Apr 27, 2019 21:00:00

Nishikawaguchi's 'New China Town' had a reality that could only be accepted

The area around Nishikawaguchi Station in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture has been a hot topic in recent years as a Chinatown, a city with many foreigners. So I was interested and visited it, but it was a very intense place. In particular, the garbage collection station (garbage station) is strange and wants to hold a breath.

Hi, I'm

Takuya Saito, who is a biker around the world @ Charidaman . Nishikawaguchi became high tension as if he got lost in China. But this is a traveler's point of view, and if you live here you will think honestly. It was an environment where I thought it would be good for women and child rearing, even if men lived alone.

◆ The station square of Nishikawaguchi Station west exit
Kawaguchi City, located in the southeastern part of Saitama Prefecture, is a core city with a population of about 600,000, the second largest prefecture in the prefecture following Saitama Prefecture, where the prefectural office is located. It is buried in a densely populated area called the Tokyo metropolitan area, and it does not stand out every day, but it is a large city with almost the same population as Kagoshima City, and because it is adjacent to Tokyo ward section across Arakawa, it prospers as a bedtown in Tokyo. It has come. Nishikawaguchi Station is located on the Keihin Tohoku Line, which runs the city from the north to the south. In writing articles, I visited twice in November 2018 (night) and February 2019 (day).


Immediately after getting off the west exit, there was a warning on the station square about no crossing. Crossing a road where there is no pedestrian crossing means 'crossing'.

A commercial building in front of Nishiguchi Station. Notation of 4F is only Chinese, but it is an internet cafe.

The above mentioned commercial building is also open on the 10F. It is cheap with 2400 yen for 24 hours.

In addition, the number seems to have decreased a lot compared with the old days, but there seems to still be a sex shop in the west exit station square, and the signboard of such a free information center was also greatly raised. I visited there at night, but at that time the uncle of the barker stood on the street.

◆ New China Town
The west exit area of Nishikawaguchi Station has become a hot topic in various media as 'New China Town' newly created in recent years. The former West Exit area was a place where sex activities were thriving. However, in 2004, the Saitama Prefectural Police designated Nishikawaguchi as a 'meaning zone for promoting sex environment promotion.' Since then, it has become tougher, and most shops are forced to go out of business. Chinese-style restaurants and stores move in a way that replaces the withdrawal of these sex outlets, and it is a translation that is now. When I actually walked around the city, it seemed as if Chinese restaurants and Chinese stores had shops here and there, and I was traveling to China.

A restaurant where authentic Chinese cuisine is likely to emerge. You will be appetized by the food photos.

This is a Chinese restaurant with a simple design, and it blends seamlessly into Japanese towns.

I appeal to the front of the shop using lights instead of a billboard. This is the first time I see such a guide.

Not only Chinese food but also Thai food shops were open.

There was also Chinese karaoke. I have been listening to only Chinese music in recent years, so I'm pretty anxious.

It was closed, but there was also an internet cafe named 'Free Land'. The stylish first floor entrance and the faded second floor windows covered with the game scene reminded me of an old trip in a scene that was also present in real China. It seems to be a place where you can enjoy billiards, e-sports and board games.

◆ Warning
The ban on crossing the station is also true, but there were other warnings that made us worry about security.

'Be careful! A woman on the roadside who is believed to be a foreigner'. It is a poster that is controversial, but this is also the reality of Nishikawaguchi.

'・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Please refrain from loud voice conversations in the middle of the night. Notation in five languages: Japanese, English, Chinese (Simplified), Vietnamese, and Turkish. This sign was also found elsewhere, so it's not a specific place but an area problem.

I tried to walk Nishikawaguchi Station East Exit, but unlike West Exit, it was like a calm town normally. There were several Chinese-style restaurants and shops, but like the West Exit, there are no Chinese towns, and shops are scattered.

JR Nishikawaguchi Station seen from the east exit.

