Jodie Yates

Cutting through the noise, certain local creatives are striving to make sure the cultural landmarks that influence and inform their experiences stand tall. We teamed up with adidas Originals for the launch of their ‘Home of Classics’ pack to explore the spaces a new class of young Tokyoites are forging that are helping shape the cultural landscape of the city. Together, we link up with singer, illustrator and DJ Yuki Matsuda for a trip to Orbit Bar, experiencing a more low-octane way to club within a nightlife scene known for its frenzied energy.

Orbit stands out for resisting the M.O. of clubbing in Tokyo, notable for having one of the more lively nightlife scenes compared to other major Asian hubs. In contrast to the hyperactivity of the Tokyo cityscape, these locales offer opportunity to revel and recharge at a more relaxed pace. Clubbing in Tokyo has an elusive and extensive history; many house and techno stalwarts emerging in the early 90s resided in the city. Japanese heavyweights such as Fumiya Tanaka and Soichi Terada are now global names in minimal and house.

“Against the backdrop of heavy labour, boltholes such as Orbit function as the perfect chill-out zones”

However, things are changing and the club scene in Tokyo looks set to evolve. Japan used to be subject to restrictions on the kind of entertainment offerings that were available: venues faced size restrictions if they wanted to allow customers to dance. As recently as 2016, “anti- dancing” laws (

 in Japanese) were in place to curtail any festivity after midnight. The clubs in the city - now afforded more freedom - offer vital opportunity for submersion away from the rigidity of Japan’s notoriously intense work culture, where 80 hours of (usually unpaid) overtime a month is commonplace. Against the backdrop of heavy labour, boltholes such as Orbit function as the perfect chill-out zones.

Despite this, the Tokyo nightlife scene had been considered fairly inaccessible, mostly owing to the language barrier (information in English can be outdated or incomplete) and because of the transient nature of many of the bars, clubs and other venues. Things come and go quickly here. Yosuke - the owner of Orbit - agrees that you have to come to Toyko 

“with a clear sight of what you want”

“aimlessly fooling around. You gotta have a sense of purpose to fight off other desires swirling around town”

"Come to Tokyo with a clear sight of what you want"

In opposition with the scene-at-large, Orbit’s approach is a little more low-key. Yosuke says “the people in Tokyo are always hectic. I want them to relax here”. The floors are carpeted, and guests are asked to take off their shoes before entering. This ensures that it “feels more like a home”. By refiguring the rules for a club night, Orbit have been able to broaden their horizons and offer opportunities not often seen in your run-of-the-mill venue. Yuki was drawn to Orbit for this divergent approach: she says her mindset is always geared toward “being original...you have to be unique”. Going against the grain of Japan is not always easy: “you have to be ordinary and do the same thing as each other, but I like to do things that nobody else does”. In Orbit, Yuki and her peers are able to resist the norm and feel a little freer. The underground feel to nightlife can be conducive, as Yuki tells us. She was able to meet friends and other industry heads who shared the same passion for electronic music thanks to the dedication of certain spaces in promoting these sounds between them.

Orbit further challenges expectations by taking the focus is taken off dancing - “this is not a dance club” - and onto other forms of sensory experience. Japanese outputs of techno and house are known for their synth-heavy texture, and a ghostly or dream-like sound permeates through much of the production output. Orbit nods to this both with its name, the setting and the kind of nights that appear here: it regularly runs nights involving modular synth shows, Ableton hands-on workshops for music production, and ambient DJ sets. Located in Tokyo’s Sangenjaya district - known for its quaint, tree-lined streets - Orbit aims to provide an intimate oasis of calm for revellers. The relaxed vibe and downtempo sounds may surprise tourists, but as Yuki reminds us: “Tokyo has so many layers”

The relaxed vibe and downtempo sounds may surprise visitors, but as Yuki reminds us: “Tokyo has so many layers”

In a culture that, until recently, kept its electronic music scene to the very depths of the underground, venues like Orbit are helping to redefine nightlife with its brand of chilled-out party going. With the archaic curfew now lifted, Tokyoites like Yuki have the chance to both recharge and rebel from the potentially stifling power of the city. For Yuki, her Tokyo means you have to pursue a meaning that's personal and unique: “Tokyo is everything, but nothing unless you feel like you have something to prove your worth”.

Japan

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Tapping into Tokyo's Underground

From local pirate radio to a world takeover, during the last ten years, London-based DJ Moxie has been on a journey of expansion, driving herself and an arsenal of talented women around the world. With a weekly NTS show, as label boss to On Loop, a voiceover artist and the supplier of eclectic dance music to parties across the globe, Moxie is one of the busiest women in music, but that doesn’t stop her investing in others. We linked up with her at 

 to talk new sounds and underrepresentation.

Since her days playing British dubstep at ATG raves, Moxie’s sound has become more encompassing of the world around her. These sounds, she acknowledges, are just the tip of the iceberg; "the more that you travel for gigs the more of the world you see. There’s always more to take in". "Because I was so much in the UK scene and in the bass world when I first started out over 8 years now, that was the music I was playing. Naturally though, the older you get the more you branch out."

"The more that you travel for gigs the more of the world you see. There’s always more to take in."

Growing and nurturing her ear around the label likes of 

, Moxie has had an innate taste for local, homegrown sounds - a philosophy that she does not leave behind when packing her bags for the next international trip. "There are certain countries, festival stages and clubs that respond to things in different ways. It’s really about testing the water. The more that I travel the world the more I get the opportunity to try things out".

Although her roots are in a London-centric sound, Moxie has been a trailblazer of conflating the local and global. Through her label,

, Moxie releases compilation albums featuring some of the greats of global underground scenes. On Loop also tours around various European cities, with a local DJ from that place getting involved to "represent that place that we’re going to". Having hosted stages at the likes of All Points East and Glastonbury, Moxie uses her platform to support female talent. Addressing the underrepresentation of people of colour in dance music, the DJ makes evident that ‘things need to be shaken up to reflect dance music as a culture’.

"You really have to be strong and ignore the bullshit because there is so much misogyny"

In an industry where sexism is still so rife, she advises "you really have to be strong and ignore the bullshit because there is so much misogyny", Moxie has created a platform for the progression of underrepresented groups. Not just a DJ, she is an advocate of women and sends out a simple reminder that with the development of the internet "it’s so easy to find young women and harness their talent". Powerful and gifted women are everywhere.

We asked Moxie what items she could never leave behind when touring:

- Earplugs to sleep with (can’t go to bed without them)

- D’Angelo’s 'Voodoo' LP downloaded onto my Spotify because it never gets old & helps me relax