Tokyo Pilgrimage Tour! Kabukicho Edition
Tokyo Kabukicho (Pilgrimage Series)
From the animated film that took Korea by storm, ‘Your Name’ to its sequel, ‘Weathering with You’! Are you ready to go into the places in the movies?
The second installment of the ‘Tokyo Pilgrimage Travel Series’, introducing five places of pilgrimage to the movies by director Makoto Shinkai that we visited while traveling around Tokyo, Japan, is now starting!
Location: 2-chōme-27 Kabukichō, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0021
How to get there:
Take the Shinjuku Line to Seibu Shinjuku Station - 550 m from the North Exit of Seibu Shinjuku Station (6-minute walk)
Take the Shinjuku Station - 550 m from Exit B13 of Shinjuku Station (6-minute walk)
Pilgrimage site: Kabukicho Atami Building
Time required from major locations:
Shibuya Station -
Take the Yamanote Line to Shinjuku Station, 550 m from Exit B13 of Shinjuku Station (18 minutes total)
Tokyo Station -
Take the Marunouchi Line to Shinjuku Station, 550 m from Exit B13 of Shinjuku Station (26 minutes total)
The second location in the Shinkai Makoto Pilgrimage series that we will introduce today is This is Tokyo Kabukicho!
Kabukicho is Japan's largest entertainment district and tourist attraction located in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
When you pass through the large gate that says 'Kabukicho 1-chome' (Kabukicho 1-bangai), you will see hundreds of signs attached to the exterior walls of buildings and dozens of restaurants, game centers, and bars lined up in a row on Kabukicho 1-bangai.
However, if you go past the main street and enter the alleys, you will see why this place is nicknamed Japan's largest entertainment district. This is because you can see with your own eyes the atmosphere of the street that is somewhat different from the main street and the many adult businesses such as bars and host clubs scattered everywhere. In fact, some of the back alleys of Kabukicho are often the site of fights between yakuza and gun accidents.
Despite this appearance, Kabukicho has established itself as Tokyo's largest entertainment district and one of Tokyo's famous tourist attractions, thanks to the countless signs and neon signs that line the exterior walls of the buildings in the alleys, and the night view filled with people.
Because it is an area with two contrasting images, Kabukicho has appeared as the background for various creative works such as books and movies, and as a result, some areas of Kabukicho have gone beyond general tourist attractions and attracted many tourists as a "pilgrimage" site.
In the movie "Weathering with You," which tells the story of a runaway boy named "Hodaka" who comes to Tokyo and meets a girl with mysterious abilities named "Hina," Kabukicho appears as the place where the male protagonist Hodaka accidentally picks up a gun at the beginning of the film, and also as the background of the place where Hodaka first meets the stray cat "Ame."
As mentioned above, there are frequent shooting incidents in Kabukicho and the public safety of Kabukicho is not good, so it seems that the reason Kabukicho was chosen as the background for the incidents in the movie is obvious.
If you exit Exit B13 of Shinjuku Station, the ‘world’s busiest station’ with hundreds of exits, you will arrive at the beginning of the Kabukicho alley. Since Kabukicho has spiderweb-like alleys, I recommend that you input the address into Google Maps in advance and follow the route on Google Maps carefully before entering the alley.
If you walk for about 6 minutes, you will arrive at the Kabukicho Atami Building, which appeared as the background of the movie. You can see the same background as the neon signs in the back alleys of Tokyo in the rain in the movie, including the exterior walls of the building, the signboards, and the location of the vending machines. If you crouch down in front of the building entrance like in the movie or visit here on a rainy day, you will feel like you have entered the movie!
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