There are a lot of people who have asked me, “Is Kabukicho safe?”, “Is it OK for me to walk around the area?”, “Is it safe, I hear it’s full of yakuza?”, “I heard stories about that place!”, etc.
First, let’s establish this. Kabukicho is an entertainment, red-light district in Shinjuku ward in Tokyo. It’s a live, entertaining place to be! You can go there for restaurants, bars, live entertainment. But with that being said…
It’s where a lot of host and hostess clubs, love hotels and night clubs are located.
It is also famous for Golden Gai, where many famous small bars are located.
For the most part, I go to Kabuki-cho, may it be for the Robot Restaurant, the vegetarian restaurant ain.soph Ripple and there is a lot of entertainment and restaurants in the area. Especially late night eating/drinking with friends at the Izakaya.
So, let’s take things on one-by-one!
- Should I get a hotel at Kabukicho if I am vacationing in Japan?
This is subjective, but for me, I wouldn’t. I know some people may find the appeal to stay at the Godzilla hotel or Shinjuku because they hear its a lively area.
For the most part, Kabukicho is lively, but at night, it gets a bit sketchy. You’ll see people who will try to get you into their bar or shop and some are quite aggressive. While the best thing to do is walk straight and pay no mind, there are people who want to be cool, who want to have a good time and pay for a hostess and realize they bought several hundred dollars (Y10,000+) or over a thousand dollars (Y100,000) worth of alcohol.
There are way too many stories of people getting suckered in, drinking to much and passing out and when they wake up, finding out a lot of money has been charged on their credit card.
The U.S. Embassy has even warned about this:
“We remind U.S. citizens to exercise caution and maintain security awareness in entertainment districts like Roppongi and Shinjuku’s Kabukicho, as drink-spiking incidents over the years have routinely led to robbery and occasionally resulted in physical and sexual assaults,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement in 2014. “In most drink-spiking reports, the victim unknowingly drinks a beverage that has been mixed with a drug, rendering the victim unconscious or dazed for several hours, during which time the victim’s credit card is stolen or used for large purchases. Some victims regain consciousness in the bar or club; other victims may awaken on the street or in other unknown locations.”
And there’s more!
“As reported in the crime section of our Country Specific Information for Japan, the Embassy continues to receive reports of drink spiking incidents in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, particularly near the Roppongi Crossing area.
We remind U.S. citizens to exercise caution and maintain security awareness in entertainment districts like Roppongi and Shinjuku’s Kabuki-cho, as drink spiking incidents over the years have routinely led to robbery and occasionally resulted in physical and sexual assaults. In most drink-spiking reports, the victim unknowingly drinks a beverage that has been mixed with a drug, rendering the victim unconscious or dazed for several hours, during which time the victim’s credit card is stolen or used for large purchases. Some victims regain consciousness in the bar or club; other victims may awaken on the street or in other unknown locations.
U.S. citizens have also reported being charged exorbitant bar tabs in some bars and clubs in Roppongi, Kabuki-cho, and other entertainment and nightlife districts. Although firearms and brandishing knives in public are illegal in Japan, U.S. citizens have reported being threatened with gun or knife violence in such venues to pay bar tabs or withdraw money. U.S. citizens have also reported being beaten when they have refused to pay or hand over money.”
You can read more here!
- Is it true that some places at Golden Gai will not serve foreigners? And that I will be charged for something I didn’t order?
The first question, yes, there are some bars in Golden Gai that won’t accept foreigners, they won’t accept Japanese as well. Some will ask for a Y1000 cover charge.
Here’s a thing…a lot of the bars, they have employees who can speak English. But there are bars that don’t and prefer to keep their interaction with foreigners to zilch. But there are signs to let you know if “No English speakers” or “Japanese speaking only”. Some may have signs of “members only”.
As much as some people hope that Tokyo is an English speaking country, while you will meet English-speaking Japanese, that’s the minority, not the majority. So, don’t be upset if you aren’t allowed to go to a certain bar. They just can’t communicate with you and some just want a chill place, with not much talking. Less chatter, more drinking.
Which leads to the second question, Golden Gai has a membership style of how business is ran. You must know the concept of “otoshi”.
Let’s say you receive a dish (sort of how we look at appetizers in the US), but in Japan, otoshi means you are served it and even though you didn’t order it, you will be charged for it.
May it be “nimono” (meat/vegetables), pickled tsukemono or kimchi, or even a potato salad or regular salad.
By law, you can refuse it and you’ll want to do it once you are seated but too many people don’t know this and they get really upset when they are charged a fee for food they didn’t eat or not like. Refusing it and causing a ruckus is looked at as bad, but at least it doesn’t cost a lot of money.
I think about it as, since you don’t pay a tip in Japan, use that money to pay for otoshi.
- Are host/hostess clubs prostitutes?
No. Their job is to make you have a relaxed and good time at the bar, make you drink a lot, pay for their drinks and make you feel special. There are guys who will pay a lot of money just for that attention. Some going so far to shower these host/hostesses with gifts.
And just because they drink and flirt with you, does not mean they want to have sex with you. They also like big spenders and those big spenders have favorites, and those favorite host/hostesses become rich. So, the media reports of these popular host/hostesses have led some guys and women to seek this profession.
- I play the video game “Ryu ga Gotoku” (Yakuza). Is Kabukicho really like what they show in the video game?
A lot of the places featured on “Ryu ga Gotoku” (Yakuza) is modeled after Kabukicho. But are there a group of guys standing around that want to kick your ass? No. But are there are a lot of guys who will stare you down? Yes. Are there women and men trying to get you to go inside their establishment? Yes. Are there yakuza walking around? Yes.
- I’m planning to visit “Robot Restaurant” in the evening, is it safe?
Yes. But at night, you may see some of that shadiness of non-Japanese trying to get you into their establishment. If you are not interested, keep walking by and keep cool. Guys, don’t mad dog or give someone a look that you want to fight.
- I went to Hanazono-jinja Shrine and went to Golden Gai but the place looks beat up. Am I in the right area?
The Hanazono-jinja Shrine looks nice, but yes, a few places in Golden Gai looks very old and beatup from the outside but not all establishments are like that. In fact, there are about 280 establishments in the area.
Because it’s a private area, not public, the city doesn’t maintain it. Shinjuku Sanko Shopping Street Promotion Association is a corporate organization established in 1969 and after the war, the city was built by people and handed down to the present ownership without redevelopment.
It costs a lot of money for redevelopment and with the area being private, Golden Gai does thrive on tourism. And there are people who have nothing but love for Golden Gai.
- Is it true no photography or video is allowed in Golden Gai?
Yes. Golden Gai is a private road. The Shinjuku Sanko Shopping Street Promotion Association requires one must wear a wristband with a license number to be issued for photography. But inside the store, ask the store owner or sales clerk.
- Is Golden Gai and areas like Robot Restaurant or Samurai Restaurant close to each other?
Yeah, it’s a three minute walk but both areas are quite different from each other. One caters to host/hostesses and live entertainment, the other is bars/izakaya (which is an informal bar that serves alcohol and snacks).
