kenleewrites in 日本

Took a walk through Kabukicho with a few buddies of mine a while back. Japanese houses are very lightweight and usually just made entirely of wood. Pretty easy to bring down for a constructicon. ^^.

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hmm… where do I start? How about Kabukichō (歌舞伎町) is an entertainment and red-light district in Shinjuku. Did that get your attention? ^^

We were all guys. Today we had a mission. And our mission is to visit an establishment in Kabukicho. Yeap. We were going to visit a Strip Club. And we went in broad daylight!

See that big tv in the background? That’s Studio Alta. Alta for short. It’s a popular meeting place. All you have to do is take the east exit and you’re there. Right outside the east exit and in front of the Koban or police box is also a popular meeting spot. Meeting spots are important when you’re dealing with a big station. Especially one that has 4 million people going through it every single day.

What’s the regular practice when uploading photos. Do we have to blur out number plates, faces etc? I only try to exercise a little common sense. If it’s taken in a public place, I don’t think that requires any blurring does it… unless it’s a dodgy public place ^^.

If you were leaning against the railings like those guys in the first picture, this would be towering right opposite you.

So, where did we go. It took us a while to fine this place. Had to whip out google maps on the iphone to help find it. If you’re thinking that it’s going to be like what you see on tv, namely American strip clubs, then you’ll be utterly disappointed… utterly disappointed and pleasantly surprised ^^. It’s not like those clubs you see in movies. Places where you can drink and throw money at the girls or put it in their pantyhose or somewhere else. It’s a little more… how do I put it… ‘artistic’. There is a stage with seats around it. That’s all. The girls dance for your visual enjoyment and you just sit back and enjoy the show. No bars to buy drinks. Only a vending machine outside the dark and heavily sound proofed stage area. There’s also a DJ mixing the music and introducing the girls.

Let’s talk about entrance fee. There’s no bargaining. ¥5000 for everyone. ¥3000 if you’re a student. ¥4000 if you’re above 60. And… I forgot, there’s a special price if you’re going in as a couple. Senior discount I can understand, couple discount… I can sympathize with ^^. But student discount?

As you might expect, zero girls. There were only guys in there. Demographic, probably late twenties, early thirties and all the way up.

This is how it works. The shows are scheduled and there a few shows everyday. Each show runs for 3 hours and you get to see 6 girls. 3 hours, 6 girls. Each girl has 30 minutes of showtime on stage. Each show is split into 5 parts. Is it starting to sound complicated? Here’s a breakdown of the 5 parts.
1) Dance (clothed)
2) Dance (clothed)
3) Strip tease (clothed initially)
4) Polaroid photo session (clothed or not)
5) ‘Open show’ (Bottomless)
I think I don’t have to explain parts 1-3. Pretty self-explanatory. 4 is something new. Maybe something that is only available in Japan. The girl will come out wearing something light. She has with her a polaroid camera. A press of the shutter costs ¥500. It’s polaroid, so it’s instant. You can have your photo taken with her or you can get her to pose for you. Whatever pose you want. And I’ve seen some requests that were perhaps too revealing. I’ll talk about the photo session a little later. Let’s go on to number 5. She comes out for a quick dance wearing only a top, like a t-shirt. The words ‘Open Show’ is not something I came up with. The DJ actually said (in Japanese) ‘now we’re going to have the open show’. Bottomless… ‘Open Show’…. All I have to say is use your imagination.

Except for the Polaroid photo session, the use of cameras and mobile phones is prohibited inside the club. Probably to protect the identities of clients visiting the place. Dodgy public place ^^. The place is probably controlled by gangsters (yakuza), so I wasn’t going to defy them and take out my camera, or my mobile for that matter.

But I did want a memento. I initially wanted to get a two shot with one of the girls. Like her sitting next to me. Both of us fully clothed. There was a long queue and while we were halfway in line, she stripped. Man, there goes my chance for a souvenir. Usually there are 2 parts to the photo session. There’s a clothed part and an unclothed part. The girls will usually ask the queue if it’s ok for her to strip. I think we must have missed that announcement. I was a little disappointed. But, why not. All I had to do is to ask her to cover up for our shot.

Here’s my memento. My friend who took this shot has very bad technique… What’s with the blank space on the right? Give me back 250yen! ><. I should be glad he didn’t leave half of my face out in the photo. ^^. She was pretty cute.

I must admit though, watching the actions/reactions of the other people there enjoying the show were just as interesting.

So after the 3 hour show and having seen enough of the female anatomy, we left, and went searching for some food. I haven’t had breakfast that day.

Took out the iphone and searched for the nearest Negishi ねぎし. It’s a restaurant that does set lunches. The negishi set has rice, grilled beef tongue (like those I had in Sendai, only thinner), oxtail soup, pickles and barley rice with yam. A healthy meal befitting an unhealthy morning (without breakfast I mean ^^).

Just some other photos I took walking off lunch in Shinjuku.

The south entrance of Shinjuku station is getting a facelift. Here’s what it is supposed to look like when it’s done.

Ever wondered why so many penguins are used in this Suica advert? I think it has something to do with black and white being the standard color for the suit and shirt combination. You’ll probably see many ‘penguins’ on a weekday in Tokyo. ^^

As for the strip club, one experience is good enough for me though. Don’t think you’ll find me going back there again ^^.

Today I'm doing something I haven't done in Japan before. Also going somewhere I've not been to before. Can you guess where I'm going and what I'll be doing? ^^

Like katanas? Then you’ll love this place. The Japanese Sword Museum (website’s in Japanese only). They display lots of different katanas from different eras in Japanese history. The katanas that they display are not museum pieces. They belong to collectors who generously allow the museum to display them. Depends on when you go, the displays are always different.

When I went, they were displaying katanas from the Kamakura and the Nanbukucho period. Pretty old stuff. You won’t see the packaged whole katana. Only the blade is displayed. Everything else is stripped bare. You’ll get to see the soul of the katana!

It’s very interesting! The length, curvature and even the way it was carried evolved quite a bit over time. During the Heian period (平安時代 Heian-jidai), a long time ago… think “The tale of Genji”, swords were carried on the waist blade facing the ground. But there was a switch after that period. Katanas were then worn with the blade facing upwards. You know why? Back in the Heian period, samurais fought on horsebacks. So the swords were worn blade down so that it doesn’t hit the horse’s side (even “modern” samurais still wear it like that while on horseback). Even not on horseback, they still carried it that way. When the it changed. I don’t know why, but someone explained it to me in a very simple way; the rise of Battōjutsu (抜刀術), the sword-drawing techniques. I’m sure you know one thing or two about it. One quick draw and *swoosh*, your opponent is cut. Apparently It’s much easier to do a quick draw with the blade facing up. Hence the change.

Anyway, the museum provides a general “Manual for Appreciating the Japanese Sword” in English. I found it to be pretty informative. Don’t forget to pick it up when you get there!

There is one drawback though… I would say the worst part about going there is getting there. The place itself is quite hard to find. You have to navigate a few narrow streets. Check the map. I took the Keio New Line (京王新線) and got off at Hatsudai (初台) station. You can get on this line from Shibuya or Shinjuku. Remember, it’s the new line. The station is at the left portion of the map. When you get out, you’ll most like be at Tokyo Opera City (東京オペラシティ). You’ll be able to find your way from there.

If you’re on the right track, you’ll see plenty of signs like this…

and this…

This is the front of the museum.

The multi-storied flyover that you can see in the map.

You won’t see photos for katanas here because I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside. But you’ll love it. Katanas are unrivaled beautiful steel pieces of art, even if they are a weapon. I only wish I had me one…