Yesterday I learned to trust my intuition a lot more. I haven’t gone to a club before because I assumed that I’d hate it, and I wasn’t wrong! I thought “this is Japan! Everything’s great here! Clubs must be good too!”, but it turns out that Roppongi isn’t actually Japan! What’s happened in Roppongi is a whole load of Africans have bought a part of the city and turned it into a small version of hell on earth.
Everything started going downhill from when we met a “South African” on the train who started talking to us. One guy with us, Ru, (who is an incredible extrovert — he can talk to absolutely anyone and make anyone like him!!) had lived in “J-burg” (Johannesburg) for a while so he was about to figure out that this guy wasn’t actually from South Africa with a few questions about Cape Town. The guy backed down then once he knew we’d figured him out. Ru said that he was most likely Nigerian.
So anyway, after a lot of trains we ended up in Roppongi and went to “9-1-1″. It was basically what seems to be a fairly typical Roppongi nightclub: a few huge black guys in suits at the door, and a room about twice the size of our hotel room packed with a hundred or so people shoulder to shoulder. All the Africans wander the streets handing cards to people and asking them to come to their clubs. It’s so clearly not Japan; they’ll keep coming at you and don’t really back down. Japanese people selling stuff are never pushy. What I don’t understand is why they push so hard, because the clubs are literally packed to the door. There are clearly more people than the clubs can accommodate, but despite these physical limitations they’re still intent on trying to get you in. One of them: “Hey, man, the club’s this way!”, my friend: “Hey, man, there’s clubs everywhere!”. The guy actually got a kick out of that! I met some Sumo wrestlers inside too. They had some really pretty girls and were wearing Hawaiian shirts and had their hair in the authentic Sumo style. I also met a Chinese guy who had been living in San Francisco for 23 years and was talking to me using ridiculous amount of gangsta hand-movement and phrases like “fo’ real??” and “whassup!”.
So that’s my encounter with the Roppongi clubs. Next is the Yakuza. An American friend of mine wasn’t allowed into this club because she was wearing sandals, and while outside she was approached by an older (but likely low-level) Yakuzu member who told her that she was coming home with him and he had drugs for her. She managed to get away from him anyway and find me, who had left the club once I’d lost my friends inside and gotten sick it anyway.
Next I guess I could talk about the prostitutes! On my way back from the club to a taxi-rank, about 4 women asked if I would like a “massage”. 3 of them walked alongside me for a while and I got to talk to them briefly, though I spent most of the time telling them how I really don’t need a “massage” and I have to go home and would they happen to know which direction Shiba is in. If you ever run into these ladies and wish to get a discount, I advise doing the same, as 2 of them offered prices as low as ¥3000 (about €20) for a “massage”. After I told them that money was irrelevant and I really had to go home and didn’t need to avail of this great offer, they backed off. Really interesting people though! Some of you may know that the hookers in Amsterdam weren’t as polite to me at all.
We (Ru) spoke briefly with an old Dutch or German guy who was sitting down outside a bar having a smoke and he told us how sick he was of Roppongi and how hedonistic it is. He recommended that kids like us try Shibuya or Shinjuku where you can “really have fun” by getting away from the Fuuzoku-orientated Roppongi.
Yesterday wasn’t just Roppongi though. We did a great tour of Tokyo and got to see the East Imperial Gardens, Ginza, and some other interesting places. Most of the photos uploaded today will be from that tour.
Today is Akihabara with my friends who’ll come down from Gunma. We might go to Yoyogi Park to see the cosplayers and do karaoke aswell. Much more my style than Roppongi clubbing 
