Gold Finger is a fantasy party for women -- and women only. The event remains faithful to the formula that the organizer, Chiga, first encountered 15 years ago at the Fridge in London.

"I was so impressed when I walked in and felt the energy," says Chiga, as she recalls that first experience. "There were about 1,000 women -- all kinds of women: old, young, glamorous, plain. The atmosphere was fantastic."

When Chiga arrived back in Tokyo after what ended up being a year in London and Paris, she decided to start her own women-only party. It was launched with no name at the then very hip and underground venue in Akasaka called Deep (which spawned many legends, including DJ Emma). From there, it jumped around town for a few years before adopting the name Mona Lisa for a brief stint at Gold in Shibaura.

But it wasn't until 1997, when Chiga renamed her party Gold Finger and relaunched at the Candlelight Club in Daikanyama, that the event truly came of age. It was my turn to be impressed as I circled that cavernous club one night and experienced the energy of a room packed with somewhere upward of 500 women. The atmosphere was electric.

"I am Don King Chigalliano -- a Chinese-Italian mafia type of James Bond," says Chiga proudly. "Gold Finger is my fantasy party. It is not a lesbian party -- it's for all women."

Since its relaunch it has also featured the Bond Girls, dancers whom Chiga handpicks for their personality on the podium. I have never seen such unabashed pole-dancing. And every night, once the dance floor is pumping, tips are sold in five-ticket batches for 500 yen and passed between a customer and the dancer of her choice -- usually mouth-to-mouth and sealed with a kiss.

Gold Finger presently resides at Simoon in Shibuya, a venue which can barely cope with the demand for what is now an extremely popular party. But bigger venues are reluctant to give up a weekend night for a women-only party, so for now Simoon is home. Which is certainly not to say that Simoon is a small venue. Rather, it is a split-level complex with a bar and lounge upstairs and a spacious dance-floor downstairs.

And just like the patrons at the Fridge, you will find every kind of woman. Some are lesbians, of course, including typical fem-butch couples holding hands as they move around the club. But it is mostly small groups of friends, relaxed and casual, who have been waiting all month to go dancing and enjoy a girls' night out at Gold Finger.

Just as the parties have come of age, so has the line-up of female DJs who spin at the event. Veizy and Juri are now well-seasoned turntablists, who know exactly what their audiences want to hear. You will generally find one of them warming up the crowd early on, before the other jumps on and pumps it up another notch. But, just like the women these parties attract, the mix they spin defies categorization.

"Most Japanese women have never even thought about their sexuality, but they might after they've been to Gold Finger," says Chiga with a grin . . .