Introduction
In the heart of Kabukicho, 4 minutes from Shinjuku Station lies the 東横広場 (Toyoko hiroba), a small, bare public space surrounded by clubs, izakayas, convenience stores, a game center and hotels. Officially known as シネシティ広場 (CineCity Hiroba), the space is used as a place to hold events, selling goods or any other use that follows the guidelines provided. However, events occur only once or twice a year, leaving the hiroba open and empty. Who uses this space when such events do not occur?
Toyoko kids, an urban youth subgroup, is a group of young kids, who dwell in the Toyoko hiroba. Their age ranges from pre-teens to early 20s, and often dress in a Jirai-kei fashion style. Many of them are socially ridiculed at school, or family issues at home, leading them to find a new community in the Toyoko hiroba. In most public settings, individuals take actions to protect their own self-esteem or identity, resulting in less interactions between strangers. However,
“there are situations in which people can begin to dissolve the strangeness between them” (Karp et al., 2015).
In certain urban settings, the strangeness of interactions between individuals meeting for the first time becomes less prevalent, breaking down the initial barrier of wanting to protect self-esteem or identity. The community of Toyoko kids is an example of a community that has broken down this wall of strangeness, and built a community off the similarities they share. These similarities vary from having a similar background to wanting a sense of community.
However, the representation in the media, which shapes the opinions of the general public, has led to being marginalized from the rest of the Kabukicho community as well as the greater community of Tokyo. This website will cover media representation of Toyoko kids, how they use the space, how they interact with each other and the outside community, and their relationship with security guards.
Website of CineCity Hiroba (in Japanese)
Methodology
Research was conducted through a series of visits to the hiroba over the course of two months. Visits were made between June 9th 2022 to July 12th 2022, within the hours of 7:30 to 9:30 pm.
We have also crowdsourced the media to understand and analyze popular media representations.