The problem of order of urban subcultural groups: A case study of Japanese sex industry and a shopping center organization in mid-Tokyo's amusement district, Kabukichô

The aim of this paper is to approach “the problem of order of subcultural groups”, derived from Claude S. Fischer’s “Subcultural Theory of Urbanism”, by analyzing a shopping center organization in Mid-Tokyo’s amusement district, Kabukichô, which is the most famous city in Japan for accommodating a number of sex industry shops. “The problem of order of subcultural groups” can be summarized as the problem of how urban society, consisting of various subcultural groups, can avoid collapsing despite its presence within a highly unstable situation. Therefore, Kabukichô, a kind of “red light district”, can be an appropriate case to explore the problem of order of subcultural groups for among various subcultural groups sex industry is doubtlessly not least “unconventional”.

 For this purpose of this study, the following methods were adopted: (1) interviewing members of the shopping center organization, shop-owners, officers of the local government and the police, (2) participant observation in various activities such as meetings and patrol activities of the shopping center organizations and (3) surveying official/unofficial documents and statistics.

 It was found that the shopping center organization in Kabukichô has dualistic organization, consisting of both “The Shopping Center Promotion Union” and “Chô-kai-s (communities of shoppers)”. Under dualistic organization, the shopping center organization has dual membership criteria and activity zoning. And each member of the organization treats sex industry shops in diverse manners from complete tolerance to severe intolerance. The organization has a Janus-like nature to it, which is to say, a nature that mediates between the sex industries and the local government that tries to avoid them at any cost. Because of its dualistic organization, the shopping center organization can achieve a very delicate balance between various actors under the situation that Kabukichô accommodates many sex industry shops.