Shinjuku’s Golden-gai: From Black Market and Red-Light District to Popular Drinking Spot

Illuminated signs draw patrons to their favorite bars.

Nao-san surveys the scene from behind the counter at Nabe-san.

The map at the entrance to Golden-gai.

A Golden-gai street viewed from a second-floor establishment. Until the law banning prostitution was enacted in 1958, the upper floors were used for assignations between prostitutes and their customers.

Sanbangai is where Golden-gai’s distinctive atmosphere remains most in evidence.

Golden-gai’s alleyways, redolent of Japan in the 1950s and 1960s, attract foreign visitors.

Bars along Hanazono Gobangai. In recent years, a growing number of ordinary office workers have discovered Golden-gai as a place for solo bar-hopping.