These alleys of shoddy two-storey buildings in Shinjuku house 200 bars, one "police box", a Shinto shrine and a motley population of mama-sans, transvestites, former prostitutes and 60s radicals.

It is vintage post-war Tokyo in all its cramped, chaotic glory. The bars - most of them big enough only for a counter and a dozen or so stools - are housed in buildings of wood and corrugated iron thrown up for hookers and pimps during the allied occupation.

Several decades have passed since Golden-gai was primarily a lure to the libido, but the narrow lanes have not entirely lost the feel of a red-light district. When business is slow and the air muggy, the silhouettes of mama-sans (some of whom are actually middle-aged men) can be seen in pink-lit doorways as they fan them selves and listen to scratchy records of Edith Piaf or experimental jazz.

In the 60s and 70s most of the brothel-keepers were replaced by counter-culture dropouts who turned the area into a hub of political conspiracy and intellectual foment. At its peak it attracted thinkers such as the author Yukio Mishima and the film-maker Nagisa Oshima.

Directors, painters and writers are still drawn to an area that refuses to make way for rampant materialism. Shadow, a bar run for more than 20 years by a communist, is decorated with items found in rubbish dumps. Jetee, owned by a former film distributor, includes Wim Wenders and Juliette Binoche among its occasional customers.

A few strides to the west are the blazing neon lights and noisy pachinko parlours of the ultra-sleazy Kabukicho sex district; behind are the futuristic 40-storey towers of the municipal government offices in Shinjuku.

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends