Tag - shinjuku

 
 

SHINJUKU

Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district. Masayuki Makino, a representative of a volunteer group that operated in Kabukicho, is suspected of committing indecent acts against a 17-year-old girl at a hotel in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, on Oct. 15, 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 14, 2025
Tokyo volunteer group's former rep held over indecent acts against teen
Masayuki Makino, who was part of a volunteer group that operated in the Kabukicho entertainment district, allegedly committed the acts against a 17-year-old girl.
English-language signs and other materials seized from men’s aesthetic salon Sparaku by the Metropolitan Police Department on Tuesday in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2025
Tokyo police arrest brothel operator catering to foreign tourists
About 60% of the brothel's customers were non-Japanese, drawn in by promotions on its English website, introduction videos and street touts.
The Hyatt Regency hotel in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2025
KKR and Gaw look to sell Tokyo Hyatt Regency for over ¥100 billion
The two investment firms bought the hotel in the Shinjuku area for an estimated ¥60 billion less than two years ago.
Looking for LGBTQ+ events this holiday season? Tokyo is chockful of a variety of ways to spread cheer in the way that suits you best.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 20, 2024
Make the Yuletide gay: Tokyo’s LGBTQ+ Christmas events
Drag shows and lip-sync karaoke may not be traditional holiday get-togethers, but they deck the halls just the same.
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 19, 2024
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
After the daughter visited a Kabukicho host club for the first time five years ago, the outing spiraled into something much darker.
A woman is arrested for soliciting prostitution near Okubo Park in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in October.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024
88 arrested for soliciting prostitution near Tokyo park so far this year
The arrests reflect ongoing challenges in curbing illegal activities in Shinjuku's Okubo Park area, which has been dubbed a “prostitution haven” on social media.
Prosecutors said Tamotsu Shiiki, 58, had sex with a 12-year-old girl at a karaoke parlor on Aug. 20 after he approached her on the streets, well aware that she was underage.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024
Former Nippon Ishin lawmaker pleads guilty to statutory rape
The lawmaker had approached her on the streets of the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Aug. 20 and was aware she was underage.
Daisuke Tanaka's profile photo on his Instagram account
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2024
Host arrested on suspicion of coercing client into prostitution
A host club employee in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district was arrested for allegedly attempting to force a female client into prostitution.
Suzumi Suzuki’s “Gifted,” translated by Allison Markin Powell, centers on a hostess working in Kabukicho. Rather than focusing on the protagonist’s occupation, the story plunges the reader into her strained relationship with her dying mother.  
CULTURE / Books
Nov 3, 2024
A nuanced glimpse into the cloistered world of Kabukicho
Drawing on her own experience working in adult entertainment, Suzumi Suzuki crafts a fresh, visceral work for her debut novel, "Gifted"
Police officers control traffic in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2024
Fewer Halloween revelers seen in Tokyo following street drinking ban
Measures taken that include the street drinking ban to prevent problems are "beginning to produce results," Shibuya's mayor said.
People opposing tree cutting around Meiji Jingu Gaien stage a rally in the area on Monday.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2024
Tree-cutting begins in Meiji Jingu Gaien redevelopment project
Under a revised plan, 619 trees will be cut down, fewer than the 743 under the former plan.
Posters for candidates in the Tokyo No. 1 district on Wednesday in Tokyo
JAPAN / Media
Oct 23, 2024
In the heart of Tokyo, LDP and CDP rivals duke it out as election day nears
While the ruling and main opposition candidates are the clear front-runners, a third-party challenger is also hoping to wrestle his way in.
New and strengthened rules aim to make street drinking a thing of the past in Shibuya's nightlife center — but the reality may not be that simple.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Oct 21, 2024
Can you drink in Shibuya and Shinjuku this Halloween? It depends.
Shibuya and Shinjuku are both planning on cracking down on street drinking this Halloween and beyond. But the problem might be bigger than a night of drunken revelry.
Shinjuku Mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi (left) and Shibuya Mayor Ken Hasebe at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday
JAPAN / Society
Oct 7, 2024
Tokyo mayors ask people to follow rules during Halloween
Shibuya and Shinjuku wards have each set an ordinance to prohibit drinking on the streets.
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 6, 2024
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
A weak yen, robust inbound tourism and social media have shone a spotlight on a park in Tokyo where men gather in search of sex.
Tamotsu Shiiki, 58, is accused of sexually assaulting a first-year junior high school girl at a karaoke parlor in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district on Aug. 20. He has denied the charge.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2024
Ex-lawmaker held over alleged sexual assault in Tokyo karaoke parlor
Tamotsu Shiiki, a former Lower House lawmaker of Nippon Ishin no Kai, denies sexually assaulting the first-year junior high school girl.
Redevelopment of the Meiji Jingu Gaien district has trees in the area marked according to their status — trees marked in red were to be cut down in the original plan while those in blue were to be transplanted. In the updated plan, trees marked in red will no longer be felled, and those in blue will remain where they are.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 9, 2024
Updated Meiji Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan to keep more trees
Fewer trees will be felled and more new ones planted, while construction will also take place further away from the park's iconic ginkgo trees.
Yoshifumi Matsumura (second from right), head of the National Public Safety Commission, inspects Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district in June.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 5, 2024
Tokyo host bar worker arrested over kickbacks for brokering prostitution
It is the first time a worker at a host bar has been arrested over receiving kickbacks for brokering prostitution.
One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 22, 2024
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’
Homeless influencers, fantasy boyfriends and bubble-era bars — Kabukicho seems to have it all.
Everyone should relax as Japan’s capital, Tokyo, isn’t ripping out thousands of trees to redevelop the famed Jingu Gaien park. Quite the opposite is planned.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 12, 2024
Tokyo's Jingu Gaien is at the center of an urban debate amid a redevelopment rift
Concerns about plans for Tokyo's Jingu Gaien may be exaggerated, as key trees will be preserved and more green space will be created post-development.

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
The race to save 20th-century history