January 9, 2025 Kabukicho Shopping District Promotion Association Reiwa 7 New Year’s Gathering
New Year's Greetings from Chairman Motoshige Sugiyama (President of Tonkatsu Chazuke and Suzuya)

Thanks to the calendar, many people may have had a longer New Year's holiday this year than usual.
It seems like a lot of things happened last year, starting with the Noto earthquake. In Noto, many people affected by the disaster are still forced to live inconvenient lives.
Fortunately, we were blessed with good weather during New Year's Day in Tokyo, and I think it was calm, but if you look around the world, you will see countries at war, or cases like Noto, where disasters are followed by other disasters. There are many people who have suffered from this, and we hope that we will remember them and stay close to them.
Regarding Shinjuku, as many of you are aware, the Grand Terminal concept is finally starting to move forward, and the redevelopment of both the west and east sides of the station is clearly progressing and is in a good environment.n Kabukicho, just 10 years ago, Toho's Godzilla Building was built, and I think the atmosphere there was renewed.Including the opening of Tokyu's tower the year before last, Shinjuku as a whole is experiencing a recovery in inbound tourism. The city is booming, and I think there has been a lot of good news for a while now.
However, in proportion to the increase in the number of people, it is also true that there are still social problems in Kabukicho, such as the problem of adults living on the "toe side" and the street prostitution problem, which becomes a cat-and-mouse game.
Kabukicho has long been a town with deep ties and is a diverse town where a variety of people gather, which is one of its characteristics, but it still has gaps that could become a hotbed for the social problems I just mentioned. It is also true that there is.
I think that when such issues are reported in the media, the impression that the city is dangerous and scary is further imprinted on it.
There are many people in Japan, including my acquaintances and relatives, who think that organized crime groups and the Chinese mafia still roam Kabukicho.
For us, people who actually know the city will tell you that there is no such thing as a negative image. I think we want to renew it.
In fact, many people outside the city tell me that they often went drinking in Kabukicho, or that they used to hang out there every day when they were students. , I don't think they come to town to hang out.
would like to make Kabukicho a city where people who were fans of Kabukicho in the past would want to visit Kabukicho again, even if their generation changes.
To achieve this, we really need to wipe out our image and renew our image, but we are far too weak to solve the root causes of social problems on our own. I would like to work in strong solidarity with the government and work together to improve the image of Kabukicho, even just a little bit, and make it a better town.
Kabukicho originally claims to be an entertainment city, and people from all over the world say they want to visit that city at least once, and even those who come to visit the city want to go there again. We would like to make the city a good place for people to feel this way, so we would like to ask for your understanding, cooperation, and support. Thank you for your continued support.