More on the Kabukicho Clean-Up

[Samurai_Jerk]

Shinjuku's gay enclave may be Ishihara's next target
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/kuchikomi/461
After an 8-year crackdown on the sleaze biz in Kabukicho that included shutting down sex-related businesses and banishing pimps and touts from street corners, for his third term, Ishihara may be preparing to wield his broom at the “Gay Town” enclave in Shinjuku 2-chome.

Ishihara, who regards both areas as eyesores that detract from Tokyo’s appeal as venue for the Olympics,
was last year said to have expressed an intention to harness a newly promulgated Public Beautification law “to put enforceable ordinances into effect” against Shinjuku’s less respectable night spots.

I guess Jack won't have a reason to come to Tokyo anymore.

[Mulboyne]

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/images/vbimghost/97946780d7abbbb7.jpg

A citizens patrol has started around Kabukicho this month in partnership with the police. From 6-8:00pm, every day except Sunday, the patrol aims to discourage street touts from interfering with the public near the Central Road area. The volunteers include members from the Kabukicho Host Club Association, the Shinjuku Restaurant Association and The Kabukicho Merchants Association. A representative of the Host Club Association said that hassling people on the street brings down the image of their clubs and so they are happy to be part of efforts to reduce it.

The initative isn't a bad one but the hours of 6-8:00pm don't strike me as being the most active for scouts and touts on the street.

[Greji]

While waiting for a friend the other night, I happened to pick up on how the hosts are now working and it was fascinating! Instead of the tacky suits, they now dress like any other young guys and all carry briefcases. They hang around in the crowds waiting to cross the road, pick out a target and spring on her as she traverses the pedestrian crossing. They then line up and do it all over again. They had their operation moving really slickly. But, as in the past, I've never seen one of these guys pick up a woman.

Ya need to hang out with Jack and me more often Marvin, if ya wanna see the real pros at work!
:cool:

[Mulboyne]

...The Kabukicho clean-up and Roppongi crackdowns are thought to be part of an attempt by the Metropolitan authorities to engineer a major transfer of cabarets and clubs to Odaiba which is where the pro-gambling lobby also want to build a casino...

I was reading a press release talking about a new Chinese restaurant opened by Lee Xiao Mu. Lee operates tours around Kabukicho where he takes people to clubs where he claims they won't get ripped off. He has also written a number of books on Kabukicho nightlife and released a DVD recently. This is all detailed on his website (http://www.leexiaomu.com/) (Japanese). One other thing I noticed on his website is a column he wrote for the Japanese edition of Newsweek. If your eyes and Japanese are good, you might just be able to make it out in this image:

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/images/vbimghost/97946d5259e0798c.jpg

Lee believes that Tokyo nightlife is at a low ebb and suggests using setting up a Special Administrative Area in Tokyo in the manner of China's "One country, two systems" deal with Hong Kong. He thinks Odaiba would be a good place and recommends staffing it with people competent in both Japanese and English plus, preferably, one other language. He thinks such a district could be attractive to foreigners and local partygoers. It's unlikely that Lee came up with the idea of Odaiba on his own so it seems more probable that someone in authority dropped him a few hints.

It still isn't clear whether the proposal to shift major nightlife activity to Odaiba really has any legs but the crackdowns around Tokyo are still continuing. In Roppongi, the major move right now is the development of the TSK building which lies right between Tokyo Midtown and Roppongi Hills and so is a key piece of real estate in bringing those two areas together. The TSK building was originally built by The Tosei-kai who were one of the main Korean gangs which grew to prominence during the postwar period. The building used to house the offices of political fixer Yoshio Kodama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshio_Kodama) who brokered a peace between the Tosei Kai and Yamaguchi Gumi. FGs will know the building as the place where Private Eyes, Vanilla, One-Eyed Jacks and the Tokyo Sports Cafe used to be.

