Tokyo Travel Forum

Hi.

Next friday, I'll be going on my first trip to Japan, after dreaming about if for a long time. I'll only be spending about 3 days in Tokyo, but I hope that will be enough to get the feel of it.

Some questions / doubts:

Is it preferable that I take US dollars or I can assume that I won't have problems exchanging my euros for yens?

During the 90s, I listened to a lot of acid-jazz from Japan (United Future Organization, Spiritual Vibes, Monday Michiru, etc). Does that "scene" is still alive? Anyone knows of cool clubs / bars where I could go that have that kind of music?

Any good bars / clubs on the area of Shinagawa, where I'll be staying?

What is the working schedule of trains / underground? I'd like to be able to go out at night, but, as I've read that taxis are very expensive, I'd like to know what time do they stop working, should I want to go out at night to areas far from the hotel...

Thanks for any info...

Exchanging your currency for Yen will be a moderately annoying process, and you should keep your cash in Euro's. Exchange rates within Japan are not competitive, which is good and bad. Good because shopping around is pointless, bad because currency exchange is not freely available. You can exchange in a hotel, bank, post office, and there are a few small exchange offices in places like Ginza. Exchange you currency in your home country before you get to Japan, and use ATM's to access you bank account (despite any fees, this is very convenient, every convenience store has an ATM)

The "Shibuya Kei" scene, reached it's peak around '95, died out by the late 90's. The few originating nightclubs that gave birth to this genre went out of business by 1999. The scene is alive in contemporary incarnations (such as a hip hop sub genre), but I don't know of any identifiable epicentre for it. It is spread out amongst various clubs that do theme nights, hosting different events. The UFO guy still does regular shows, and even owned a club up until around 2003 (Blue in Aoyama), check his website for clues. I'm not fond of Shibuya in general... I remember those days of the early 90's when the scene didn't even have a name. Good times. Shibuya is now a shopping mall shadow of its former self, and the people who are all excited about Shibuya today don't even know the history that got it on the map in the first place.

Shinagawa is a bit of a dull spot for nightlife. It went through massive redevelopment about 4 years ago which turned it into a very clean, glass and steel, shopping mall. Nice in the daytime, but you will need to go elsewhere at night.

Taxi's run 24/7, but the fare doubles once the trains shut down, roughly 1 am. The trains start up again at 5am. If you go out all night and have to take a cab back, then be prepared to pay 5000 - 6000 (depending where you are, from Shinjuku to Shimbashi at 3am is about Y7000) to get back to your hotel. It's not really all that unreasonable considering the total expense of your entire trip.

"The Room" in Shibuya does a Jazz Crossover DJ night on Saturdays with various guests sitting in, you never know what might happen. The best part is that this place is partly run by one of the Kyoto Jazz Massive guys.

Like all places these days though, on other nights you could get anything from Hip Hop to Visual Rock.

Thanks so much for the tips!

I'm leaving tomorrow morning and I think I'm going to try to go "The Room" on saturday.

So where would be a good place to party? How about the trance genre scene in Tokyo? No hip hop please...:P