Chinese Club tear gas incident - October 2002, Kabukicho

Chinese Club tear gas incident - October 2002, Kabukicho

In October 2002, an unprecedented incident occurred at a Chinese club in Kabukicho when tear gas was suddenly thrown into the club. The restaurant was full of customers and employees, many of whom complained of breathing difficulties and sore eyes, and the town was temporarily in an uproar. This incident was said to be a retaliation for the "Parisienne Incident" in September of the same year, in which a Japanese gang leader was shot dead by the Northeastern Chinese mafia, and it strongly impressed upon the public the danger of underworld conflicts involving ordinary citizens.

In the background was the intensifying war between the Chinese mafia and Japanese gangsters in Kabukicho in the early 2000s. At the time, Shinjuku was known as the "Asian Mafia Trade Fair," where international crime syndicates gathered and clashed over drug trafficking, illegal immigration mediation, and the interests of the adult entertainment industry. The shooting death of a Japanese gang leader in the Parisienne incident decisively heightened these tensions and triggered a war of retaliation.

2002 was also a period of rapid growth in foreign tourists and workers, immediately after the Japan-Korea World Cup soccer tournament. Kabukicho in Shinjuku was becoming increasingly multinational, and in addition to the traditional "yakuza rule," Chinese, Korean, and Southeast Asian crime syndicates were moving into the area, creating a complex of conflicting interests. The abuse of tear gas created a fear in the town that "anyone could be a target," and anxiety spread among ordinary customers and store owners alike.

This incident prompted the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Metropolitan Police Department to accelerate their "Kabukicho Cleanup Operation," and in April 2003, under the leadership of Governor Shintaro Ishihara, a large-scale crackdown on unlicensed brothels and clubs and gang offices was launched simultaneously. In other words, the China Club tear gas incident was not only a drama of underworld warfare, but also a turning point that prompted the reorganization of the city by the government.

In the end, this incident was not just a local problem, but an event that symbolized the two trends that Kabukicho was facing in the early 2000s: "internationalization and disorder" and "underworld strife and administrative purification policy. The violence and unrest that unfolded behind the glamorous neon lights was the catalyst for a major shift in the city's history.