TTokyo

Kabukicho’s streets turn perilous in ‘Tokyo Strayers’

  • March 25, 2026


Once notorious as Tokyo’s sketchiest red-light district — and a frequent setting for yakuza movies — Kabukicho has now become a somewhat gentrified lure for hordes of foreign tourists.

But as Ren Akiba’s youth drama “Tokyo Strayers” demonstrates with hyperkinetic energy and stylish realism, its streets are still wild and dangerous for the runaway kids who drift into Toyoko, the plaza next to the Toho cinema complex where the giant statue of Godzilla dwells.

by biwook

8 comments

  1. lol, I remember some recent YouTuber vid on this sub talk about how dangerous kabukicho is. And then he had to “escort” a random tourist to safety. Some main character energy.

  3. Kabukicho used to be a fun place to work and party. 

    Unfortunately it’s been sliding into a tourist dump the last decade. I really felt the vibe significantly change when they redeveloped it just before the Olympics. Golden Gai is so shite now too. 

    Miss the old Kabukicho and all the great times we had there before the Toho Cinema, before 7G got moved, before everything was aimed at tourists and “cleaned up”.  

    Now you see tourists with strollers and kids walking around at night. 

  4. I’ve been two times and didn’t feel comfortable with all the people stopping me and asking me if i wanted sex and that i could do whatever i wanted to them.

    One guy in a tracksuit stopped me and was really aggressive. Only time that happened to me in Tokyo.

  5. Saw it for the opening weekend with the actors and the (very young but quite talented) director on stage.

    It may be “hyperkinetic” and shot like a documentary, but it is very, very bleak in its core. It should be a must-watch for all those visitors that only see the shining lights and neons, -this- is the kind of shit that happens there.

    There are a couple heartwrenching and disturbing scenes, all the more frightening that the actors are obviously older than the characters they depict. Thinking that kids go through this shit…

    To sum it up, two runaway minor girls running to escape from a child prostitution ring, but this is the “lighthearted” part.

  8. Went to Golden Gai after about 15 years and holy shit is it unrecognizable now. So so so so so many euro tourists. Like 99% Europeans. Walked about 3 minutes and just left.

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