Is Tokyo’s real-world Kamurocho as dangerous as the Yakuza games’ setting? Mr. Sato investigates Casey Baseel Dec 6, 2022 Tweet Our ace reporter hits the streets in his Kiryu Kazama cosplay to talk to the people who know Kabukicho best. There are close to a dozen entries in Sega’s Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku/Like a Dragon video game series, and all of them have stories that take place in Kamurocho, a bar/red light district in Tokyo. Though Kamurocho is a fictional place, its look and layout is modeled extremely closely on Kabukicho, a real-life part of Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood. Our crack reporter Mr. Sato is a fan of the Yakuza games, and has spent many hours in Kamurocho fighting thugs in the street and brawling behind the doors of exclusive clubs. Obviously, you have to expect the intensity to be dialed up in an action video game, but it still made him wonder, how dangerous a place is Kabukicho? ▼ Mr. Sato, thinking about street fights and video games <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609646" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-2.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="608" /> Thankfully, it just so happens that SoraNews24 HQ is located just a short walk from Kabukicho, and so Mr. Sato decided to head on over and talk to the people who work in its bars and host/hostess clubs. Before that, though, he figured a change of clothes was in order. <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609647" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-3.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="831" /> <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609648" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-4.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="493" /> Well, maybe we should call it a change of costume, since he decided to cosplay as Yakuza protagonist Kiryu Kazama. It’s a pretty good likeness, though eagle-eyed observers can probably tell this isn’t the real Kiryu because the character doesn’t wear a belt made out of a plastic cord. <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609649" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-5.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="492" /> Now that he (mostly) looked the part, it was time to head for Kabukicho. ▼ Chapter 1: The Fate of Drunkards <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609650" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-6.png?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="317" /> <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609651" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-7.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="801" /> Mr. Sato passed underneath the red neon gate that marks the entrance to Kabukicho Ichibangai, the main street of the neighborhood, and the real-life counterpart to the games’ Kamurocho Tenkaichi Street. Activating his gamer intuition, it was as though Mr. Sato could see an oversized-font quest prompt appear before his eyes. <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609652" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-8.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="93" /> <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609653" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-9.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="494" /> Mr. Sato wasn’t looking for anyone’s mother, necessarily, but the owner, or “mama,” of a hostess bar. <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609654" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-10.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="624" /> Eventually, his search took him to one of Kabukicho’s many multi-bar buildings, the one that houses Club Haru. <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609655" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-11.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="812" /> He’d heard that the mama of this hostess bar could help him, so he made his way inside and knocked on Club Haru’s door. <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609656" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-12.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="746" /> “Is the mama in?” he asked when an employee opened the door, trying out his best impression of Kiryu’s deep, smooth voice. “I need to see her, so I’ll just take a seat and wait.” <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609657" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-13.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="575" /> He hadn’t been seated long when he heard an elegant voice say “I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting. You must be Mr. Sato, correct?” ▼ Club Haru Mama: Haruka Sato (no relation to Mr. Sato) <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-609658" src="https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/12/KC-14.jpg?w=640" alt="" width="640" height="485" /> “I believe I might be able to provide you with the answers you seek,” she said, sitting gracefully down on the red leather sofa without wrinkling her kimono. “I was hop...