Golden Gai, Kabukichō is one of the last remnants of Old Tokyo. In its bustling network of six tightly interwoven alleys filled with timber bars (Nomiya), this red-light district forms an architecture of resistance to the homogeneous urban fabric of modern Shinjuku that surrounds it.

Irezumi, Japanese tattoo culture, is a forbidden art steeped in traditional iconography yet stigmatised by wider society due to its association with the Yakuza.

Kabuki Theatre is a classical form of Japanese theatre, originating as a cultural form of entertainment performed for the masses in makeshift temporary structures, it was historically banned by the government but has seen recent resurgence.

This design bridges these varied histories to focus on a hypothetical regeneration of the Golden Gai quarter through the implementation of a local Kabuki Street Theatre. The project seeks to develop an architectural language that embraces the alley. This is achieved through a gradation of thresholds, or ‘skins’, that compose the journey from street to theatre.

In utilising local building materials, crafted construction methods and a developed photogrammetry process, the project expresses the makeshift nature of Kabuki and Golden Gai. The theatre’s construction also proposes a re-usable typology to regenerate Golden Gai’s wider urban context.