Photographer recounts yakuza confinement, street brawls over 30 years in Kabukicho

TOKYO (TR) – For three decades, a South Korean photographer has documented the raw and often violent underworld of the red-light district of Kabukicho .

Surviving mob confinement and assaults by aggressive street touts, Kwon Chul has captured the dark heart of Tokyo’s most notorious red-light district, reports weekly tabloid Friday (Nov 6).

Kwon, 59, who recently celebrated his 30-year career with a photo exhibition at the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, describes Shinjuku’s neon-lit nightlife hub as a “human theater” where raw desire is fully exposed.

Among the photos are scenes featuring a yakuza delivering a flying kick to a street tout in the middle of a street, hosts engage in a massive brawl, a building on fire, and another tout stomping on a drunken salaryman.

Kwon’s descent into the underworld began in the spring of 1996, two years after he arrived in Japan. While working on a photography school assignment, he stumbled across a massive brawl involving 20 to 30 yakuza armed with iron pipes right in front of a Kabukicho police box.

“I was so surprised. The sheer force and terror made my knees shake, and I couldn’t even take my camera out of my bag,” Kwon recalled. Despite the fear, the unprecedented excitement left a lasting impact, turning Kabukicho into his primary battleground.

However, pointing a lens at the Japanese mafia comes with severe risks. Kwon was once dragged into a basement and confined for four hours by mobsters who mistook him for a police spy.

His life was spared only through the intervention of a higher-ranking yakuza boss who happened to share his heritage. Discovering Kwon was a South Korean student, the boss ordered his release, telling him: “My mother is Korean. We are compatriots. Be careful when you shoot from now on.”

Despite his brush with the mob, Kwon says it is the district’s foreign touts who have provided his most terrifying encounters.

He recalled capturing a massive street fight in June 2009, where foreign touts wielding chairs clashed with yakuza using bicycles as weapons. In another incident, a foreign tout noticed Kwon’s camera and attacked him in the street.

“You took a picture, didn’t you?!” the man yelled before body-slamming the photographer, sending his camera flying and shattering the lens. Overwhelmed by the man’s physical intimidation, Kwon was unable to fight back.

Violence in the district is not limited to turf wars. Kwon noted that the women working in Kabukicho’s sex and nightlife industries are heavily guarded by underworld muscle. He claims to have repeatedly witnessed drunken customers who refused to pay their bills being beaten to a pulp by groups of bouncers.

Today, the landscape of Kabukicho is shifting again, driven by a massive influx of foreign tourists. According to Kwon, these visitors are increasingly getting tangled up in local trouble, whether clashing with street touts or seeking out tachinbo (streetwalkers) in the district’s love hotel alleys.

Yet, despite the changing times, the danger and allure of the area remain the same.

“Even as eras change, Kabukicho remains a completely unique city,” Kwon said. “I will continue to photograph the charm of the Orient’s number one entertainment district.”

Published in News and Tabloid

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东京（TR）——三十年来，一位韩国摄影师一直在记录歌舞伎町红灯区原始且往往充满暴力的地下世界。

据周五（11 月 6 日）的周刊小报报道，权哲在经历了暴民围困和街头拉客者的袭击后，占领了东京最臭名昭著的红灯区的黑暗核心地带。

现年 59 岁的权志强最近在东京的韩国大使馆举办了摄影展，庆祝自己 30 年的职业生涯。他将新宿霓虹闪烁的夜生活中心描述为“人类剧场”，在那里，原始的欲望得到了充分的展现。

照片中包括：一名黑帮成员在街头飞踢拉客的街头小贩；主持人参与大规模斗殴；一栋建筑物着火；以及另一名拉客的男子踩踏一名醉酒的上班族。

权志强踏入黑道始于1996年春天，也就是他来到日本两年后。当时他正在为摄影学校的作业工作，偶然撞见了一场发生在歌舞伎町派出所前的大规模斗殴，20到30名手持铁管的黑帮成员混战。

“我当时太震惊了。那股巨大的力量和恐惧让我双腿发软，甚至都无法从包里拿出相机，”权回忆道。尽管恐惧笼罩着他，但前所未有的兴奋感却给他留下了深刻的印象，使歌舞伎町成为了他的主要战场。

然而，将镜头对准日本黑手党会带来严重的风险。权某曾被黑帮分子误认为是警察卧底，拖进地下室关押了四个小时。

他之所以能活命，全赖一位与他同族的高级黑帮老大出面干预。这位老大发现权某是韩国留学生后，下令释放他，并告诉他：“我母亲是韩国人。我们是同胞。以后开枪要小心。”

尽管曾与黑帮有过接触，但权先生表示，该地区的外国拉客者才是他遭遇过最恐怖的事情。

他回忆起2009年6月拍摄的一场大规模街头斗殴，当时手持椅子的外国拉客者与以自行车为武器的黑帮分子发生冲突。另一次事件中，一名外国拉客者发现权某的相机后，在街头袭击了他。

“你拍照了吧？！”那人怒吼着，一把将摄影师扑倒在地，相机飞了出去，镜头也摔得粉碎。权某被那人的蛮力震慑，根本无力还击。

该地区的暴力事件不仅限于地盘争夺。权先生指出，歌舞伎町性产业和夜生活场所的女性从业者受到黑帮的严密保护。他声称多次亲眼目睹醉酒拒付账单的顾客被一群保镖殴打致死。

如今，在大量外国游客涌入的推动下，歌舞伎町的面貌再次发生变化。据权先生称，这些游客越来越多地卷入当地的麻烦事，无论是与街头拉客者发生冲突，还是在该地区情侣旅馆林立的小巷里寻找妓女。

然而，尽管时代变迁，该地区的危险性和吸引力却丝毫未减。

“即使时代变迁，歌舞伎町依然是一座独一无二的城市，”权先生说。“我会继续拍摄东方第一娱乐区的魅力。”

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