Weekly dives into 'deep Ueno' to track the activities of foreigner-operated businesses

When people think of Ueno, such attractions as its famous park, with the zoo, national museums and historic temples come to mind. Then for shopping bargains, there's Ameyoko, a colorful street running between JR Ueno and JR Okachimachi stations, whose roots hark back to the black market founded by Japanese repatriated from Manchukuo after World War II.

More recently, Ameyoko has become a favorite of inbound visitors, who partake of its street food and shopping bargains.

Ameyoko had once been a thriving place for fishmongers, but Friday (Sept 20) reports that the current number can be counted "on the fingers on one hand." In their place, a growing number of eateries on the street have been taken over by foreigners. Some of whom set out tables and stools outside on the street, allegedly without applying for permission.

One of the few remaining fishmongers, Masakazu Kobayashi, age 57, tells the magazine, "If you just limit the count to Ameyoko, I'd say about 60% of the businesses are now foreign. As fishmongers successively left due to aging of their owners or shuttering of businesses, foreigners moved in. The first one, I think, about a decade ago, was a kebab shop. Then afterwards Chinese began arriving. Since foreign shoppers don't buy our fish, business has been rough."

A short distance from Ameyoko on the southeast side of JR Okachimachi station are hundreds of small shops dealing in watches, gemstones and precious metals. Decades ago they had specialized in Buddhist religious items, but from the 1960s began changing to watches and jewelry. According to shop operator Yasumi Yoda, about 80% of the newer arrivals have been foreigners. More recently, Yoda says, Indians and people from Muslim-majority countries have been nudging out Chinese.

One such proprietor is Khotari Manish (phonetic), 46, who came to Japan from India 27 years ago. He now owns five shops in the area.

"Since we eliminate the middlemen, we can hold down prices while still turning a profit," he tells Friday. "We also do promotions via social networks and business has been pretty good. There are about 100 Indian-owned shops doing businesses in this area."

Several of the area's small shops were believed to have been targeted for robberies in 2021-22, allegedly overseen by the notorious Manila-based "Luffy" gang of Japanese, whose leaders have since been deported back to Japan.

The third foreign base is situated to the west, between Keisei Ueno station and Yushima station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line.

Known as Nakamachi Dori, the area consists of several blocks of "girls bars," Korean barbecue and other types of ethnic restaurants, Philippine pubs and other drinking spots staffed by Korean, Thai, and Chinese females. Over the past five years, Vietnamese have reportedly made major inroads, with as many as 20 establishments now featuring ladies from Vietnam.

"Before and then after the COVID pandemic, the number of Vietnamese bars around here began increasing," said a Vietnamese student named Nguyen (a pseudonym), dressed in her country's traditional ao dai costume. "I've worked at several of them and learned the tricks of the trade, which got me promoted to 'mama.'

"Nearly all our customers are Japanese," she added.

On nights when business is quiet, young women lurking on the street outside clubs can be seen soliciting male passers-by for come in "drinks" or "massage." Their activities are said to become increasingly predatory after 11 p.m., when they aggressively badger inebriated men into their shops.

The block overlaps between Taito and Bunkyo Wards, whose city offices have engaged private security staff to patrol the area.

One such security worker confines to Friday he has heard such complaints from victims as "I was solicited by a Chinese woman who demanded several hundreds of thousands of yen"; "I had my cash card stolen from my wallet"; and "After being served a sweetened drink, I have no recollection of what happened after that."

The operator of a bar says to have regularly observed men, accompanied by foreign women, entering a nearby convenience store to withdraw money from the ATM before heading up the hill to Yushima's cluster of love hotels.

To keep the lawless elements in check, Tokyo Ueno Rotary Club has been dispatching street patrols of volunteers to cover the district.

"To discourage customer overcharging and other crimes, from around 15 years ago we arranged to set up security cameras on the streets and also patrol the area, but it seems more people are becoming victimized," a former Rotary Club chairman tells the magazine.

Like other drinking areas of Tokyo with similar problems, police in the district described efforts to discourage illegal practices and apprehend violators as an ongoing game of itachi gokko (cat and mouse).

"Due to the unique characteristics of the area, correcting the distortions occurring in one of Tokyo's busiest downtown areas is proving to be extremely difficult," Friday concludes.

© Japan Today