The Dream of Ordered Pleasure: The Idea of a Moral Downtown and Postwar Reconstruction (Meiji Era to Postwar Showa Era)

The Dream of Ordered Pleasure: The Idea of a Moral Downtown and Postwar Reconstruction (Meiji Era to Postwar Showa Era)

From the Meiji era onward, the Kabukicho area shaped its own urban culture, keeping pace with the wave of modernization in Japan as a whole. After the Meiji Restoration, Western educational systems and industrialization were rapidly introduced, and the Shinjuku area in western Tokyo saw accelerated urbanization with the construction of railroads and roads. During this period, girls' schools and educational facilities for higher education were built in the surrounding area, strengthening the area's character as a gathering place for young people seeking learning and culture. In addition, entertainment facilities such as theaters and movie theaters gradually increased, and the area became a place where education and cultural consumption breathed in the same space.

From the Taisho era (1912-1926) to the early Showa era (1926-1989), a wave of popular culture and modernism swept through the area, creating a sophisticated downtown area lined with cafes, salons, and movie theaters, where modern girls and businessmen mingled. However, as the wartime regime tightened, entertainment facilities shrank, and many buildings were destroyed by fire in air raids.

During the postwar reconstruction period, the black market and blue-light district spread rapidly in the burnt-out Shinjuku, and while the area was economically booming, public morals and public safety became a problem. Under these circumstances, Kihei Suzuki, the head of the Kabukicho 1-chome neighborhood association, and others set forth the idea of a "moral entertainment district. This was not just an entertainment district, but a concept to create a commercial and entertainment space that was both orderly and glamorous, and free from disorder and antisocial forces.

After the defeat in World War II, Japan was in a period of value transition, with democratization and economic recovery taking place simultaneously. As the balance between "freedom" and "discipline" became a social issue, this concept was a unique postwar ideological experiment that combined urban planning with ethics. This attempt to fuse prewar aesthetics with modern order was a rare experiment in urban renewal in Japan.