Voices in the Margins of the Kabukicho Night: Women's After Hours, 2005-2012

Voices in the Margins of the Kabukicho Night: Women's After Hours, 2005-2012

From the mid-2000s to the early 2010s, Kabukicho's cabaret club culture reached maturity. After hours" was the time spent with customers outside the establishment, the moment when the boundary between work and private life became most blurred. The economic downturn following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the increase in informal employment spread anxiety among women, accelerating the trend toward seeking income and approval in the nightlife district. The after hours was part of the sales process to maintain relationships with customers, but at the same time, it was also a brief time for these women to regain their ego. The proliferation of smartphones and social networking services turned nighttime conversations and photos into a part of self-production, and cabaret girls became branded themselves. As money and emotions mingled and acting became the order of the day, the after hours was both an escape and a breathing space for these women to make a fresh start. Laughing
under the neon lights, the girls were indeed living their own reality.