When the head of the Tosei Kai, Hisayuki Machii (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hisayuki_Machii), died in 2002, there was a tussle in the underworld over the building and ownership became unclear. It was recently part of the scandal involving the former head of the Public Security Agency, Shigetake Ogata (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070806TDY02006.htm), in which he is said to have attempted to defraud the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) over real estate.

For any FGs who can't imagine Roppongi as anything other than party central, I recently saw a 1968 copy of an English publication that Greji probably knows - "Man's Guide to Tokyo". The entry on Roppongi says it has good restaurants but is "a place to take a lady friend but not a place to find a lady friend".

[halfnip]

My idea of partying does not involve Odaiba at all. Come to think of it, in all of my years here, I may have NEVER consumed an alcoholic beverage in Odaiba at all (OK, that's a damn lie).

The Yurikamome is not my idea of convenience and there's no way in hell all of the FG's would trek all the way out to Odaiba to "party".

[Taro Toporific]

...The Kabukicho clean-up and Roppongi crackdowns are thought to be part of an attempt by the Metropolitan authorities to engineer a major transfer of cabarets and clubs to Odaiba which is where the pro-gambling lobby also want to build a casino......Lee believes that Tokyo nightlife is at a low ebb and suggests using setting up a Special Administrative Area in Tokyo in the manner of China's "One country, two systems" deal with Hong Kong. He thinks Odaiba would be a good place and recommends staffing it with people competent in both Japanese and English ....

I could see the "logic" that Odaiba is an idea place for Neo-Deshima (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deshima). The toxi-beach of Odaiba even looks like Deshima. It is isolated from the rest of Tokyo and all its buildings are owned by Japan Inc. unlike alien inroads made by Roppongi's Koreans and Kabukicho's Chinese.
My feeling is that Odaiba is very under-utilized compared the return on public and public capital that has been dumped into it. At the moment, Odaiba is not sleazy enough to please salarymen.;)

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/images/vbimghost/12946d53b90c690a.jpg

[Captain Japan]

I did a story on this subject. You can find it here (http://www.bigempire.com/sake/kabukicho1.html).

[Captain Japan]

Despite Kabukicho's sex trade going limp, love hotels start 2008 with a bang (http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20080114p2g00m0dm005000c.html)
Mainichi
Kabukicho -- Japan's biggest, brashest, raunchiest entertainment district -- suffered a slow, boring entrance to 2008, with one notable exception: love hotels, Shukan Shincho (1/17) says.

"It's really sad," a Kabukicho restaurant employee tells Shukan Shincho. "There wasn't a soul around on New Year's Day. About the only places in Kabukicho that attracted anyone over the New Year holidays were game centers and pachinko parlors."

Rumors have recently sprung up that Japan's once-spurting "ejaculation industry" is well and truly on the wane....more (http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20080114p2g00m0dm005000c.html)...
The part about Kabukicho being empty on New Year's is accurate. Lots of places seemed to be shutting around 3 or 4 a.m.

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Kabukicho's pink businesses complain new hotel brings up the tone (http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20080328p2g00m0dm012000c.html)
In what could be a bit of a turn for the books, operators of adult businesses in Tokyo's Kabukicho district may soon be moaning about a new hotel "spoiling" the neighborhood, judging by Shukan Shincho. Though it's common for love hotel operators in particular to face fierce resistance from local residents whenever they build anew somewhere, the shoe is now on the other foot as a respectable establishment sets up in the center of what remains a netherworld. On March 23, the Best Western Shinjuku Astina Hotel Tokyo opened in Kabukicho, giving the famous U.S. Best Western hotel chain its first establishment in Tokyo, though it does already have hotels in Kochi and Nagasaki. "(Best Western) has a history extending over 60 years, but compared to companies like The Peninsula or Conrad, awareness of the brand in Japan is not strong," an economic beat journalist tells Shukan Shincho. "It's not a luxury hotel, but by no means is it lower grade, either. It's a chain firmly in the middle range."

