Asian Kung-Fu Generation have a whole slew of dates coming up in Tokyo. They will be at Studio Coast on April 29th; Akasaka Blita on April 30th at 6:30PM; Yokohama Bay Hall on May 5th & 6th at 6:30PM and at Shibuya-AX on May 2th & 29th at 7:00PM. all shows are ¥4,000. Call Disk Garage to get your tix, (03)-5436-9600.
Springroove is a massive annual event that brings the hottest U.S. hip hop & R&B acts to Japan. As good as I thought last year’s lineup was, the 2008 version is even better. Hitting stages throughout Japan this year will be Ne-Yo, Rihanna, Keyshia Cole & Sean Kingston with Bape presenting Kanye West, N.E.R.D., Teriyaki Boyz and my girl, DJ Kaori. Bananas. The Tokyo stop is Saturday, April 5 at Makuhari Messe. Virtually all of the artists are doing solo dates as well.
For example, Neyo is performing April 1st at 7PM at Akasaka Blitz, tickets are ¥8,000 & ¥10,000 for the 7PM show; while Rihanna & Keyshia Cole take the stage at Zepp Osaka on Thursday, April 3rd and Sunday April 6th. Ticketsrange from ¥7,500 to ¥15,000 for those shows. Sean Kingston is making solo stops in Fukuoka, Nagoya and Osaka.
For full line ups and info hit the link below or call Creativeman 03-3462-6969 or their Springroove hotline at 0180-993-050. This is one of, if not the, premier event to hit Japan each year. Don’t miss out.
The cover of Namie Amuro’s new 60s70s80s CD set for release next week. I have the videos here on Ikinoii. Do a search for them. And because I’m such a swell guy, you can have this picture in high resolution by clicking here. Tell all those other J-Pop chicks they're officially being put on notice, the Queen of hip-Pop is back.
Kumi Koda will do four shows in Tokyo this May at the National Yoyogi Kyogijo. May 14th & 15th the shows start at 6:30PM; on May 17th she hits the stage at 6PM and on May 18th show time is 4PM. Tickets for all shows are ¥7,350. Call 03-3498-9999 for information and ticket availability.
During most of my time spent living in Tokyo I worked at a nightclub in Azabu. Azabu is a fairly chic upscale community that is home to a few equally upscale restaurants, bars and nightclubs. One of the more famous Azabu clubs, Yellow, I blog about frequently. Due to Azabu’s close proximity to Roppongi, it is not uncommon to find foreigners sampling Azabu’s nightlife offerings, especially at places like Yellow, Super Deluxe, Warehouse, Heartland or any number of their many neighbors. I’m not taking any cheap shots at Roppongi, because the Roppongi today is not the Roppongi of yore, but let’s face it, there are more gaijins there than any other part of Tokyo, or Japan for that matter and it’s still can be a fairly rough part of town.
Despite the close proximity to somewhat troublesome Roppongi, rarely does anything ever happen to break the tranquility of Azabu. That is until last Wednesday night. Today I found a report in Japan Today about a 29 year old DJ killing a rowdyAmericanpatron while allegedly attempting to subdue the man after finding him shoving his way through the crowd at approximately 10:40PM.
Japanese people are notorious for minding their own business. Incidents of chikans, perverted men, molesting women on crowded subway cars are proof of that. I remember while living there, I was in a bar in Ikebukuro with some of my Japanese friends when a man began to smack his girlfriend around. As quickly as I stood up to stick my big American nose in my friends pulled me back down and said “that’s a private affair”. Considering those things, it’s easy for me to envision people standing around in mute witness while this tragic event took place without intervention.
The report says the DJ, Atsushi Watanabe, 29, choked and hit Tuker Richard Scott, 47 (probably Richard Scott Tucker, the Japanese always put last names first), from behind and the victim died an hour later at a local hospital. I don’t know. It would take some heavy duty beating to kill a man, especially if it was only with your bare hands. Is seeing someone shoving people out of their way reason for homicide?
As a former nightlife employee, DJ and impresario I can say that I’ve always looked out for my patrons and I can relate with Mr. Watanabe’s claim that he was just trying to protect the clubgoers. In nightlife, your patrons are your bread and butter and without them you have no livelihood. Furthermore, your regular patrons are something comparable to family members. I can’t say for certain what was the case here, obviously, not being there or knowing anything about the victim or his killer but, one would have to suspect there may possibly have been other sociological factors involved besides a guy wanting to play hero.