◆ Trash out manner
It was a manner to put out the trash at Nishikawaguchi, which was more than shocking. The garbage collection site is unbearable to see. The day before the collection day, the woman who put the baby on the stroller even though it wasn't the time to sink the sun left the poi and trash. This was also a sight seen around the west exit.

Call for illegal dumping prohibited in the back of the alley in front of the station. There is a barricade seen at the construction site to prevent leaving waste.

It is still a one-to-one can, a microwave oven, and an electric sake-making machine. It seems to be mainly a place where large trash is dumped illegally.

It was another night, but here was a large sofa piled up and left.

General waste was also awful situation. There is a note saying 'by 8:30 am' on the decided day, but this is in the bright hours before the evening of the day before the collection day.

The waste collection day of Nishikawaguchi 1-6 is on Tuesday and Friday, and I took a picture at 15:00 on Monday.

There is also a lot of trash here.

Contrary to the enthusiasm of illegal dumping absolutely prohibited by the administration, pile of rubbish piled up piled up. Plastic bottles and empty cans can be seen through plastic bags, and sorting is not protected. There were nine words written in Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Hangul, Takalog, English, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese.

The other side of the road is the garbage collection area, but the garbage is left in front of the park.

In the apartment built in the place where there is a problem with such trash disposal manners, nature and a lot of cautions will also increase. People other than residents seem to throw away trash.

'There is a security camera recording' and 'Don't throw away trash' warnings from a certain building. Gum tape pasted on the surface is more disturbing.

Cigarette butts are scattered on the overpass connecting the west exit and the east exit of Nishikawaguchi Station.

Sometimes a bottle of liquor was placed in a basket of bicycles parked on the street.

◆ elsewhere
'Sometimes, the waste dumping manner in Japan was only particularly good for what I had seen so far, and maybe Nishikawaguchi might be the norm,' doubting his common sense so far, but another It was still different when we focused on garbage collection points of other cities on occasion. It was normally used cleanly.

There was no trash at all in the same yellow net at a certain place in Sagamihara City. Garbage collection day is Wednesday, and it is 17:00 on the day before collection and photography on collection day, so conditions are the same as Nishikawaguchi.

A certain city in Aichi Prefecture is not the day before collection, so the shooting conditions are different, but it is a beautiful waste collection point.

However, I think that 'there is a large number of foreigners that the waste disposal manner at Nishikawaguchi is bad' is different again. In fact, the garbage collection point of the private apartment that I lived when I was working at a factory in Tokyo was another terrible situation. Style to go to throw away when you want to throw away trash regardless of collection day. Moreover, no rubbish was collected for 'does not use the city designated rubbish bag' and 'cannot be separated'. However, the amount of rubbish continues to increase, so it spills out of the rubbish bin. Even bulky trash was left without sticking a seal. It is probably because of such trash that a large cockroach ran through the shared corridors of the apartment in summer. I had done it to the room. However, I did not feel that there were many foreigners among the residents. Even Japanese people, even those who live there, get messed up with garbage dumps.

It was a garbage collection point in an apartment in Tokyo, but it will be reset to a normal environment like the photo because someone will come and work once in a couple of months. However, the people who lived there did not change, so they quickly returned to the waste dump.

Nishikawaguchi saw that the poverty of disparate society could end up as a waste collection site that could not be seen in the disclaimer that was concerned about security. The reason for the increase in foreigners is that they are responsible for low-paid labor in Japan. While leaving Japan's poverty left, Japan has increased the number of foreigners working at low wages to compensate. Is there a way to improve only manners while poverty does not change? As a result, it may not be only the deepening of the conflict between Japanese and foreigners. If Japan aims to be a multicultural society, I think that we should reduce the number of poor people, whether Japanese or foreign.

In addition, at Nishikawaguchi, information on a cleaning volunteer called 'Nishikawaguchi Pica Picasa' was announced, with a focus on Chinese people in Japan. Don't miss the people who live here trying to change this place.

It was a visit to Nishikawaguchi that makes me think a lot. I had no choice but to accept it as a reality.

( Statement / photo: Takuya Suto @ Charidaman
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