Nonetheless, the foreign-funded hotel aims to serve as an oasis in the busy heart of the capital city. With most of its 206 rooms costing in the vicinity of 25,000 yen a night, the hotel is expected to provide an air of sophistication to a Kabukicho still being targeted by a clean-up campaign. Expectations are certainly high among some Kabukicho proprietors. "Some people complained that the sudden appearance of such a tall building has ruined their TV reception. But times have been tough recently in Kabukicho and we're hoping the hotel will give us a bit of a spark," a Kabukicho restaurateur tells Shukan Shincho. Insiders from the adult businesses that have built up the entertainment industry aren't quite as upbeat. "The hotel is surrounded by cabaret clubs, nightclubs and karaoke joints. Right behind it is the Golden Gai and the love hotel district lies right before your eyes," a Kabukicho adult business source says. "I'm sure the refined lobby and its cafes will be used for all sorts of meetings or places to have interviews for nightclub hostessing jobs. But I wonder whether the call girls will be able to use it..."

Best Western officials, however, send an ominous warning to those involved in Kabukicho's flesh trade. "We weren't aiming for Kabukicho in particular, but the redevelopment of the eastern part of Shinjuku, in a broader sense, met our needs. We would like to see businessmen and women use our hotel," a hotel spokesman tells Shukan Shincho. "We have consulted with the Shinjuku Municipal Government about adult businesses and we'll work together to keep them under control."

[Kuang_Grade]

Interesting, they appear to charge 500 to 1000 yen more for smoking rooms than non smoking rooms. I'm surprised it is not the other way around.

[Captain Japan]

This might not have been Kabukicho but the message will certainly be felt there...
Cabaret club worker arrested for soliciting under revised ordinance (http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080401p2a00m0na022000c.html)
Mainichi
A university student who tried to get a woman to become a cabaret club worker has been arrested, Metropolitan Police Department officials said.

Takeshi Sato, 22, was arrested for violating a Tokyo metropolitan ordinance banning people from creating a public nuisance. A revision to the metropolitan ordinance that established penalties for soliciting by cabaret clubs came into effect on Tuesday. It was the first time that police applied the revision to make an arrest.

Trouble over soliciting by cabaret clubs had repeatedly arisen in entertainment districts in Tokyo and drawn complaints, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly revised its ordinance last year.
This must have happened after midnight last night.

[Iraira]

This might not have been Kabukicho but the message will certainly be felt there...
Cabaret club worker arrested for soliciting under revised ordinance (http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080401p2a00m0na022000c.html)
Mainichi

This must have happened after midnight last night.

Ok, amateur lawyers, could this law be used in an ordinary nanpa situation? Technically, I am soliciting the female, under the guise of a nice safe cup of coffee. But, we all know what's lurking in both my heads.

[Visitor K]

But, we all know what's lurking in both my heads.

syphilis?
sorry, couldnt resist!

it sure would suck getting nabbed by the cops trying to pick up a girl in kabukicho. i remember one night after a few rounds i helped one of the karaoke box dudes pass out fliers on the street.. it only took a few minutes of walking up to girls and passing them a flier and asking if they wanted to go to karaoke before getting invited out for a drink.

[Iraira]

syphilis?
sorry, couldnt resist!


How am I gonna contract syphilis on both heads? That'd have to be one lossey-goosey chick for me to stuff my noggin' up there...however, it could be like a cosmic trip back home, "Man, I grew up in a place just like this."

[Adhesive]

syphilis?


:rofl:

[Visitor K]

How am I gonna contract syphilis on both heads?

if you are gonna be running around the streets of kabukicho, you need to do you STD homework.. the late stages of syphilis actually effect your central nervous system, and can even progress into neurosyphilis and cause dementia as well as other CNS problems.. keep it covered!

[Greji]

if you are gonna be running around the streets of kabukicho, you need to do you STD homework.. the late stages of syphilis actually effect your central nervous system, and can even progress into neurosyphilis and cause dementia as well as other CNS problems.. keep it covered!

Don't worry K, Ira et al has got some bugs that would eat the syphillis infection for lunch....He used to go with Noriko....
:cool:

[Visitor K]

He used to go with Noriko....

i used to run around with her too, how do you think i know so much about syphilis, FUCKING WHORE!!

