Don't let the name fool you. Shinjuku's Kabuki-cho ("Kabuki District") has very little to do with the renowned classical Kabuki of the Japanese stage. Instead, it is a sleepless town, a wild underworld, and the perfect backdrop for the bizarre, unforgettable opening scenes of Dead or Alive (Dic. By Miike Takashi).

DOA's "cops- versus- Chinese- mafia- versus- Japanese- yakuza" conflict explodes in a place steeped in struggle, battles, and chaos, charged with the atmosphere of men's desire. About sixty years ago, the area intended to lure people away from the Ginza district (then Tokyo's preeminent entertainment ward) by trying to become a boomtown for the Kabuki stage. The plan was never realized, but the high-class Kabuki name stuck.

After World War II, Chinese tycoons bought up real estate in the Kabuki-cho area and rebuilt the town as an entertainment hub. After the misery of war, people were starved for a good time. And Kabuki-cho offered a wild world for its clients and big profits for its owners; however, the Japanese yakuza were weakened by new regulations and anti-violence laws. This only made the Chinese underworld even stronger in Shinjuku.

On Aug. 10th, 1994, the Seiryutou ("Chinese sword") Incident plunged the nation into deep fear. And it also made Japanese society acknowledge the existence of Chinese gangs. Chinese gang members brutally stabbed to death the owner, workers, and customers at a Chinese restaurant called Kaikatsurin (restaurant on the first floor, prostitutes upstairs) which was located around the Furin Kaikan,* a tycoon-owned entertainment complex.

Chinese gangs and the yakuza still co-exist around the Furin Kaikan area, and this location can boast the reputation of being the "most dangerous" place in all of Tokyo.

A mysterious hunger seems to surround Kabuki-cho. Towards the north, many foreigners reside, and there are also many small pubs (izakaya) that serve up amazing food and drinks. The whole place comes alive at night with beckoning neon and busy street life.

But the main attractions of Kabuki-cho are the pleasures of the flesh. There you can find every sort of sex industry (fuzoku) represented in force: "soap lands," "image clubs," strip shows, "health" massage, peepshows, you name it, from old-fashioned street prostitutes to state-of-the-art telephone clubs.

Kabuki-cho is a town that exists outside the law, and this is the main reason why so many filmmakers from Takashi Miike to the creators of the Takeshi Kaenshiro vehicle Sleepless Town can't help but make movies about it. 

-J. Tack