Since we had today off, we went clubbing in Roppongi last night. Roppongi is um... well it's not the nicest place in Tokyo. Lots of clubs and bars, and many Nigerian immigrants working as bouncers for those clubs and bars. There are a few nice restaurants and a high-end mall was built a few years ago to make the area less seedy, but it's still one of those places. (Aside: The dean of the exchange students ended his welcome speech with, "And for the love of God, don't go to Roppongi.")
When you party in Japan, you party hard. Trains stop running from around midnight until five or six in the morning, so unless you've got a car or want to pay for a taxi, you're out all night. We got to club Gas Panic at around 1130pm and left the next morning, sun rising, at 5am. The scene in Gas Panic was a mix of Japanese, gaijin, and creepy chikan (pervert) salarymen. I went clubbing in the same area a few years ago and I don't remember running into salarymen, so I was a bit taken aback to see older guys in suits taking shots and dancing (if that's what you can call it; it was closer to seizures for most of them).
In America if you want a drink you go up to the bar or find a hostess, but in Japan the hostesses hunt you down and make you buy drinks. Seriously, the bartenders and hosts were fairly aggressive with drink orders. Staff members would troll the dance floor throughout the night with laminated mini-menus on their lanyards, pushing people to buy drinks. The guy serving the seating area was trying to get all the tables to buy bottles of champagne.
A few little things throughout the night made me go, "What?":
- The bartenders did a karaoke version of some old Japanese pop song and held up a poster of who I assume was the original artist.
Sorry for the bad quality, but you get the idea.
- Way too many people knew how to do the Soulja Boy dance.
- They played Avril Lavigne's song "Girlfriend," and every single person in the club knew the chorus. Every. Single. Person. It was hilarious.
- There were Japanese hip-hop boys that put up a hardcore front, but the second you bumped into them it was, "Sumimasen!" and they would bow politely. So gangster, those guys.
EDIT: You can smoke in Japanese clubs. NOT GOOD. We spent five and a half hours in smoke and the fog stuff they spray on the dance floor. I left the club smelling like cigarettes, and I had an ashy taste in my mouth from all the second-hand smoke. It's been two days and I'm still coughing.
We have school the rest of the week, but on Saturday we'll be taking a day-trip to visit the area Tama lives in. I forget what we're doing, probably sight-seeing or a festival of some kind, but it should be fun.
When you party in Japan, you party hard. Trains stop running from around midnight until five or six in the morning, so unless you've got a car or want to pay for a taxi, you're out all night. We got to club Gas Panic at around 1130pm and left the next morning, sun rising, at 5am. The scene in Gas Panic was a mix of Japanese, gaijin, and creepy chikan (pervert) salarymen. I went clubbing in the same area a few years ago and I don't remember running into salarymen, so I was a bit taken aback to see older guys in suits taking shots and dancing (if that's what you can call it; it was closer to seizures for most of them).
In America if you want a drink you go up to the bar or find a hostess, but in Japan the hostesses hunt you down and make you buy drinks. Seriously, the bartenders and hosts were fairly aggressive with drink orders. Staff members would troll the dance floor throughout the night with laminated mini-menus on their lanyards, pushing people to buy drinks. The guy serving the seating area was trying to get all the tables to buy bottles of champagne.
A few little things throughout the night made me go, "What?":
- The bartenders did a karaoke version of some old Japanese pop song and held up a poster of who I assume was the original artist.
Sorry for the bad quality, but you get the idea.
- Way too many people knew how to do the Soulja Boy dance.
- They played Avril Lavigne's song "Girlfriend," and every single person in the club knew the chorus. Every. Single. Person. It was hilarious.
- There were Japanese hip-hop boys that put up a hardcore front, but the second you bumped into them it was, "Sumimasen!" and they would bow politely. So gangster, those guys.
EDIT: You can smoke in Japanese clubs. NOT GOOD. We spent five and a half hours in smoke and the fog stuff they spray on the dance floor. I left the club smelling like cigarettes, and I had an ashy taste in my mouth from all the second-hand smoke. It's been two days and I'm still coughing.
We have school the rest of the week, but on Saturday we'll be taking a day-trip to visit the area Tama lives in. I forget what we're doing, probably sight-seeing or a festival of some kind, but it should be fun.
it sounds so holy. "golden..."
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