[Mulboyne]

...And speaking of cleaning up Shinjuku, what's the status of the investigation of that fire that happened there...?

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/images/vbimghost/97945373e8cbd2fc.gif

Asahi: Five found guilty of negligence for Kabukicho fire that killed 44 (http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200807020211.html)
Operators of a multi-tenant building in Tokyo's Kabukicho nightlife district were convicted Wednesday of professional negligence resulting in death and bodily injury over a deliberately set fire that killed 44 people in September 2001. But the Tokyo District Court handed down suspended sentences, saying the defendants could not have anticipated such a large blaze. The building's de facto owner, Shigeo Segawa, 66, and four others, including tenants, received two- to three-year prison terms, suspended for four to five years, for failing to take proper fire-prevention measures. Another defendant, a 44-year-old man, was acquitted because he was only in an advisory position to one of the tenants, the court ruled. The fire, believed to have been set near an elevator on the third floor, killed 44 customers and workers of establishments in the building, including a hostess bar and a mah-jongg parlor. They were trapped in the building during the blaze, and most of them died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The suspected arsonist, responsible for Japan's fifth deadliest blaze since World War II, has not been caught.

During the trial, the six defendants pleaded innocent, saying they were not in a position to give instructions on fire-prevention management. However, Presiding Judge Masanori Hatoko ruled that the five shouldered grave responsibility for "one of the worst fire cases in history" by "placing the sole priority on the pursuit of profits while neglecting fire-prevention efforts." Segawa and the four others were responsible for keeping stairways and entrances unobstructed while ensuring that fire doors and other equipment were in working condition, the judge said. "But the fire alarms and fire-prevention equipment contained various defects, leaving the building in a dangerous condition," the judge ruled. For example, a fire door could not be closed because it was blocked by an object, Hatoko said. If the defendants had fulfilled their responsibilities, no one would have died, the judge said.

In addition, the court said the defendants should have known about the risks of an arson attack because a suspicious fire had been reported near the same elevator entrance before the September 2001 disaster. But the judge did not send the defendants to prison, saying it was difficult for them to have anticipated the large scale of the fire. He also said the court took into account that the company that owns the building has paid a total of 1.01 billion yen ($9.5 million) in consolation money to victims and bereaved families.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Kabukicho fire safety still poor, inspectors say (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080703TDY02308.htm)
Despite a 2001 fire in Tokyo's Kabukicho nightlife district that killed 44 people, tenant managers in the area are in many cases still ignorant of proper fire safety measures, a fire service survey shows. A focus of the trial at the Tokyo District Court, which followed the fire at the Myojo 56 Building, was whether a local fire station's instructions to remove items impeding access in stairways and other places--issued two years before the fire, but ignored--should be considered adequate. Following the fire, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency revised the fire protection law in 2002, strengthening its oversight of tenant managers by allowing fire stations to issue an order to remove goods during their inspections. As a result, noncompliance at multi-tenant small buildings with only one stairway dropped, with the rate in Kabukicho falling to 10 percent in November 2007 from 31 percent in February 2004. However, when the local Shinjuku Fire Station conducted a no-notice inspection in the district Tuesday, they found a large number of flammable items had been left in stairways and that firedoors could not be closed--a similar situation to the Myojo 56 Building. The managers of the inspected buildings removed the goods when told to do so by inspectors, but some reportedly had put the goods back within an hour. One fire station official told The Yomiuri Shimbun there were many tenants whose fire-prevention awareness remained insufficient. "We should persevere in giving them instructions," the official said.

[Mulboyne]

Another tourist/business hotel has opened in Kabukicho. The E-Hotel (http://www.ehotel.co.jp/hotels/e-shinjuku/english.php) is located above the newly opened Higashi Shinjuku station on the Fukutoshin line. Single rooms are pitched at 10,000 yen while a twin is 16,000 but they are on offer at 7,500 and 10,000 yen respectively for the rest of August.

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