Kabukichō is considered a red-light district[1] with a high concentration of host and hostess clubs, love hotels, shops, restaurants, and nightclubs, and is often called the "Sleepless Town" (眠らない街, Nemuranai Machi, pronounced [nemɯɾanai matɕiꜜ]).

Prior to World War II, the district was one of the areas open to non-mainland property owners (primarily from the colonies in Taiwan and Korea), who mainly operated tsurekomi yado, predecessors to today's love hotels.

[3] Kabukichō was quickly redeveloped after the war, mainly due to the efforts of the overseas Chinese in Japan who bought land left unused after the expos and greatly developed them.

[5] Watanabe Katsumi [ja], a portrait photographer who took pictures and sold prints back to his subjects for a modest ¥200, documented the citizens of Kabukichō during this transition period in the 1960s and 1970s.

[5] By 1999, the area had been named "Asia's largest adult entertainment district", and tabloids were regularly running candid photographs of drunken Kabukichō patrons fighting and being arrested.

[5] Kabukicho is generally bounded by: The red Kabuki-chō Ichiban-gai (歌舞伎町一番街) gate, near the southwest corner along Yasukuni-Dōri, is often photographed as the main entrance to Kabukichō.

Other major entrances, east of Ichibangai-Dōri along Yasukuni-Dōri, include Central Road (セントラルロード, Sentoraru Rōdo), where the Kabukichō branch of Don Quijote is; and another neon-lit arch at Sakura-Dōri (さくら通り).

By 2008, it had moved to its third location; since it opened in 1956, it has hosted concerts and other performances by top stars, including enka singers Saburō Kitajima, Kiyoshi Hikawa, and actor Ken Matsudaira.

[13] Private citizens and government agencies launched a joint effort in July 2003, called the Shinjuku Shopping Center Committee to Expel Organized-Crime Groups, with the aim to replace unlicensed and adult-oriented businesses (which were believed to pay protection fees to organized crime groups) with legitimate businesses.

An amendment to the 1948 Adult Entertainment law made aggressive catching of female patrons by male hosts illegal.

[20] Although the punishment for violating the ordinance ranges up to one year in prison and a fine of ¥50,000, it is intended to provide an excuse for refusing to make protection payments.

In one instance, a group of nine was lured into a bar under the promise the all-inclusive cost was ¥4,000; the hostesses inside consumed 172 drinks and the final bill was ¥2,663,000.