Kabukicho by day..

Kabukicho has a (well deserved) reputation for being an epicentre of vice, but by day, you can almost see a different side of the infamous Shinjuku suburb.



From the numerous hotels..







To the establishments of a more dubious nature..













To what seems like your average street scenes from a regular neighborhood, a walk around Kabukicho during the day leaves you with the realization that this place is anything but ordinary..

Trains going by..

Shinjuku station on Saturday night, there's a long train a comin..









And the rock version..

Random night shot.. 08

On some stormy nights Shinjuku takes on a kind of surreal glow, as the collective explosion of neon hits the clouds and lights up the sky. It's really something to behold..

Squadcar: これから live

Squadcar played a lot of shows in their day. The video below was taken in December 2005 at Shibuya Nest, well the main part of it was anyway.. Dan got creative and put it together with some footage of us goofing off backstage at a Shinjuku Marz show as well. It was a very memorable show, partly because we played with the awesome Mothercoat, and also because the amazingly enjoyable and impromptu backstage rehearsal party (that starts the video) was probably better than the set we played when we hit the stage.. >_<

Photo by Andrew McGovern

Kabukicho 2..

I'll put up some more pics of my trip to Shinjuku later, but for now, here's what you might see as you enter the demon's lair that is Kabukicho..

Legal pyschedelics

Legal drugs used to be found in abundance along Bunkamura dori in Shibuya or in Kabukicho (Shinjuku). You were also able to buy peyote and magic mushrooms from head shops, that is until around the time of the World cup in 2002 when they were outlawed, supposedly because of the potential dangers of a british soccer hooligans being let loose on the streets with heads full of craziness. However, you can still occasionally run into some wannabe dealers working the streets with a card table and a case full of god knows what kind of untested chemical replicates. Care to be a lab rat anyone?

These guys weren't really keen on me snapping them, and were very quick to close the case containing their wares..

Monitor

We are Monitor

Hot Mens Box

Classic shop in Kabukicho (Shinjuku): Hot Mens Box! It's actually a shop that serves as a directory for some of the seedier establishments that cater for Japanese men.

Famous people buyin bootlegs..

Airs is a bootleg shop in Nishi Shinjuku, a 'must go to' for any serious music fan. From the pics that cover the walls throughout the store you can guess that some people may even end up buying their own work!