Kabukicho, Shinjuku

 

Kabukicho is Tokyo's best known red light district, though by no means exclusively that. There is no kabuki here, at least not the traditional kind, and evidently the name is residue from a time when the government considered rebuilding the kabuki-za in this area before eventually deciding to keep it in Ginza. Kabukicho has good cinemas and theaters, however, as well as restaurants and bars, in addition to its seedier entertainments. The kaleidoscope of neon, for starters, unbalances.