There have been recent crimes committed by American servicemen in Okinawa and other parts of Japan that have Japanese people, rightfully, up-in-arms. The Interracial dating that often occurs between foreign men and Japanese women, in a largely homogeneous society may tick some people off. My girlfriend and I have received a few less than friendly looks on the rare occasion in japan and here in the U.S. as well. Anti-American sentiment? Social Darwinism? Protecting people close to you? One psychologically f’ed up individual who happened to be a DJ?
New Year’s Eve, 1995 I had thrown one of the biggest parties New York City had ever seen. Thirteen Thousand people had come from as far away as Osaka, Paris, Puerto Rico and Mexico for the party. A couple even got married on the dance floor. True story. Some of the world’s greatest DJs were on the bill, Felix Da Housecat, Doc Martin, Tiga, Juan Atkins and Paul Van Dyk.
I was just pulling up at about 2Am with Paul Van Dyk when I saw almost as many police and firemen as there were patrons standing outside my Queens warehouse. Not a good sign. Long story short, four months of worldwide promotion had landed me squarely on Mayor Guliani’s ish-list. Last week when his party came to an end I felt like Karma was coming back to him for raining on mine. I only worked with Paulonce after that, but I can tell you the man is as wonderful a human being as he is a DJ. A very talented person who’s musical interests are as wide and grand as his smile.
If you are in Tokyo or plan to be on February 21st, head over to Club Unit in chic Daikanyama and hear Paul Van Dyk weave those influences through techno beats while he flashes that big smile across the dance floor. It’s the Tokyo stop for Paul's In Between Album Tour. Doors open at 11:30PM and it will cost you ¥4000 to get in. info:03-5459-8630.
J-Pop starlet Koda Kumi made an attempt at humor that went totally awry. On a January 30th radio show promoting her new release, Kingdom, she said ‘Women over 35 had rotten fluid in their wombs’ making it difficult for them to bear children, drawing the ire of mature women all over Japan. Teary eyed, Ms. Koda went on Fuji TV “Super News” program . After that epic brain fart, her record company, Avex Entertainment, the biggest record label in Japan, put the breaks on all of her promotional appearances, and hopefully, enrolled her in a biology class.
Additionally, she lost a marketing deal. Kose corp, one of Japan’s major cosmetics manufacturer, drop her from their popular Vissee brand cosmetics promotions. Shutting down her appearances have in part been done for her own protection. The singer might have had a beatdown coming her way. Maybe now that she apologized for her lack of sensitivity, they’ll take their boot off her neck, but still it’s pretty shocking that she ever could say something like that.
Source: Japan Today.
Man, I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. I was just going through today’s latest news in my NetNewsWire reader when I came across this funny tale of a Japanese lad running up an outrageous bar tab at, what sounds like, one of those cheezy Japanese hostess bars where all the salaryman type go after work to get buck wild before going home to their wives & families.
This youngster, all of sixteen years old - what? a high school sophomore - went to said hostess-type bar in Niiza, Saitama, just outside Tokyo, and ran up a P. Diddy-sized tab of ¥370,000 ($3,460.21/€2,369.94) on bottles of top shelf champagne, 60 cocktails and “four or five hostesses”. He walked in the joint at 10:30 PM and at 4:30 in the morning, when presented with his bill, told them he didn’t have any money to pay. I’m amazed he didn’t get his ass kicked.
They called the police and after they arrived, it was revealed that the suspect (name withheld because of age) was a mere child, that now only applies in the chronological sense. The young man certainly has gone were no Japanese teen has gone before, but it certainly cost him. I find it particularly interesting that this kid knew how to order drinks & hold a conversation with several grown women.
Talk about swag. Two things I am willing to bet, one - he is now the king of his daigaku and two - he probably did get that ass-whuppin’ when he got home because somebody had to pay for that. However, I am pretty sure dad’s pride held him in check a bit.
Get ready, Tokyo… the always dapper, ever soulful pop pinup Adam Levine and his Maroon 5 band mates are headed your way. They’ll have two shows in Tokyo that will be will coincide with spring break which means any M5 fans stateside can have a truly amazing spring break this year with flights at a reasonable $1,000 round trip from the east coast and even less from the west coast. Hey, if it works for any of you I know some really affordable places to stay there. It is definitely something I will be considering myself. The shows are March 10th & 11th at 7pm and will be at the historic Nippon Budokan in Kudanshita, central Tokyo. Tickets are a mere ¥8,000 and ¥7,000. For more info dial 03-3402-5999.
