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TOKYO JOURNAL Magazine

Sounds of Kabukicho: White Rabbit Press takes you on an audio tour

by Brett Bull

There has been some buzz lately about Max Hodges and his new audio guided Kabukicho walking tour. Brett Bull caught up with the man, and is asking all the right questions.

Why did you choose Kabukicho for your first audio tour?

I just think Kabukicho’s one of the most fascinating parts of Tokyo. It has an interesting history, and the most diverse kinds of places, and there are a lot of real characters in the area. You see a lot of hysterical stuff here.

Places like Shibuya and Ginza are nice places to go to and dine and drink, but Kabukicho just has a different atmosphere altogether. There’s just a special kind of excitement in the air. A kind of giddiness. It’s almost a carnival-like atmosphere.

Also, I wanted to dispel some of the stereotypes about the area. When people think of Kabukicho they think of commercial sex and gangsters, but there’s really a lot of diverse things to do here, like go to movie theaters, batting cages, billiard rooms, restaurants and bars, spas, and hotels for all purposes. People come here to unwind and to have fun, and their light-hearted attitude is refreshing.

I recorded a lot of sounds and ambiences which I mixed into the program, and if I had to identify a single distinctive sound which defines Kabukicho, it would have to be laughter. You hear people laughing everywhere here.

What was your goal for this project?

MH: Your typical travel guide is basically a book of lists – lists of places to stay, lists of places to eat and lists of places to shop. But when you arrive in Tokyo, who wants to stand around and read a book? You want to get out on the street and experience the place. The problem is that Tokyo can be a bit bewildering for a lot of people. They don’t know what they’re seeing; they don’t know who these people are and what the heck they’re doing. So I wanted to create a personal guided tour, which takes you though the city and breaks everything down for you from an insider’s perspective.

If I wanted to just tell people facts and tidbits I could have written a book, but my goal for the tours is to create a unique way of experiencing the city, to create an experience that visitors will remember years later.

The sound design mixes narration and interviews with music, sound effects and location ambiences so I had a lot of ways to keep it interesting. The goal was to create an immersive experience that captures the vibe on the street, and the way in which the tour audio overlaps and merges with the real-life sounds can be a bit surreal in at times.

Who do you interview during the tour?

MH: Lee Xiao Mu was very helpful and supportive. Read the rest of this entry »

Hostesses, bars, mobsters, and love hotels

Last Friday night found me walking through Shinjuku’s Kabukicho listening to an audio tour by Tokyo Realtime. I was a little skeptical at first, but right away it answered a question I’ve always been too lazy to look up: How a place with no Kabuki Theaters came to be called Kabukicho.

Like any good guide, the narrator balances history and current commentary well, letting you see not only what Kabukicho is today, but how it became that way. The audio also includes interesting interviews of shop owners and commentary from people who work in Kabukicho. The narrator even interviews an S&M ‘artist’ who works at one of the clubs.

The route takes you through the most interesting parts of the district and is pretty interactive, walking you through the lobby of a love hotel and some dark alleys. It also goes into the Golden-Gai, a fantastically cool cluster of one-room shanty like bars.

I really enjoyed the tour and managed to finish it without getting lost once. The only real annoyance was being constantly interrupted by people selling sex and beer. Some became especially persistent after seeing me walking through the same area twice because of the tour. All part of the charm of Kabukicho though, and can even be enjoyable if you are mellow about it. I actually had a conversation with a Nigerian pusher who seemed genuinely confused that i was not interested in prostitution, stripping, alcohol, weed, or cocaine. Turns out he was saving up money to get his music career off the ground, and hoped to return to Nigeria next year.

The publisher has provided a samples of the tour and some photo’s on their website. The tour was fantastic, and if you are interested in seeing an interesting part of Shinjuku, you should check it out.

Japan books for your holiday reading list

Tokyo Realtime : Kabukicho - not exactly a book, but still very cool. White Rabbit Press has put together an audio walking tour of Tokyo’s famous red light district, splicing together traditional tour narration with interviews and stories from experts and locals. The audio sample at TokyoRealtime.com will give you a good idea of its excellent production value.

It was a long time coming — you may remember that I worked on the project — but the first volume of the Tokyo Realtime series of audio tours finally came out a few weeks ago, and I have to say that it came out beautifully (note that I’m no longer involved). I remember when I did a test run of the Kabukicho tour when it was still in the editing stage, and even then I was amazed at how fun an experience it was.

You can read more about the series in this recent PingMag piece, but the idea is that you load up your audio player, and then follow your virtual guide in an hour-long tour of an area. More than just a sight-seeing tour, the whole thing mixes in sound bites from experts on the area, with sound effects and dramatic elements. I mean, you could probably get a lot from even just listening to it at home, but it’s quite an amazing experience to be walking through those streets, and really understanding what’s around you.

Kudos also for the beautiful packaging. The package includes a photo booklet, as well as water resistant map of the route. I’m happy to note that a lot of the creative design that went into it was born from connections made at PauseTalk. I myself got involved that way, and so did Chris Kirby (who designed the map) and AQ (who did the package artwork).

If you haven’t already, you can order the Kabukicho tour through the official site, and on Amazon too — it should be in stores now too. The next volume — set to come out early next year — will cover Harajuku.

Hostesses, bars, mobsters, and love hotels – An audio guided tour through Shinjuku notorious sin district

White Rabbit Press recently announced the release of TOKYO REALTIME: Kabukicho, the first edition in the much-anticipated Tokyo Realtime audio tour series. Tokyo Realtime audio tours interweave narration and interviews within a soundscape of location ambience and music to deliver a seamless mix of adventure and cultural insight while navigating real-world spaces.

Tokyo Realtime audio tours offer Tokyo visitors and residents alike a unique opportunity to explore Tokyo alongside an area expert who provides navigation, compelling cultural observations and historical background, revealing new sides to Tokyo’s most interesting neighborhoods.

The first edition in the Tokyo Realtime series, TOKYO REALTIME: Kabukicho takes listeners on a night stroll through Japan’s most imaginative entertainment district: Shinjuku’s notorious Kabukicho area. As you weave through the streets of countless bars, strip joints, love hotels, and eateries, you’ll learn about the area’s colorful personalities and history, soak in the local ambience, and get insights into the local area. Read the rest of this entry »