Psytrance in Japan

[Pandemonium]

I reckon the scene in Tokyo packed up when Vision Quest went cheesy about 2001 and Yokohama Bay Hall closed its doors to trance party-went to a few rockers back there. What ever happened to Chikuya and Trance Cafe ?? Mind you still looks like there are some good outdoor parties still happening. Hiro (Sharaku) looks like he is still doing the business though! Had some absoluelty rocking good times in Tokyo!! Someone should revive those parties on Nijima Island-they were wicked!

I dont think the scene died as far back as 2001. Do you remember the promoter Arcadia? They lasted until 2005. Are the parties on Nijima island Fineplay parties, or are you talking about something different? If Fineplay, the location might be nice, but its full on psy pop for the music. Artists like Perplex, Bizzare Contact, and Dynamic plague the events backed by Dali vocals in virtually every song.

[JapanPsy]

I think the scene is still going strong if you arent so interested in the large outdoor parties but more in the small parties of a couple dozen to a few hundred people. Yoyogi park and Arakawa river often have these. The energy and vibe you get from people that just really enjoy the music is an awesome feeling. In fact this weekend for Ohanami, I know three psytrance events happening in Yoyogi.

[supergroover]

is there any english written website/ forum about the scene in japan?

[frozen dream]

can u read whats in my avatar pandemonium?

[snowball]

can u read whats in my avatar pandemonium?

it says I TRY DIE YOU

[Pandemonium]

can u read whats in my avatar pandemonium?

 

What the fuck does that have to do with Japans psy scene? I can speak Japanese well enough to hold a conversation, hell my wife is Japanese. Lets stick to the topic at hand.

[Pandemonium]

I think the scene is still going strong if you arent so interested in the large outdoor parties but more in the small parties of a couple dozen to a few hundred people. Yoyogi park and Arakawa river often have these. The energy and vibe you get from people that just really enjoy the music is an awesome feeling. In fact this weekend for Ohanami, I know three psytrance events happening in Yoyogi.

Really, I thought that people were not allowed to throw parties in Yoyogi anymore.( I always see people singing or playing an instrument solo when I go there). I went to a trance gathering years ago, and then one of my friends told me that we were not allowed to throw our own party, which we were trying to do (at Yoyogi). I have also read that you cant bring speakers into the park http://charlesinjapan.typepad.com/my_weblo...-photo---r.html

 

Thats good news, are there any websites or links that you can provide? I enjoy smaller intimate parties more as well. The real music lovers attend those. I am excited about the upcoming Nagisa music festival in Tokyo. Its the first party that has actually interested me to attend in the last 6 months.

[Jikkenteki]

Really, I thought that people were not allowed to throw parties in Yoyogi anymore.( I always see people singing or playing an instrument solo when I go there).

Me too. I seem to recall several of my promoter friends who used to regularly throw parties there complaining that they needed to get permits now and that they were rather difficult to obtain. It's no secret that the trance scene was targeted by the police in Tokyo due to all the drug use and such starting a few years back and it really hit the scene hard. Last time I played down there was earlier last year, but there was a definite difference from even the year before that. The quality of the events I have played down there has generally gone down hill rather considerably and today the bulk of the events seem to mostly be friends renting a club and doing fairly half-assed parties. There's nothing wrong with that in and of itself and they can be fun, but when I compare those to the events I went to back in 99-01 there is a huge difference. Most of the artists I know here also are saying the scene has really been going down the tubes and everyone is quite down on things at the moment. There are a few good medium sized organizers who are still doing nice stuff (Psy-16/Sonic Traveler and 6 Dimension Soundz/DAT Mafia come to mind) but they are becoming few and far between.

[PsychicPaulbyl]

I noticed the PsyTrance scene decline in Japan last year Summer 2008 when Vision Quest (the largest of the summer mountain raves) had very few good artists and very few fans show up. The reason for this was a death in Gumma prefecture earlier in summer. Some young lady was found dead after drug overdose at a highway service area, still in her car. Earlier that night she had gone to a full moon party. From that point the cops were busting people at other raves throughout the summer. Astrix and Skazi both canceled their Vision Quest September 2008 date, they say because Astrix was in hospital and Skazi had visa troubles. Bullsh*t. The reason is the drug supporters and yattai supporters (Japanese food vendor) declined to go to the Vision Quest show because of risk of getting busted. After that girl died in Gumma in early summer, there was a marked decline in attendance at all raves thereafter, from what I have heard and from what I experienced. I also went to Mother, and Solstice, both of which also had low attendance. Vision Quest seemed the most bleak of them all. It had two or three food vendors, all foreign (Sasebo American military burger, Russian food, and Turkish kabobs). The main artist was Psysex, and there were very few fans. For once however, I was able to get the hotel right next to the stage. :-) The crack down on the drug scene has left psytrance in Japan in a difficult situation.

