**Between the flower of night and purification: Women in Kabukicho in the 2000s**.

**Between the flower of night and purification: Women in Kabukicho in the 2000s**.

In the early 2000s, Kabukicho underwent a major transformation before and after Operation Cleanup, a sweeping crackdown initiated by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara in April 2003 that cleaned out Korean and Chinese brothels, date clubs, and illegal touts, and repainted the face of the district. However, public safety did not necessarily improve, and the increase in black touts and illegal businesses that had gone underground posed a new threat. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the recession and the expansion of part-time employment drove young women into night work, many of them from rural areas and students. Many of them became addicted to hostesses and took on debts, while others sought self-expression and short-term high income. While their flamboyant consumption and socializing were consumed by the media as the "flower of the night," behind the scenes they were struggling with personal relationships and financial problems. Charismatic women also appeared in the world o
f scouting, and they surrounded newcomers with trust that could be built only by being the same woman. Scouts are those who pave the way for people to enter brothels and cabarets in the downtown area, and earn introduction fees and sales rebates.