streets are famous for their x-rated establishments and "pink" cabaret (in Japan "pink" is the symbolic x-rated color). This is where you're most likely to spot yakuza types—the Japanese mafia who are easily recognized by their gangster-style dress, their squared-off crew cuts or short perms, and the notable absence of fingers.
Goruden-gai, another famous neighborhood now threatened by the forces of redevelopment, is a street full of quirky, tiny closet-sized bars and is one of the few parts of town where a little caution is advised. Shombenyokocho, near the train tracks on the west side of the station, is yet another drinking area. Full of cheap nomiya, the name literally translates as "piss alley." Ni-chome is the gay bar district.
The Nishi-guchi (west-side) of Shinjuku claims more skyscrapers than any other part of Tokyo. Built on land that was formerly a water and sewage treatment plant, the area is properly antiseptic. The oldest building dates from 1971. In 1991 after years of planning, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government opened its new city hall. The controversial, almost gothic architecture of this huge Tange Kenzo-designed building has become Shinjuku's proud new landmark and a rather thought-provoking symbol of 1980's Japan.
Ikebukuro
Ikebukuro is basically a less interesting version of Shinjuku. A commuter's town, the district lacks specific character. The major attractions are the sprawling Seibu Department Store (at one time the largest in the world) and the sixty-story Sunshine City complex.
Until the Meiji period the district was one of farm and forest lands, famous as a spot for viewing the summer fireflies. A small bag-shaped pond in the area gave the district its name-Ikebukuro means literally "pond bag." A train station was built in 1903 and served, at the time, about thirty passengers a day. Now it's second only to Shinjuku.
In the thirties, Ikebukuro was a haunt of artists and writers, and the area was dubbed, in all seriousness, "Ikebukuro Montparnasse." The district later became the site of Tokyo Prison. After World War II, the prison was renamed Sugamo by the Occupation Authorities and was used to hold Japanese war criminals. Seven men, including Field Marshal Tojo Hideki, were hung in the prison. In 1958 the name was changed back to Tokyo Prison, but the building was torn down in 1972 to build a new cultural center for the area. The Sunshine City Building now stands on the site.
The west side of Ikebukuro Station is similar in flavor to Shinjuku's Kabukicho. Here and behind the Bungei-za Theater on the east side are two "dangerous" areas with the reputation for being the scene of an occasional gun battle between rival yakuza gangs.
Until recently the area was known for its inexpensive accommodations and was favored by students but now is home for huge numbers of predominantly Asian resident foreigners.
Akasaka-Nagatacho
The side streets in Akasaka are lined with Japanese-style buildings of a uniform sand color, with discreet signs giving the name of the restaurant. These are not places that the ordinary foreigner can enter, nor the ordinary Japanese for that matter. Most of these ryotei restaurants require an introduction. In the evening geisha are called, and over bottles of saké (rice wine) and meals in the best Japanese tradition, politicians, and big business types cement those bonds of friendship so important in the greater world of economic and governmental affairs. On a back street hill nearby is a row of empty rickshaw. In the mid-Meiji period there were over fifty thousand in the city, but the rickshaw are now used only by geisha on their way to a party.
Yet the discreet ryotei seem somehow anomalous in an area now dominated by the glitz and glamour of the entertainment scene centered around the hundreds of tiny restaurants, noisy nomiya, hostess bars, cabarets, and TBS Television, which since 1960 has ensured a steady flow of TV personalities and their fans into the neighborhood.
Hotels give the district an added international dimension. The major ones are the New Otani, the Akasaka Prince, the Akasaka Tokyu (otherwise known as the "Pajama Hilton" for its pink and white striped exterior), the Capitol Tokyu, and the remains of the ill-fated New Japan Hotel, which burned up along with a number of tourists in a fire that led to a wave of new safety regulations for hotels.
Top level Edo period daimyo had lived in the area during the Tokugawa reign. The neighboring Hie Jinja shrine was one of the big three shrines of the time. In the early Meiji period, the daimyo moved away and the government confiscated the lands, turning them to agricultural uses. Akasaka became a hill of tea bushes and akane, plants that produced a red dye, giving the district the name which translates to "red slope." The military moved in later, while the Nagatacho area north of Akasaka became the center of Meiji period state government. The reputation of the "Akasaka ryotei," and their tradition of serving power and politics, dates from this time. The "Akasaka geisha," the lowest class of geisha during the Edo period, were upgraded to entertain the important clientele and are still considered some of the city's best.
Ginza
Ginza used to be synonymous with the glamour of big city life in Tokyo. Elegant, expensive, and at one time the most international part of the city, Ginza inspired a string of hit songs in the first half of the century. Best remembered are songs like "Ginza Rhapsody," or "Ginza Can-Can Girl." Even the American surf-rock band The Ventures wrote a song called "Ginza for Two" (an interesting bit of trivia—The Ventures were a big success here in the early sixties and, until recently, toured Japan every year). The name Ginza has now become another way of saying "shopping street"—there are some 450 "Ginza streets" throughout Japan and the number is still growing.
Originally little more than a swamp, Ginza was among the first areas reclaimed from the sea during the reign of Tokugawa leyasu. Overshadowed by the more prosperous Nihombashi area, Ginza grew as a town of artisans and craftsmen. In 1612 the Tokugawa silver mint was moved to the area. Gin mean silver and za means a licensed association of craftsmen; the district earned its name from the numbers of craftsmen working in the metal. When the mint was moved during the Meiji period, the name remained.
The Tokugawa (Edo) period ended with the challenge from the West and Ginza was one of the first parts of the city to feel the effects of the Meiji government's modernization program. When the area was destroyed by fire in 1872, the government hired the British architect Josiah Conder and planned a model Western-style urban center. Nearly one thousand brick buildings were constructed, tiled pavements laid, and willow trees planted. The first horse trolley in Tokyo passed through Ginza to Nihombashi and Shimbashi. The first gas lights in the city were installed, turning Ginza into a night life area. A single lamp post remains across the street from the Matsuya Department Store.
Ginza-dori in 1928. Courtesy of Shiseido Co., Ltd.
While the brick buildings created quite a stir, most remained vacant long after completion. Though fireproof in theory, the buildings were badly ventilated and believed to be hazardous to health. Still, crowds of people turned out to see the novelty, and the commercial success of Ginza dates from this time. Shopping in Ginza by day, with evening strolling by gaslight, became a fad that led to the coining of a new term ginbura meaning "wandering around in Ginza."
Another term coined in the Meiji era was haikara, or "high collar," a reference to Western-style shirts that became the Meiji era equivalent of the modern "trendy." At the time this meant "Western" and Ginza more than any other part of Tokyo was the center for all that was Western and new—men's suits, watches, meat eating, and coffee drinking.
The area was full of new ideas and entrepreneurs. The famous cosmetics company Shiseido was started in a small Ginza pharmacy in 1872 by Fukuhara Akinobu, a former pharmacist for the navy. The Seiko watch company began as a retail and repair shop opened by Hattori Kintaro. By the Taisho period all the major department stores had opened branches in the area. The Ginza Matsuzakaya was the first department store in the country that didn't require its customers to take off their shoes.
After the war Ginza was the first place to which prosperity returned. The department stores were crowded again, exclusive boutiques began to fill the back streets, and Ginza was called the "Fifth Avenue" of Tokyo. The neighborhood became a treasury of expensive Japanese restaurants and clubs catering to the businessman of the future economic miracle. Even now Ginza claims the