Tokyo’s Shin-Okubo neighborhood thrives on trends. One week, people from across the capital are lining up for cheese-stuffed corn dogs, the next they’re queuing for Korean egg bread. The sounds of K-pop blast out of stores selling imported cosmetics and BTS paraphernalia.
“There are so many cafes around here because one got popular. Now, they open like 20 in a month,” Jae Won Koo, 27, says of the area in which he spent most of his childhood. “It’s really hard to have an ongoing business around here because everyone just ends up doing the same thing.”
Koo wants to introduce something new to Tokyo’s Koreatown. He’s the owner, interior designer and event organizer of Bacon, a music space and bar located on the second floor of the Tonchang Building not far from Shin-Okubo’s massive Don Quijote variety store. Since opening its doors last September, Bacon has hosted fashion release parties, live-music events and more. Koo says he wants the space to bring people together through music, art events and general ambience.