My First Japanese Club

Last night I went to a nightclub in Roppongi (六本木) with Rob and another friend from Leeds called Matt. It was a very interesting experience, as it's only in the last year or so I've been to British clubs and bars (age being the issue, in Britain you have to be 18, and in Japan 20).

We went to the British pub we went to a couple of weeks ago in Kichijoji with Katy first, and then we headed off to Roppongi, and she went home as she had a lot of work to do the next day.

We took the Chuo line (中央線) to Shinjuku, where we changed to the Yamanote loop line (山手線), and changed to the Hibiya subway line (地下鉄日比谷線) at Ebisu. It was about 11.30pm and it was the last train (終電, shuuden) from Ebisu to Hiroo, which is only one stop, so we had to walk the last twenty minutes or so to Roppongi. As with any night out in Tokyo, once the last train has finished, you're stranded until the first train (初電, shoden) starts in the morning, which is usually about 4.30 or 5am. So there was no turning back for us! We didn't want to spend £70 on a taxi home!

In Ebisu station we met a couple of loud Australians, who were nice, but in Japan on a kind of party trip, and weren't really our sort of people. So we escaped being roped into going to a club with them by declining their offer of sharing a taxi.

We were looking for a particular club called 3.2.8 (さんにいっぱ) because Rob had been there with the friend he came to Japan with last year. He said it was really foreigner friendly, and it was easy to meet people and practise Japanese.

We rounded the corner onto Roppongi-doori and there it was! We'd passed it briefly on the Midnight Walk we did through Tokyo last weekend, but it was quite far out from the main area of Roppongi, where most foreigners go. It has to be said that Roppongi is not usually the place I would choose to go, due to the type of people it attracts, but I knew that the club didn't look like the kind of place they would go.

It was around midnight by the time we arrived, and I was already a little bit tired, but I knew I'd wake up once we were inside. We paid the Y2,500 (£16) to get in, which included two drinks, which were around Y800 (£5) each. It was expensive but we weren't going to find anywhere cheaper!

We got drinks and then sat down and watched the people. It was quite a bohemian atmosphere, and the people seemed like nice, relaxed types. The sound system was good, and there was a mix of 90s British rock, modern English dance, and Japanese music too, some of the songs I hadn't heard for years and years! But, in the middle of the evening, the music switched to quite low key reggae covers of pop songs from the 90s, which wasn't at all where it should have gone, it was the peak!

The highlight was definitely when the Japanese version of YMCA came on. Everyone was there doing the dance, and singing along with the Japanese lyrics. All I understood was "若い子" (Young man!)

I thought it was such a difference from British clubs to see the DJ smoking! (But he wasn't meant to see me taking this photo...)

The people there were mainly Japanese, and we were brought into a circle of frantically jumping Japanese guys early on, but they left at about 2am. Later on, quite a large group of Westerners came in and took photos of nearly every corner of the club before having a drink. There were also quite a few business men and women there too, some dancing, some just drinking. The average age was about 30 I think. We were definitely the youngest people there!

By 3.30 we were all quite tired, so we stopped dancing and sat at the bar chatting for a while. Just before 4 we decided to go to a family restaurant I'd seen as we walked from the station, Jonathans, and have a bite to eat. We were all falling asleep, but we got one of the first trains at around 5.30am and retraced our steps home.

The first trains are so strange! They're eeriely quite, and everyone on there is falling asleep, either because they'd been out all night, or have to be up early for something. Not what Tokyo trains should be like!

Needless to say, I slept very well when we got back to the guesthouse!

Japanese Music

There is a real mix of Japanese music out there. It ranges from the most bubblegumiest pop tune to the heaviest metal scream-out.

The TV in the living room in my guesthouse is usually on BBC World or MTV Japan, so I see a lot of new, popular Japanese music played through the day.

I hadn't heard much Japanese music before I came to Japan at all, just UVERworld, Utada Hikaru and Ayumi Hamasaki. So, with very limited knowledge, I had to find some songs that I enjoyed/ loved to hate.

Let's start with my favourite song. Secret Secret, by Perfume! (シークレットシークレット, Perfume.) It's exactly what you expect from Japanese pop; synchronised dancing, heavy product placement, and poptastic fun. I sang this song a few weeks ago at karaoke in Shibuya, not easy!

Perfume have also recently (this is mid-2008) done Baby Cruising Love, Chocolate Disco (チョコレイト・ディスコ) and Poly Rhythm (ポリリズム). I sang Poly Rhythm by accident at karaoke, having never heard it before, and that was a little bit difficult!

Other songs that were everywhere when I arrived in January were:

Soba ni iru ne, by Aoyama Thelma (そばにいるね、青山テルマ). This song was on all the NTT DoCoMo adverts for months, so I found myself humming it a lot. Aoyama Thelma has also done 19 Memories and My Dear Friend recently.

Namie Amuro! (安室奈美恵) Her What a Feeling was out when I first arrived, and I heard New Look a lot too. Most recently, she released a collaboration single with Double called Black Diamond. I actually like this song, I'm constantly singing it in my head, although I don't know the words! All of Namie Amuro's songs (at least the recent ones) seem to have a lot of English/ katakana English in them, so I can fathom at least some meaning.

Another song I like, and one of my housemate's favourite songs, is the debut single from Miho Fukuhara (福原美穂) [Japanese link only, sorry] called Change. I don't know if she'll be very popular in a few years, but she's doing well for herself now.

Aiko released Futari (二人) while I was here as well. It was played a lot, but then she seemed to disappear for a month or two. She'll probably release a new song very soon.

Yui has released two songs I enjoy hearing, one is Laugh Away, and the other is Namidairo.

Ikimonogakari have had two popular hits in the last few months, Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utsukushi (花は桜 君は美し) and Kaeritaku Natta yo (帰りたくなったよ).

Then there's the boy bands, like SMAP, who released Sono Mama a couple of months ago, and Funky Monkey Babys (not a spelling mistake on my part).

I quite like Monobright too, although I can't remember any of their song names.

Then there's the hugely successful Ayumi Hamasaki, who's most recent song is the hugely weird Mirrorcle World. It's not a song I can like, because it sounds like a jumble of lyrics and sounds to me.

Then there's the Western songs that become hugely popular in Japan, and whenever I hear them in the future, I'll be immediately transported back to Japan.

It's songs like Mariah Carey's Touch My Body (which I sang at karaoke, and never will again *shudders*) and Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland with Four Minutes that are everywhere at the moment.

And I left Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love behind me in the UK, only to find it was out in the US and Japan! I don't like her music, but I'm pleased that a British singer can get to Number 1 in the US charts and be popular all over the world so quickly.

And I can't do a post about Japanese music without mentioning Monica Wu. I've been to several of her concerts while I've been here, and each one has been fun and I've left humming her songs for days afterwards. I definitely recommend her music if you ever get the chance. You can listen online, and her new album, Shinkirou, is on sale now.

Well, there's a tiny snapshot of music in Japan. Maybe that will help you get an idea of what to expect if you're finding it difficult to find Japanese music from abroad.

I apologise if by the time you come to read this any of the information or links are out of date. People have a habit of removing music and videos from the internet a lot, so sorry if some are dead!

Up-and-Coming Star

I have stumbled upon the music of Monica Wu, an up-and-coming rising star who has conquered Taiwan and will soon make it big in Tokyo. She has gigs coming up in March so if you want to check her out, then definitely do so! She's a great performer and a wonderful singer. Her album is also out now.