 

Having said that, there are reasons to believe that psytrance is still alive in Japan, albeit at a lower key (shall we say underground) level. I saw Skazi (is he really psytrance) in April 2009, and Infected Mushroom in early May 2009, and next week Hallucinogen aka Potsford will be here. These artists are quite impressive, and draw extremely large crowds elsewhere in the world, but here in Japan they are performing at pretty small venues. Skazi played at Differ Ariake and the number of fans was low compared to the size of Differ, so it made it look like a low turn-out; actually it was a low turn out. Infected Mushroom performed at Function (aka Club Face) in Shinjuku, and it was a kick-arse show. The problem was that there were very few people there before IM arrived, and the place emptied after IM left. The artist before IM was Domestic, who I think is pretty good, but, again, there just weren't that many people there, sort of putting a damper on the genki energetic psytrance scene we all crave for. I am looking forward to seeing Shpongle Hallucinogen next weekend at Elephant Club in Harajuku, yet another small venue that does not give justice to the Potsford excellence. I hope there are lots of rave heads though.

 

As for psytrance paraphenalia, I think Quintrex in Shibuya has or will close soon. The only place I know right now is Psychedlic Garden, which as of this writing May 22, 2009, is still open because I just called them to ask if I could get my Hallucinogen/Potsford Shpongle tickets there, and they said yes.

 

Hope to see y'all at the clubs! And please post more info here about the psytrance scene in Japan, because as you know it is extremely difficult to find stuff published in English.

PsychicPaulbyl

[Pandemonium]

I dont even live in Japan anymore, I moved after last summer. Sad to see that its not getting any better. After six years it had kind of lost its appeal anyways. Just like anywhere else in the world. A bunch of lost people conforming to whatever society provides for them. And the Japanese people are obsessed with hiphop and fake ganster apparel, its disgustingly funny.

[Filteria]

I am having my first Japan gigs in September (12th and 19th) One is 2 hours away from Tokyo and the weekend after was in a club in Tokyo. Hope it will be as magic as I've always thought Japan was And hopefully some people from Psynews will be there? Someone from Tokyo here? I will be there 2 weeks. Lets get some beer or something

 

Take care / Jannis

[Charlie]

Schroedinger's Girlfriend. :drama:

Cease confusing girlfriends with cats. It's unhealthy.

[Drosophila]

I am having my first Japan gigs in September (12th and 19th) One is 2 hours away from Tokyo and the weekend after was in a club in Tokyo. Hope it will be as magic as I've always thought Japan was And hopefully some people from Psynews will be there? Someone from Tokyo here? I will be there 2 weeks. Lets get some beer or something

 

Take care / Jannis

Damn I one month early... I'm going in July/August... Well I will have to wait for a gig closer to home then, but I saw u play one time in Copenhagen, too bad not many people showed up that time...

 

But I really hope there will be something happening in Japan when I'm there, do anybody know of some outdoor festivals during the summer (preferably small ones)?! I was hoping to see some action when I was in the country, I would love to go to a 6-d party... that would be great!

 

but this topics makes it sounds not too promising... is it really this bad, or is it just a bit of hot air?!

[karan129]

oh there is a lot of psychedelic music , i agree...but what psychedelic trance started as, is now dead... too bad, we just have to look elsewhere for good psy...!

Good psy is out there, its just harder to find because there are so many mediocre releases, but its out there for sure

[murphythecat]

Then it's not dead stupid It has just changed wether you like it or not... If you have a girlfriend, and after a couple of years you start to grow apart and you deside to split up.. Is she dead then? Caus millions of other boys would probably still like to fuck here, no matter what you think of her. Am i right ?

well what she used to be is certainly dead if it changed, when something's changing and will never be the same, its quite exact to say that its dead

[murphythecat]

I dont even live in Japan anymore, I moved after last summer. Sad to see that its not getting any better. After six years it had kind of lost its appeal anyways. Just like anywhere else in the world. A bunch of lost people conforming to whatever society provides for them. And the Japanese people are obsessed with hiphop and fake ganster apparel, its disgustingly funny.

they even make plastic surgery to look more like americans!

[ion1zed]

When I lived in Japan, almost a year ago, the "scene" was still strong imo. I attended several parties/concerts, and there were always a lot of people. Astrix even managed to fill the Zepp Tokyo, which is a huge place! But I have to say that I didn't like the big events that much, because people weren't dancing at all. It's hard to describe...everybody seemed to be in a good mood, but few people were really dancing.

