Clubbing in Shibuya

On Saturday night I went out with some friends to a club in Shibuya, which was my celebration for getting the scholarship and a job interview.

It was my first experience of a club in Shibuya, so I was looking forward to seeing what it was like. We went to one that Wynne knew, Atom, and it was only Y1,000 entry, so we couldn't argue with that price!

Most of the clubs in Shibuya are located away from the main station area, but from Hachiko exit, they're only about ten minutes walk up the hill past the 109 building. The prices range from the cheap (around Y1,000 including two drinks) to the more expensive (around Y3,000).

We arrived Atom at about 11.30pm, because it's cheaper before midnight. There was an ID and bag check on the door, and then a long corridor with lockers for our things. The lockers cost Y300, and you don't get the money back, so be careful to take out everything you need, or you'll be paying again!

At the end of the corridor there were two lifts that went up to the 5th floor (Atom is the 4th to the 6th floor of one building). You pay before going into the main dancefloor on the 5th floor, and it was Y1,000 per person, but for women two drinks were included in that. You get a wristband on the door, so you can leave and come back in, although you should be careful that they don't cut it off if you want to re-enter.

The main 5th floor was psychedelic trance, the 4th (that was made to look like a cave) was para para music, and the smaller 6th floor was hip-hop and R&B.

It wasn't too busy when we went in, and Wynne and Fran even got up on one of the small stages and danced for a while. I tried to take a photo but one of the bouncers stopped me and told me to delete it! Apparently you can't take photos.. Or at least not of girls dancing... Hmm, maybe I do understand the logic.

We didn't like the music on the main floor very much, so we went up to the smaller urban floor. The music was much more dance-able and several of my favourite songs were played, some of which I'd never heard in a club before! It was all American stuff, so there were quite a few that I'd never heard before, but most of it had made it over to the UK.

I hit a wall of tiredness and hunger at about 2.30am, but, as it always is with going out in Tokyo, you're stuck until the first train at about 4.30 or 5am. I pushed through and really enjoyed myself.

We left at about 4am and went to get some food from Yoshinoya, and we all really needed water! There were a lot of people smoking in the club, so my throat was really dry. (I didn't want to buy water in the club, as it was Y500, like all the other drinks.) It was a surprise, because smoking is banned in public places in the UK, so the atmosphere wasn't as comfortable in Japan.

We got one of the first trains back at about 4.50am, and I was tucked up in bed at just gone 6am. Once in a while I can handle! But not every night like some people do...