As a special issue of Urban Studies noticed in 2015, night-time was for decades neglected in the fields of sociology, planning as well as geography, despite the existence of an intense academic attention and obsessiveness towards space-time or temporal-spatial transformation (van Liempt et al. 2015).

The previous academic research also implies a discussion of the definition of night and night-space; night-time as a time defined by the meridian or the absence of a day-light (darkness), and night-space as a given objective space or socially, economically constructed space. Now in the era of global cities, there exists an increasing attention towards urban night, especially in countries hosting mega-events.

In the light of Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 and Osaka Expo in 2025, each presentation in this panel could give (i) General overview of urban night and “night-life tourism” in Tokyo, (ii) The difference of Day-time space and Night-time Space in the bordering area between Okubo Korean Town and Japanese Night-life District, (iii) ghost-tourism in Tokyo Metropolitan Area, (iv) theoretical approach of landscape for night and darkness, and (v) astro-tourism in natural area, which will followed by the academic discussion about night in Japan.

NIGHT BECOMING LEGAL? THE RISE OF “NIGHT-TIME TOURISM” IN TOKYO

Mariko Ikeda (University of Tsukuba)

With the vitalization of urban tourism in the wake of the forthcoming Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, there is an increasing focus on research about night-life in Tokyo. This paper clarifies the impact of mega-events on the urban transformation through the focus on the vitalization of the night-time economies.

The research data is based on interviews with the city’s administration and other related actors. The results show that there is an increasing focus on night-life tourism, such as pub crawls, visiting music clubs and live music venues, and that this night-life tourism is mostly concentrated in the three wards Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Minato, located in the inner-city area of Tokyo. Especially in Shibuya and Minato, new entrepreneurial services relating to night-life tourism for foreign tourists have been newly established.

In addition, with the amendment of the so-called “Entertainment Business Law” (Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement and Entertainment Business) in June 2016, Shibuya has first released the official promotion for night-life tourism in Japan. This night-life tourism and relating services may be further developed in urban spaces, and a restructuring of night-life businesses itself would be further expected. This means that mega-events promote not only the restructuring of the city’s built environment, but also its socio-economic and cultural environment, attempting to maximize the capital investments even at a night-time.

NIGHTSCAPE IN THE BORDERING AREA BETWEEN OKUBO AND KABUKICHO

Yeonkyung Kim (University of Tsukuba)
Sachi Nakagawa (University of Tsukuba)

Okubo Korean town in Shinjuku-ward, an ethnic town located in the inner city of Tokyo, has been formed mainly since the 1990s with an increasing number of Koreans, and the area started to become a tourist destination for Japanese since 2004. Although Kabukicho, known as Japanese night-life district, is located next to Okubo, the relationship between these two areas has not been explored in previous research. Therefore, this paper will discuss how the geographical scale in the daytime differs from that in the nighttime, by examining the bordering area between Okubo ethnic town and Kabukicho night-life district, where ordinary/daily experiences are provided for employees working in these areas.

FEAR AND CURIOUSITY IN THE DARKNESS: GHOST TOURISM IN JAPAN

Taiyo Yagasaki (Tokyo Metropolitan University)
Akira Uehara (Tokyo Metropolitan University)

Darkness in the night brings about fear for human. Whereas the Japanese ghost called yokai and yurei is manifestation of fear of darkness, ghost tourism has been a popular recreational activity since ancient times in Japan. Participants in ghost tourism feel not only fear but also curiosity in haunted places.

This paper discusses the human feelings and attitude toward night and darkness by examining ghost tours organized by a taxi company in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Haunted places, defined as the site where a certain number of people experienced mysterious and supernatural phenomena, can be found anywhere at the outskirt of the urbanized area. Ghosts live in the place where people feel fear of darkness in the night.

LANDSCAPE AT NIGHT: INVISIBLE NIGHT AND EXPERIENCED DARKNESS

Yuki Sakamoto (University of Tokyo)
Mariko Ikeda (University of Tsukuba)

Since the arrival of modernity in the industrialised cities, “Night (night-time)” has started to be redefined in industrialised societies in European countries: light and shadow (darkness), civilised and non-civilised, safe and danger etc., which apparently are connected to a difference of nightscape in European countries, in which historic centres are illuminated during night, and Japan. This paper will intend to develop the terminology of landscape (Landschaft), one of the key concepts in geography, through the perspectives of night (invisible) time.

NIGHT IN ECO-TOURISM OF OKINAWA: A CASE OF ASTRO TOURISM IN ISHIGAKI ISLAND

Takuya Uda (Meio University)
Takumi Isono (Mie University)

In academic discourses, “night” or “night-life” tend to be connected to the urban and urbanity. Therefore, academic research and discussion about night in non-urban, namely natural or rural areas is in demand. Astro tourism in Ishigaki Island is a practice of commodification of night in a natural area and was started to be promoted by the city administration since 2014, contributing to the setting of a “preservation area of for astro-sightseeing” in 2018. This paper will examine how night tourism exists in a Japanese natural area.