The launch of Toyko club ‘eleven’ in February this year spoke volumes about the Japanese capital’s dance scene – forward-thinking music, big name guests (Francois K) alongside talented locals and, crucially, a delirious dancefloor. There’s simply no denying the fact that clubbing in Tokyo has radically evolved since the mid 1990s.

Back then Japan was slowly emerging from severe economic recession; Toyko was a city dedicated to karaoke, and its two or three dedicated nightclubs – one including the seminal Yellow (a renowned precursor to ‘eleven’ which closed after 16 years in 2008) - seemed only an afterthought.

Government legislation wasn’t helping; in particular the strict and antiquated Public Morals Law, which effectively banned dancing in clubs after midnight (this loosened to 1am in 2002) and resulted in big clubs like Yellow and Gold being temporarily closed down. In an interview on the subject, long-standing Tokyo promoter Laymont Raymond once commented: “There was a big police crackdown. [We] started having all night events in events spaces, which is legal. By organising private parties, we were able to find a loophole in the law.”

The same 1948-commissioned government directive hit the media headlines in 2006, when a sweep of particularly high-profile clubs was closed down in consecutive months. Police refused to clarify their motives but the outraged Japanese dance community felt misguided fears about drugs and drinks, as well as Yakuza (gangster) connections were to blame. Major nights with superstar Brit and US DJs were inexplicably halted halfway through, and local promoters aired their concerns anonymously to local newspapers; one told the Japan Times: “Nearly all the clubs in Tokyo have spoken to lawyers in the hope of getting the law changed, but there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of options. If we are forced to close for a month, we are in big trouble. If we are forced to close for three months, we’ll go bankrupt.”

On the other hand, Japan’s financial fragility represented a major opportunity for dance devotees to re-mould the Tokyo club scene in close alignment to what was inspiring them internationally. Here was a chance to rise magnificently from the city’s economic ashes and build bridges with the rest of clubland. It was staggering to think that a country so obsessed with Western culture was lagging beats and beats behind in terms of electronic dance music.

Over the past few years, and despite occasional police interference, Tokyo has kept its head down and built. In 2002 came the launch of AgeHa; a club built around tech-savvy sonics, quality guests (everyone from Tenaglia to Deadmau5) and an experimental partnership between underground culture and corporate benefaction.

Club AgeHa

It’s an experiment that has quickly become tradition. Of the countless clubs that have opened in Tokyo since AgeHa’s pivotal debut, nearly all have adopted a sizeable corporate sponsor. Clubbing remains expensive here, the past-time of affluent 20-35-year-olds fixated on nice clothes, stylish technology and, of course, food ‘n’ booze. Big brands have bought into this lucrative, ever-growing market, keen to associate themselves with a way of life that effuses freedom – passionately so, bearing in mind Japan’s legal situation.

Corporate involvement is well established across much of clubland today but remains particularly strong in Tokyo. Highly influential prog-house venue Womb, whose launch predated AgeHa by two years, took things to another level by hiring former Twilo promoter Sabi Takahashi to mature it into a universally popular, brand-friendly ‘culture’. Smart soundsystems and ground-breaking performers were welcomed through the doors along with promotional partners Calvin Klein and Nike. The club has, in turn, gone from strength to strength, impressive DJ fans including John Digweed and Sven Vath.

Other relative newcomers have also blossomed. Clubs such as Air, Unit, La Fabrique and Liquid Room are making increasingly significant waves in Tokyo today, as well as the literally hundreds of  DJ bars and ‘underground’ basement venues that have opened in the last five years. And whilst big brand sponsors and high-profile overseas jocks are set to dominate much of the city’s musical thinking for years to come, so too is an exciting new generation of Japanese producers and DJs.

Dixon at Club Air

According to fast-rising Tokyo house artist Ryo Murakami (discovered by Steve Bug, who regularly licenses his music on the renowned Dessous and Poker Flat imprints,) there is plenty in the way of good electronic music to come from his home city. Tokyo has, it seemed, finally synced with the rest of clubland. “Tokyo has a big electronic music scene, an excellent electronic music scene” he offers. “Digital music sales in Japan are growing these days; the concept behind current labels may change and help domestic music abroad.”

Murakami highlights young, innovative Tokyo producers STEREOCiTI (experimental techno,) Kez YM (soulful house,) and Yosa (dirty four-to-the-floor); and DJs Pi-Ge (minimal,) Sisi (acid-dance) and Yone-Ko (tech) as ones to watch. Others such as Fumiya Tanaka (regular Ricardo Villalobos collaborator) and Berlin-based Kiyama Akiko are already spreading their sassy word well beyond Asia. Gone are the days when Japan relied only on comparative veterans Satoshi Tomiie, Yukihiro Fukutomi and Little Big Bee (synonymous with cult Japanese house label Flower) for inspiration.

It’s because of this wonderful hullabaloo that Defected will soon be releasing new double-disc comp Defected In The House Tokyo '11, mixed by singing Kings Of Tomorrow collaborator Rae and those other, super-stylish Tokyo soul-house veterans Studio Apartment. Expect a vibrant slice of revolutionary Japanese nightlife expressed through smart house cuts by everyone from Louie Vega, Sandy Rivera and Tensnake to Gregor Salto, Martijn Ten Velden and Jerome Sydenham.

Studio Apartment

There is still work to do in Tokyo. These days, the police usually turn a blind eye to all-night clubs but the Public Morals Law lives on and paranoid artists and promoters remain wary about discussing their scene in public. The very fabric of Tokyo’s nightclubs is under scrutiny, too; triumphant, eleven’s launch might have been this spring, but its owners were reportedly forced to launch with sterile, conservative décor to ensure sensitive local authorities approved their operating license.

But then Tokyo’s club industry is, undeniably, booming and that fizzing momentum could take the city almost anywhere. These are exciting times for the Land of the Rising Club…..

Words: Ben Lovett

Defected In The House Tokyo '11 is out 25th October