 

At the smaller parties it was different. I was in several clubs and I liked it a lot, especially the Yabai Records parties. It's interesting to see the style difference between Japanese and European/German parties and party guests I've never been to parties outside Japan with so many beautiful women attending, but maybe that's just my opinion

 

Anyways, entrance fees and drinks are way more expensive than here in Germany, almost all of the parties start earlier and most of them end at 6:00 a.m., except for the "Aftershow parties". I've not been interested in events in Japan (as I'm back in .de), but a quick look at some of the sites of known organizers made me come to the conclusion, that there are still parties in fairly big locations with known artists.

 

The best place to start looking for event/party information would definetely be MIXI, which is the Japanese equivalent to facebook/myspace. It's Japanese though.

 

Hey Jannis, Japan is so far, why not come to play in Germany? Btw "Eyeless observatory" is a stroke of genius.

 

 

Edit: One thing that annoyed me a bit: Pop-Full-On was the big thing back then, e.g. people went crazy during the Last Men Standing set. God, SO boring.

[LLB]

Interesting post about the Japanese scene.

 

As said Late concerning labels excepting 6 Dimension soundz which is still alive, the others aren't healthy or stopped their activities , i mean Groove-Zone, Solstice Japan, Elf Music.

Don't know too much how is going S.S.J, seems they weren't very active these last years too.

I also think about Tod Aqurius rec but it was a quite small entity with few releases & isn't really representative of the Japanese scene; btw no news since the Chamar's album.

[Drosophila]

When I lived in Japan, almost a year ago, the "scene" was still strong imo. I attended several parties/concerts, and there were always a lot of people. Astrix even managed to fill the Zepp Tokyo, which is a huge place! But I have to say that I didn't like the big events that much, because people weren't dancing at all. It's hard to describe...everybody seemed to be in a good mood, but few people were really dancing.

 

At the smaller parties it was different. I was in several clubs and I liked it a lot, especially the Yabai Records parties. It's interesting to see the style difference between Japanese and European/German parties and party guests I've never been to parties outside Japan with so many beautiful women attending, but maybe that's just my opinion

 

Anyways, entrance fees and drinks are way more expensive than here in Germany, almost all of the parties start earlier and most of them end at 6:00 a.m., except for the "Aftershow parties". I've not been interested in events in Japan (as I'm back in .de), but a quick look at some of the sites of known organizers made me come to the conclusion, that there are still parties in fairly big locations with known artists.

 

The best place to start looking for event/party information would definetely be MIXI, which is the Japanese equivalent to facebook/myspace. It's Japanese though.

 

Hey Jannis, Japan is so far, why not come to play in Germany? Btw "Eyeless observatory" is a stroke of genius.

 

 

Edit: One thing that annoyed me a bit: Pop-Full-On was the big thing back then, e.g. people went crazy during the Last Men Standing set. God, SO boring.

Some links please

 

Do u know of any other good sites (where I understand what they write) for parties in Japan?! I really need to see some Japanese parties when I'm going, it's must! I have checked 6-dimension's home page/myspace/tribe.net bt no info... seems like they don't really up-date their stuff I will check Yabai as well! And I'm looking for the small parties, and preferable out-door (well doh)

[ion1zed]

There are not that many sites which offer "niche" information in English. The best advice I can give you is to check out the following site:

 

http://metropolis.co.jp/default.asp

 

 

It offers highly useful information for visitors, including a party/clubbing guide. Be sure to check out clubs like ageHa, womb, club.asia and so on, although it may not me Psytrance. It's too bad that Quintrix Records in Shibuya had to close it's Disc Lounge, although on their website it is written that they were forced to move to another location and eventually will reopen again. Their online store is continuing business though. Anyways, that was a good place to get all the flyers with useful party information.

 

Other than that, it is difficult to find information in English. As I said before, the best place to find party information and listings would be MIXI, but it's Japanese and you'll need to get an invitation from another MIXI member in order to register an account.

[yerg]

another add in general

 

http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/japa...lubs/index.html

 

I remember club "Liquid Room" was pretty famous.

[Pandemonium]

Maybe I was generalizing about the Japanese psy scene when I opened this thread last year, maybe it wasnt the lack of good artists or creativity, but there is certainly something missing, some magic that was there for the first few years that I lived in Japan, or maybe its just me. When I got used to Japan it wasnt so amazing anymore, even though it is a pretty neat counrty to live in. But at alot of the parties, especially in Tokyo it seemed like there were alot of Japanese people who were attending the parties that were just there to be seen. Like the popular cool kids. Look at me I showed up so Im cool. Alot of people wouldnt even dance or were not that much into the music. When I go to an event its all about the music. But I guess that everyone doesnt go to a psy event for the same reasons.

