunk, going too late at night, and not doing your homework on the area beforehand.

Therefore, it is safe to visit Kabukicho. However, this does not imply that visiting there is risk-free. Like many other places in the globe, there are always some areas you should stay away from and safety measures you should take.

Read on to learn how to visit Kabukicho and have a great time while staying safe in the renowned entertainment neighborhood.

Being always alive and dynamic, Kabukicho has made its name up to the popular culture. However, the swindles targeting foreign tourists organized by unscrupulous tenants are making Japanese authorities worried a lot.

So, to prevent yourself from that situation, you should not accept the invitation of those pullers. Just pass by the creepy doors, you will get no fear and won’t get into any trouble.

For an overview of Tokyo red light district, let’s check out the video below

4. How may harmful circ*mstances be avoided?

Despite the fact that Japan is regarded as a fairly safe tourist destination, you should nevertheless exercise common sense to stay out of trouble. To keep you secure while traveling, we suggest taking a few straightforward steps.

• Avoid going out alone at night in isolated, poorly lighted, or red-light districts, especially if you don’t know where you are.
• There have been a few incidents of bag snatching in Japan, so keep your valuables zipped up and out of sight.
• Avoid carrying a lot of money on you at once. Divide it up between the hotel safe, your wallet, and a pocket to prevent losing it all in the event that your bag is stolen or you are a victim of pickpocketing.

Prior to your trip, familiarize yourself with the red-light district’s locations. Never leave your drink alone while you’re out, and never accept anything from a stranger until you can see the waiter or the bartender preparing it.

• Avoid letting others know where you will be staying, and be wary of anyone who asks for your personal information without a good reason.

As an alternative, you can call the Japan Travel by NAVITIME Emergency Call directly to reach an ambulance, fire, or police hotline.

5. FAQs

5.1. Is there Yakuza in Kabukicho?

Kabukicho was most likely chosen as the setting for the Yakuza series due to its overwhelming number of nightclubs, pubs, and restaurants as well as its recent history of yakuza activity in the area.

5.2. Is there any red-light area in Japan?

Kabukichō is the biggest red-light district in Tokyo, where you can “buy” females on an iPad, watch Godzilla, or spend the night in a love hotel, so embrace the seediness and head on in…

5.3. Does Japan still have an entertainment district?

One of the most visited locations of Tokyo by tourists is Shinjuku. Shinjuku also features Kabukicho, also referred to as Asia’s finest entertainment district, but this is primarily because there are many places to stay there and it’s convenient for travel.

There are dining establishments, izakayas, and international visitors mingling there. Without a doubt, you’ll enjoy yourself here.

5.4. Can foreigners go to the red-light district in Japan?

Foreigners often are not permitted in many of Japan’s adult entertainment venues. However, the “Only Japanese” access restriction might not be applied if you are with a Japanese acquaintance or know a little Japanese.

5.5. What is a love hotel?

A love hotel is a kind of short-stay hotel that can be found all over the world and is run primarily to give visitors solitude for sexual activities.

The 1968-built “Hotel Love” in Osaka, which had a rotating sign, is where the name comes from. Although there are love hotels all around the world, the phrase “love hotel” is frequently used to refer exclusively to those establishments found in Japan.

5.6. Why does Japan have a 99% conviction rate?

In Japan, conviction rates exceed 99.8%, surpassing those of modern autocracies. According to experts, Japan’s low prosecution rate and unique method of calculating conviction rates are the main causes of the nation’s extremely high conviction rate.

6. Conclusion

Hopefully, this blog has provided you with several useful information about Kabukicho – Tokyo red light district. If you are looking for a different destination from somewhere you have been to so far with plenty of weird things to explore, Kabukicho is absolutely a perfect choice. Let’s go and enjoy everything there!