09-07-2002, 05:09 PM
Ginza's glitz turning to tack
By MARK SCHREIBER
Shukan Jitsuwa (Sept. 12)
"I've been earning my livelihood in Ginza for 20 years now," sighs the operator of a nightspot in Tokyo's most famous watering district. "But things have never been as bad as they are now. Even the big clubs are vanishing. Some are changing their ownership, but to see so many going under, one by one . . ."
Over the past year or so, it seems some of the biggest, most glamorous hostess clubs in the district -- with names like "Alpha Queen," "Credor" and "Rob Roy" -- have shut their doors for good. And as the clubs fail, those who worked there have been forced to seek greener pastures elsewhere. Some of the jobless are even said to have turned to religion and joined new cults.
While the prolonged recession has definitely contributed to the clubs' demise, Shukan Jitsuwa finds other deep-rooted factors at work.
"The regulars have aged and retired from their jobs, and we haven't been able to replace them with younger ones," the nightspot operator continues. "The old corporate culture, where bosses would reward promising subordinates with a night on the town, is dying out. Clubs managed to stay in business a while longer, but they're finally running out of tricks. Now they're fighting over the shrinking pie, and the air of desperation is turning off customers. It's a vicious cycle."
Ginza, long the place to be, where the fat cats of the nation's business and industry wined and dined the bureaucrats, is rapidly losing its aura of refinement.
In place of the elegant club Credor is now a kabakura, a cheap cabaret club where customers on a shoestring budget pay by the hour to drool over scantily clad young hostesses. And similar tacky places are sprouting up all along tree-lined Namiki-dori. Sheesh, mutters Shukan Jitsuwa, if you didn't know better, you'd think you were in a raunchy, low-class district like Kabukicho and not the famous Ginza.
At a dizzying pace, Ginza is fast becoming just another place to grab a nibble and toss down a few drinks. One after another, its elegant boutiques and stores with pricey brand goods are falling vacant, being replaced by Matsumoto Kiyoshi discount drugstores and Uniqlo shops.
Even Budoya, a cultural mecca once patronized by the likes of Nobel Prizewinner Yasunari Kawabata and popular novelist Yasushi Inoue, closed its doors for good July 26. These days, you're more likely to see people dining at shops like Yoshinoya, the purveyor of 290 yen bowls of beef plopped over rice.
Can Ginza swallow its pride and keep up with the changing times?
"I think Ginza has been a bit too aloof, and for that reason hasn't made enough efforts to attract new customers," explains a journalist who covers the area. "But it's still relatively free of bad eggs and has no sex shops. So compared with Kabukicho or Shibuya, it still appeals as a safe place to go. A huge urban redevelopment project is underway in nearby Shiodome, which will add 50,000 office workers and residents to the district.
"Once it's complete, I think new customers will help spur a rebirth."
The Japan Times: Sept. 8, 2002
(C) All rights reserved
By MARK SCHREIBER
Shukan Jitsuwa (Sept. 12)
"I've been earning my livelihood in Ginza for 20 years now," sighs the operator of a nightspot in Tokyo's most famous watering district. "But things have never been as bad as they are now. Even the big clubs are vanishing. Some are changing their ownership, but to see so many going under, one by one . . ."
Over the past year or so, it seems some of the biggest, most glamorous hostess clubs in the district -- with names like "Alpha Queen," "Credor" and "Rob Roy" -- have shut their doors for good. And as the clubs fail, those who worked there have been forced to seek greener pastures elsewhere. Some of the jobless are even said to have turned to religion and joined new cults.
While the prolonged recession has definitely contributed to the clubs' demise, Shukan Jitsuwa finds other deep-rooted factors at work.
"The regulars have aged and retired from their jobs, and we haven't been able to replace them with younger ones," the nightspot operator continues. "The old corporate culture, where bosses would reward promising subordinates with a night on the town, is dying out. Clubs managed to stay in business a while longer, but they're finally running out of tricks. Now they're fighting over the shrinking pie, and the air of desperation is turning off customers. It's a vicious cycle."
Ginza, long the place to be, where the fat cats of the nation's business and industry wined and dined the bureaucrats, is rapidly losing its aura of refinement.
In place of the elegant club Credor is now a kabakura, a cheap cabaret club where customers on a shoestring budget pay by the hour to drool over scantily clad young hostesses. And similar tacky places are sprouting up all along tree-lined Namiki-dori. Sheesh, mutters Shukan Jitsuwa, if you didn't know better, you'd think you were in a raunchy, low-class district like Kabukicho and not the famous Ginza.
At a dizzying pace, Ginza is fast becoming just another place to grab a nibble and toss down a few drinks. One after another, its elegant boutiques and stores with pricey brand goods are falling vacant, being replaced by Matsumoto Kiyoshi discount drugstores and Uniqlo shops.
Even Budoya, a cultural mecca once patronized by the likes of Nobel Prizewinner Yasunari Kawabata and popular novelist Yasushi Inoue, closed its doors for good July 26. These days, you're more likely to see people dining at shops like Yoshinoya, the purveyor of 290 yen bowls of beef plopped over rice.
Can Ginza swallow its pride and keep up with the changing times?
"I think Ginza has been a bit too aloof, and for that reason hasn't made enough efforts to attract new customers," explains a journalist who covers the area. "But it's still relatively free of bad eggs and has no sex shops. So compared with Kabukicho or Shibuya, it still appeals as a safe place to go. A huge urban redevelopment project is underway in nearby Shiodome, which will add 50,000 office workers and residents to the district.
"Once it's complete, I think new customers will help spur a rebirth."
The Japan Times: Sept. 8, 2002
(C) All rights reserved