[ion1zed]

Maybe I was generalizing about the Japanese psy scene when I opened this thread last year, maybe it wasnt the lack of good artists or creativity, but there is certainly something missing, some magic that was there for the first few years that I lived in Japan, or maybe its just me. When I got used to Japan it wasnt so amazing anymore, even though it is a pretty neat counrty to live in. But at alot of the parties, especially in Tokyo it seemed like there were alot of Japanese people who were attending the parties that were just there to be seen. Like the popular cool kids. Look at me I showed up so Im cool. Alot of people wouldnt even dance or were not that much into the music. When I go to an event its all about the music. But I guess that everyone doesnt go to a psy event for the same reasons.

I had exactly the same feeling, but some of my Japanese friends explained to me, that it's just Japanese "style". I don't thing it's Japanese style, but maybe it's Tokyo's style, especially at the big events. One thing I cannot forget happened at the Astrix / Pixel concert. I wanted to go to the bathroom and I couldn't believe the length of the line of people waiting there. I thought WTF?!, so I just went ahead to see what was happening there. When I got to the toilets I realised, that the guys weren't standing in line for the toilets, but for the mirrors! No kidding, the guys were brushing themselves up and doing their hair! I mean...WTF?! There was so much hairspray in the air that it would have probably caused an explosion if someone would have lit a cigarette. And I found that that was probably the reason for the people not to dance:

 

The (often very, very beautiful and stylishly dressed) women could not dance because of their high heels. I never saw women wearing high heels at a Psytrance party anywhere else.

The guys could not dance because if they would have, their fancy hair constructions would have collapsed. It was all about style, not the music, at least that was my impression.

 

Of course I don't want to generalize on that, because there have been other parties as well. I think it has become pretty obvious that the bigger and more popular acts become, the more the crowd diversifies. That's why it's called Pop-Full-On...or Pop-Progressive One will just find "regular" party people, who don't really care about the music, as long as it's danceable. Then there are lots of people, who are only interested in drugs, of course. For me it has become difficult to tell, if a party will be a good party, or not.

[needle ninja]

Maybe I was generalizing about the Japanese psy scene when I opened this thread last year, maybe it wasnt the lack of good artists or creativity, but there is certainly something missing, some magic that was there for the first few years that I lived in Japan, or maybe its just me. When I got used to Japan it wasnt so amazing anymore, even though it is a pretty neat counrty to live in. But at alot of the parties, especially in Tokyo it seemed like there were alot of Japanese people who were attending the parties that were just there to be seen. Like the popular cool kids. Look at me I showed up so Im cool. Alot of people wouldnt even dance or were not that much into the music. When I go to an event its all about the music. But I guess that everyone doesnt go to a psy event for the same reasons.

Sounds like the magic that existed in the rave scene, but was gone by 1997 even thought the parties were bigger then ever...

[optix]

I just arrived here (tokyo) so I haven't had a chance to to explore the psy scene IRL. But at least on the net there doesnt seem to be too much of a lack of events listed. And though I don't speak japanese with the help of google translation, and babel fish together with some good old fashioned guessing I've managed to find and navigate quite a few japanese psy-trance sites. Here is a collection of the links i put together for my self. some of the sites are labels, others are stores or community sites. the general theme though is that they have psy-trance event listings for the japan (tokyo-based) scene. Give it a try, i'm pretty sure you'll find at least some of it understandable. once you find something you wanna go to in the worst case you can always ask a japanese friend or random person sitting next to you in a manga/internet cafe to help you order it real quick. I've noticed that some of the out-door events (mainly why i'm interested in) even organise accompanying bus rides from/to tokyo.

 

for example this evening i'm heading out on such a "Magic Bus Tour" from shinjuku to a 3 day party south of tokyo. (http://www.tirakita.com/event/) part psy-trance part more traditional indian music. Either way the party pics from 07 and 08 look great. tickets were limited to 400 people so it won't be one of those Mega-Events which i'm not all that into anymore. basically i've decided that unless the location is insanely awesome (like some of the solar-eclipse parties) or tons of my friends are going i usually end up having a better time at small more personal parties. that goes for European parties as well as US ones. And i gotta say, i kinda like the idea of trying to bring in some new elements into the traditional outdoor psy-trance events. Yeah it isn't EXACTLY the same kind of party we all grew to love 5-10 years ago, but hell, why NOT try something a bit different for once. :-)

 

 

Tokyo-based Psy-trance links

-------------------------------------

6 dimension soundz

Blissdom

BrainBusters

Eclipse CD Shop

Fineplay

Music BBS

Fullmoon Records

Fullsmoke

LTS (down now, but was up just a couple weeks ago.)

Mother

NewWorld

SIRIUS RECORDS

Solstice Music

Sonic Traveler

Sunflowers of Today

T.P.E. RECORDS

Vision Quest

Yet more links for the Japanese psy-scene (Just found this randomly right now. Probably has a bit of overlap with the stuff above.