One of the things I love about traveling is checking out the party scene in the cities I visit. Since moving to Tokyo last August I have immersed myself into the culture of Japan as well as the nightlife. As strange as it may sound to some, I know that you will understand that I couldn’t move to a city without knowing that my cravings for long nights on the dance floor would be satisfied.

After eight solid years in the scene in Toronto, this is something that is deeply ingrained in me and it’s not going away any time soon, if ever. Tokyo is an amazing place to party; it’s definitely satisfied me in many ways. However, as in every city that hosts a nightlife there are things that could be improved. So what I want to share with you is all the great things I love about partying in Tokyo, as well as some of the things that I missed from the city I left a year ago.

Tokyo is home to some phenomenal nightclubs such as the infamous Womb, Yellow, AgeHa (Asia’s largest club), Air and many others around the city. But as we all know it’s not just the venue that creates a good night, it’s a combination of things, the crowd, the lighting and of course the music.

Having never partied in Asia before, I didn’t know what to expect. I had visions of the Guvernment where crowds of whacked out Asian’s cover the floor because their legs just can’t hold them up anymore. After a conversation with Luke Fair (who has headlined many clubs in Japan, including Womb) my worries were put to rest when he assured me that this in not what partying in Japan is like. He said that Japan is one of his favorite countries to play and now I understand why.

I have been to some very memorable parties in Japan, including my birthday party with Alex Fish of Holosound, Hed Kandi at Air and Spirit Catcher at AgeHa. However, most of the memories come from nights spent at Womb. The best parties were Nic Fancuilli and James Zabiela on their last stop of the `One + One` tour, the Danny Howells `Dig Deeper` birthday party, Ali Dubfire on his GU tour, SOS on the Balance 13 tour and most recently Hernan Cattaneo at Yellow for an extended twelve hour set. The energy on those nights was just electrifying!

Womb is outfitted by Phazon Sound. Just imagine a sea of Japanese people and foreigners jumping in unison to beats bellowing from one of the world’s best sound systems. It allows you to hear the amazing depth and strength of the music without leaving your ears ringing once you leave.

And the lights; to be on the dance floor of Womb is almost like dancing on another planet. While the sound envelopes your entire body, the lasers that shoot out from behind the DJ booth engulf you into a tunnel of spiraling colour, as if you are about to enter an endless hole. All of your senses are peaked and it’s what makes the music all the more amazing in that room.

Apart from the amazing technology and high energy crowds, there are some logistical things that really make a club night in Tokyo go much smoother. For example, the line-ups to get into the club; I remember freezing my mini skirt off many nights back in Toronto in the middle of winter, sometimes waiting in line for over an hour. In Tokyo the longest I ever waited was ten minutes.

Womb has fingerprint scanners so that you don’t have to bring your I.D. Just a quick press of your thumb onto the pad and all your information is there, putting you into the club that much faster.

Plus there are no body searches (except for AgeHa), which means you can bring anything into the club. My friend and I even brought in cans of beer in our purses!

To speed things up yet again, instead of waiting in a massive coat check line before and after the club, there are coin lockers. This makes things so much easier, if you want to bring a change of clothes for an after party its no problem!

Tokyo is a city full of conveniences and this has spilled over into the clubs. One thing I was really surprised to see, which has been amazingly convenient, is vending machines full of beer or Chu-Hi (Japanese vodka like cooler) inside the club. This eliminates waiting for bartenders or tipping. Of course there are bars inside the clubs, but there is no tipping at them either. I have come to love this. You don’t have to bribe the bartender with a big tip to give you quicker service; everyone is equal and served the same way.

This applies at restaurants too. I know we have all had those terrible servers that didn’t deserve a tip but we tipped them anyways just because we felt we had to. I used to be a waitress so I know how important tipping is, but Japan has changed my point of view. North America is pretty much the only place where tipping is still a rule. I think the rest of the world has it figured out, tipping sucks!

One thing I did miss was bathroom attendants. In their case, I think tipping is justified, if you are taking something. I used to take them for granted but in Japan when you find yourself without a hair elastic or without gum, there is no where to turn. I was really surprised this job hasn’t been created because most people who have been to Japan will contest; the service throughout the country is on a much higher scale than in the North America.

As a culture, Japanese people are overworked. The majority of people spend at least an hour on a crammed train (I mean so crammed there are actually `pushers` to pack them in like sardines in a can) to get to work, where they will stay for an average ten hour working day.

By the weekend they have a lot of stress to relieve. This is usually done with copious amounts of alcohol. Did I mention there’s no last call?! That is mostly seen as a good thing, but it can be dangerous. I know I drink way more in Tokyo then I do back in Toronto.

Although I have never seen a tripped out Japanese person on the floor, I have witnessed many who have drank until they passed out. The combination of long work weeks, plus endless amounts of booze, puts people here into a slumber in the funniest places. Imagine how drunk you have to be to pass out near some of the most powerful speakers in the world?

I have to admit though; I have done this a couple of times. However in my case, it wasn’t the alcohol that put me to sleep. It was the fact that I couldn’t take the train home until 6am (cabs are out of the question because they are so expensive). Normally staying out til 6am isn’t a problem for my energetic self, so why would I fall asleep? Well the music hasn’t always been the greatest.

Rarely was I able to find a local DJ with the kind of talent I have become accustomed to hearing back home. In Toronto I think we are spoiled with how many really good local DJs there are. There is some talent in Tokyo, but my critical ear has yet to hear real quality mixing. There has been a couple of times where I was pleasantly surprised, but in an entire year, way too few.

For me, part of the problem is that there is far more techno and hard electro being played, styles that I’m just not that into. Another possible reason why I haven’t been so impressed is that I haven’t exposed myself to enough local talent. That’s because on any given night, whether it’s a weekday or weekend, whether there is a world famous DJ headlining or not, cover is at least $25 (Womb, Yellow and AgeHa are always $40).

I would have to be guaranteed an incredible night for me to pay that much in Toronto and after a few nights in Tokyo of being completely bored with the music, I wasn’t going to dish out that kind of money again. That’s why I started to reserve my club nights only for DJs that I really wanted to see… I guess maybe that was a good thing.

Though I know this is a challenge for most cities (it’s what we at bringthebeats have struggled with in Toronto for years), but Tokyo is lacking a venue that can draw a dedicated, quality house crowd on a weekly basis. Some clubs have come close, such as Yellow. But by the time you read this, Yellow will have closed its doors after twelve solid years as one of Tokyo’s best underground nightclubs (the building it resides in is unfortunately being demolished). The closing of this club was a lot like when System Soundbar closed its doors; it was a very sad occasion for all the people who had many amazing nights at Yellow over the years.

As in any city with a thriving nightlife, this is a natural evolution that can not be stopped. I have only been away from Toronto for a year and I hear there have already been numerous changes there too. We can`t stop promoter politics or legal issue from invading our nocturnal world, but we can focus our passion into making the nightlife we love as enjoyable as possible.

I think Tokyo has done a great job with running a smooth nightlife in almost all aspects, which has made my time here extremely enjoyable. If you ever have the chance, make the trip to Tokyo and explore it for yourself, it truly is a city that never sleeps!

>> check out some pics of this amazing year >>

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 11:08 pm and is filed under Reviews, What's Going Down. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.