82-year-old DJ puts unique spin on Tokyo's club scene
Sumiko Iwamuro knows a thing or two about juggling work. She spends her days behind the counter at a family-run specialty gyoza restaurant and one or two nights a month moonlighting under her stage name DJ Sumirock. It is an impressive feat for someone 82 ...
Where Japan's club culture needs to go in 2017
Last month, I was invited to speak at the inaugural Tokyo Dance Music Event — a conference consisting of workshops and talks, loosely modeled on long-running international equivalents like the Amsterdam Dance Event. On the first morning of the two-day program, I was asked to ...
Brodinski, R3hab and Ogre You Asshole among the acts performing at New Year's Eve parties
While New Year's Eve in Japan tends to be a more solemn affair, Tokyo's nightlife never really comes to a halt. If you find yourself in Shibuya Ward, check out Womb for "Womb Presents New Year Countdown to 2017" with Josh Wink (www.womb.co.jp). Also in ...
Nightclub trial helped defense lawyer rediscover love of break dancing
The Supreme Court acquittal in June of a nightclub owner indicted for unlawfully allowing customers to dance at the venue had special significance for a member of the defense team. Before becoming a lawyer, Motonobu Ishigaki was a member of a world-renowned break-dancing team. His ...
Former Osaka nightclub owner cleared over 'no dancing' violation
The adult entertainment business law bans men and women from dancing in pairs and in physical contact after midnight.
Japan shedding 1940s morality by relaxing rules on nightclubs
Late-night dancing is just a step away after the revision of a law that forced nightclubs to close by midnight. New regulations that take effect on June 23 will allow the music to play on until the early hours under some conditions. The law was in ...
The shape-shifting landscape of Japan's electronic underground
Detroit techno pioneer Derrick May joined Tokyo's DJ Emma on New Year's Eve to say goodbye to one of the capital's most respected electronic music venues, Air. Since opening in 2001, the 600-capacity club in Shibuya Ward focused almost exclusively on techno and house. And ...
'Jack' event declares: ‘Let there be J-pop!’
Over the past two years, Simon Whybray's monthly club night and online mix series “Jack” (stylized in all caps) has featured high-energy songs from around the globe, including a healthy dose of J-pop. It's surprising, then, when he reveals his gateway into Japanese music ...
Trail of failed ventures involving American in murder probe leads from New York to Tokyo
The record of dubious projects leads from Peter Gatien-era New York clubland to Singapore and Japan
The Diet revised the adult entertainment business law on Wednesday to enable dance clubs to operate past midnight if they meet certain conditions. The revision came after individuals from the music industry such as performer and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, a prominent lobbyist, launched a campaign ...
Cabinet OKs bill that would let nightclubs operate past midnight
The Cabinet signs off on a bill that would revise the adult entertainment business law to enable discos and nightclubs that offer dancing to operate past midnight.
Former owner of club Noon sees acquittal upheld
The former owner of an Osaka nightclub charged under Japan's controversial "no dancing" law has been cleared of wrongdoing after a High Court upheld his acquittal last year. Masatoshi Kanemitsu was arrested in April 2012 under fueihō, a so-called anti-dancing law which originated in 1948 ...
