groovbusta

djrajio - i live in nishi-azabu so usually end up in pongi at some point in the night. we ended up booking a table at midas for the countdown and had a blast. 5000yen per person (15 of us) for the table but it included 3 bottles of belvedere. great deal compared to clubs in the states and it was nice to have our own space...

doesn't really matter where you are for new years... if you're with good friends and got good music, it'll be good times.

heading to beijing for a week during xmas... any updates on current nightlife hot spots? last time i hit banana club and it was pretty good, but that was 3 years ago. mainly been going to shanghai to party, so clueless about beijing right now.

any info appreciated!

what kind of club / music are you looking for in terms of nightlife? here are a few bigger and more popular ones...

vanilla (roppongi) - large multi-room club, with j-techno, hip-hop and house... mixed crowd and packed on fri/sat nights, good pick-up spot

womb (shibuya) - huge main room, a couple smaller spaces... mainly techno / house. mixed crowd and mainly there to party and dance.

harlem (shibuya) - multi-level hip hop club, mostly younger crowd and gaijin usually have to come with girls

grace bldg (roppongi) - has 4 levels of different clubs, hip-hop on 3rd floor (midas) and all-mix on B1F (feria)... other levels are more loungy, chill-out... mainly gaijins, hot european models and mix of japanese girls.

muse (nishi-azabu) - small dance floor, booth area and bar area with pool table, casino games, darts... mainly gaijin guys and the j-girls that love them.

alife (nishi-azabu / roppongi) - multi-level club, small chill-out area upstairs, cafe style 1F and all-mix (hip-hop, j-techno, para para) on B1F... fewer gaijin, slightly older crowd than vanilla, hot hot j-girls... good pickup spot if you can speak some nihongo.

there's hundreds more smaller clubs / bars in tokyo... depends what you're looking for!

10 cities in two months is going to be hectic, especially if you hit any of the major capitals. you could easily spend a couple weeks in places like london and paris alone. but i guess it depends on what you're looking to do... here's my list but there are numerous side trips from each of these cities that are essential as well.

london, berlin, munich, st petersburg, prague, rome, barcelona, madrid, paris, kiruna (for the ice hotel and reindeer steak)

the beautiful south - superbi

boards of canada - trans canada highway

joanna newsom - ys

ratatat - classics

zero 7 - the garden

if you're still there, you should check out either sushi masa (ward center) or sushi sasabune (on king street?)... masa is way friendlier, but sasabune prob has more unique sushi dishes. just order "omakase" and let the chef set you up...

for heartier, local fare... check out side street inn, ono's hawaiian bbq or rainbow drive-in. i miss hawaiian food!

I'm thinking of going to Japan 22nd Dec to 7th Jan, but I'm concerned that EVERYTHING is shut for three days. 1st, 2nd and 3rd of January.

Can anyone confirm if everything really is shut? All department stores? Is there anything worth doing during these days?

No, not everything is closed, but each department store will have it's own schedule. A few will be open on Jan 1, but as mentioned above.... Jan 2 and 3rd are craaaazy shopping days because the whole country is basically on holiday.

Regular merchandise is not on sale, but they have "fukubukuro" which is a "lucky bag" of random stuff, sold in increments like 1000yen, 3000yen, even up to 10,000yen. I'm not a big fan, but the women love fukubukuro. Basically, the stores fill the bags up with various items, but you don't know what's inside them when you buy it. So, you could end up with something great or something just ok... if they don't like what they got in their bag, they trade it with friends or family.

Otherwise, new years is a big family holiday here and christmas is more for friends. It's the opposite of what you're used to in the US. In japan, everyone goes back to their home towns for new years, to visit family and pay their respects at their home shrine. I went to Meiji Shrine in harajuku last year and it was packed. People start going at midnight, when they serve free sake as celebration, and continue through the whole day Jan 1st. Probably close to a million people visit meiji shrine on new year's day.

So, tokyo will be more quiet and dead than usual... but you will be able to go shopping (if you can stand the crowds), find places to eat (in the more touristy areas), and visit the many, many shrines and temples around tokyo. Tokyo is so big that it's nearly impossible to be bored!