Six narrow alleys hold over two hundred tiny bars, each squeezed into a two-story wooden structure no wider than a person's outstretched arms. After the second world war, this area served as a thriving black market for goods, but eventually morphed into a hub for writers, filmmakers, and artists who couldn't find space elsewhere. In the nineteen eighties, developers bought up land to clear the neighborhood, but the bar owners refused to leave, staging a long, successful standoff against the wrecking balls.
Shinjuku Golden-Gai
landmark
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