Kollin-san meets Jazzy Jeff first night in Tokyo

Ahh, what a week, I'm hardly sure where to begin since it's been a bit since my last entry.

The weather of late has been nothing but grey skies and days of continuous light rain but luckily the skies parted in the form of a friend coming to visit and bearing gifts. Kollin arrived safely into Tokyo this past Saturday surprisingly well rested which is good since on his first night in town we kept him out the entire night. Thanks to Lito and Guido for providing me with coffee and music. As I write this I am taking full advantage of the both. Now, if we could just get their asses out here as well but alas, I know Senor L is busy with too many projects and Mr. G, well, he'd probably have to find a job first...

Met Kollin near the famous Hachiko statue outside of Shibuya station. He had a native KC-ite in tow who helped guide him a bit looking excited and surprisingly refreshed even though the rain was coming down in sheets. The streets were shining a welcoming leading a nice night. Even though it's been a year and half and the environment probably could not have changed more, life slipped right into place. We headed over a bar for a beer and some long needed catching up. Over a couple pints I got filled in on some of the details of his life and others close to me from that city that seems so far off, and in actuality, is. Since I had worked all day and the weather lately seems to be creating some allergies, I wasn't planning on a late night. We took off for a late dinner at a great rotating sushi bar in Shibuya a friend had turned me onto a few weeks back. Everything is one price pre plate, around a buck actually. You have to order a minimum of 7 plates per person and during peak hours have time limits on how long you can stay, needless to say no one had any problem meeting the quota and our bill for three was only around 30$. Can't beat that.

Our Kansas compadre had left a bit earlier to go see DJ Jazzy Jeff who was playing that night, we were feeling good and unsure about dropping the cash and the time for an all night venture. We walked over and decided against it and rushed back to the station to realize that Kollin had missed the last train to the area he was staying at. For some reason it ends a little earlier on Saturdays which makes absolutely no sense to me. Well, with this and the fact that a taxi ride is completely unrealistic, back to the club not knowing what to expect.

After a brief pit stop for a small bottle of whiskey to lighten the expenses for the long night, we inched into the line we had see a bit earlier to go into the nondescript and completely signless club "Nut". As the case is with a lot of clubs in Japan, this one sunk would would be 3 stories into the ground. I guess this helps with sound control but it doesn't do much for promotion of the place on the outside, there was nothing except for office buildings and a couple of convenience stores down the block. Now, I've brought my own drinks into many a bar and club and in Tokyo especially I had experienced no searching or any cause for concern but as we descended the stairs there were some Aussies stirring up trouble doing the same thing. All I can say, is thank goodness for briefs as opposed to boxers, mission accomplished. Down the rabbit hole we go, further.

There are really 2 floors to the place, upstairs a dimly lit bar and a DJ spinning more mellow dance and hip hop. The 3500 Yen ticket gets you a drink ticket which I use as much for the ice later on as I do for the gin and tonic it originally contained. We meet up with the guy from Kansas and decide to check out the main floor below. Jazzy Jeff isn't scheduled to come in until about 2:30 and there were a handful of other locals warming up the crowd. This is my first time to go to a dancing environment in Japan and I had been warned that unlike Korea, the Japanese were a little nervous about letting it all hang out. This proved partly true. This isn't a huge place, maybe around 500 people total but it was packed considering the size, about the size of the Emo's small stage back in Austin, maybe a tad larger. It was a mixture, unlike in Korea where there probably would have been break circles going on, here it was largely people dancing relatively in place facing the dj booth on the stage. A screen behind the dj projected the turntables that were being filmed from somewhere above. A nice setup overall and in typical Japanese efficiency (the Germans probably love Japan) in addition to a second bar down below there was a vending machine for beer in the rear next to the exceptionally clean bathrooms. For a club like this, there is something peculiarly incongruous about this, but then I'm used to slacker Austin I suppose.

Jazzy Jeff was actually great, I mean I have those juvenile memories of him and the now "Will Smith" doing summertime back when I was in high school and I knew he had gone on to be a well regarded dj and producer but I was impressed. The set went back to high school days but lacked entirely any Fresh Prince material, I can't say I missed that. In fact, although I'm not an expert, his mixing was great and with the video you could really see how much he was really working the process and giving the people their money's worth. There wasn't any of the talking over the tracks or much communication with the audience at all other than through the music. By three I was sweating and dancing with Keiko trying to maneuver our position so that she could see a little better while Kollin was getting free shots by these two insanely tall Japanese women. With the shortening days we left the club a little after 5, made our way back to the station and found ourselves walking down Kohumbutsu street around 5:30 with dawn only beginning to peak it's head up and slamming down the storm shutters so that we could sleep in peace which we did until about 3 that afternoon. Not something I want to do every weekend but it effectively wiped out my allergies and gave me a release that I have needed for a while. A good night, with good friends, old and new.