The Starry Nights of Tokyo
Tokyo during the day can arguably be one of the most systematic, dull and serious places to live in.
But as the sun sets and they light up the streets, the evening adventure begins as the city turns into a mixture of loud music, neon lights, and thousands of Japanese out to live life to the fullest after a tiring day of work. The city boasts of some of the world’s best nightlife and most of these places stay open till the subway opens at 5am.
The crowds are as dense at midnight as they are at 4am and the streets are flooded with all sorts of people you can imagine.
When I was in high school all I wanted to do was to travel and live in Japan for an extended period of time. I may have ended up in Hong Kong but I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of times I got to visit and stay in Japan. I finally got to go for a long haul visit to Japan where I stayed primarily in Tokyo where I know now turned out to be one of the best opportunities I had.
The evening adventure in Tokyo can be a crazy place, depending upon where you go.
Some areas can even get pretty shady and unsafe, and so I decided it was best to keep myself informed of all the party spots of the city (talked about more in other posts. The night scene there was very exclusive, with many bars and clubs catering to all sorts of clients.
There were actually districts and categories these places were divided into. I was surprised to see that almost all the places charged an admission fee ranging from $5 to $50, the waiter called it an otsumami – which meant “snack charge”.
Some of the most up-scale places are located in the Ginza, Roppongi and Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku. Roppongi is where all the tourists, foreigners and expats go, packed with dive bars and dance clubs. This area is open to both Japanese and Non-Japanese customers. Shibuya is where the younger lot goes to mingle, and other districts if you’re looking for a fun evening adventure!
ageHa
Probably the most happening place I have ever seen, ageHa can house around 5000 people at a time! I found myself lost in the crowd and over-whelmed by the enormity of this place. There were numerous places and smaller bars inside the club to sit and drink, in addition to three dance floors and an outdoor swimming pool. If you are ever in Tokyo for an evening adventure, ageHa should be on the top of your ‘things to do’ list.
Womb
I know right? The name says it all. Located at a 15 min walk from Shibuya, it has a vast dance floor and a massive mirror ball hanging from the ceiling that casts reflections all over the dance floor. This place was pretty enticing and the crowd was amazing. What I liked most about these night clubs were the amazing sound systems, the Japanese seem to be doing all the right things.
VILLAGE
This is a comparatively newly opened club in the Roppongi /Azabu area, where I saw so many different people I can’t describe. I was told the chances of bumping into celebrities were not a rare thing here, which I found pretty apparent. It was a posh club with bars serving top-shelf drinks and concoctions and the staff was friendly. The unique thing about this place was that it had a more urban feel to the ambience, while the others were not themed for the casual party goers.
I do not consider myself a partier by nature and often prefer the solitude of travel, but I love checking out new places and seeing how a people live and enjoy life. I could go on and on for hours about all the amazing things, and more evening adventures to be had, I saw but it would be far better if you go see for yourself!
Oh, and my friend Marc had a big problem when he moved to Tokyo a few years back, it was the sam problem I had and so wished to be able to solve, and that was knowing the language! He purchased this Japanese language course and in a matter of weeks was talking like a local! Well, maybe not a local, but he sounded pretty impressive! Worth checking out.
If you like exciting places and get a chance to see Japan, Tokyo is not a place to miss. And trust me when I say, there are so many more things to do than just a few places like those listed above, you’ll be spending all your waking time out having fun!
Enjoy!
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