Long time no post. Very busy. It’s Golden Week in Japan and I should be on vacation — or something.
Actually, this isn’t a great time to go on vacation around here. It’s one of the major holiday periods and a significant percentage of the population leaves town. This gives airlines, hotels and other holiday-related businesses a boost and an opportunity to gouge, er, exercise the principle of supply and demand.
What this means is, your plane ticket is likely to cost three times the norm.
I never go anywhere during Golden Week or in the summer or around New Year. I value my hard-earned yen. And I wouldn’t want to be stuck in the traffic jam that inevitably takes place on Sunday evening as everyone heads back into Tokyo.
Catching up on some old news, Steve and Ageha performed some shows at Kabukicho’s DX strip theater in March (I said it was old news!). I headed over there one evening just to get some pics of the sign and the outside of the place for your enlightenment but I arrived a little too late and it was closed. Nothing much to take pictures of.
I didn’t go to any of these shows but I have been to some of Steve’s shows there in the past. The theater has the requisite revolving stage. Come to think of it, maybe my memory is just bad but I don’t think there’s a pole in there. Not that I’ve been to one in ages, but don’t strip clubs in the west have poles these days, as in pole dance?
Maybe this hasn’t caught on in Japan. Note to self: Go to more strip clubs.
As I was sauntering around the back roads of Kabukicho, I came across this place. I’m glad to see it’s still in business. Brings back memories. When I first came to Japan about 14 years ago, I decided I needed to try out this shibari business and practice some of my reverse-engineered rope techniques gleaned from the paltry stash of Japanese SM magazines I was able to get my hands on at the time.
So I saw this big sign that said “SM” and it was all I could do to will myself up the dark, narrow staircase. I wasn’t sure what awaited me at the top and I’ll be honest, I was pretty nervous.
To make a long story short, the place was inhabited by a sour woman in her fifties and a man who was perhaps a little younger and much friendlier. Turns out she was his mistress so I and one other spectator, a Japanese salaryman, were treated to this guy getting his ass beat whilst sporting a little red sock covering his dick.
Can’t remember what I paid for this show but whatever it was, it was too much. Then again, I wasn’t exactly expecting this sort of show.
Thing about this place, you could also order up a cute M chick after the show and have your way with her either at your place or at their dungeon. The going rate in those days was 30,000 yen an hour. I figured what the hell, you’re only in Japan once, right? So I decided to just go ahead and spend the money for an hour or two. But the deal fell through when I said I wanted to take pictures. The way I saw it, I needed something to show my homies or they’d call bullshit on my tall stories.
However, the red sock guy said their girls wouldn’t be crazy about having pictures taken. I understood that and we parted company. When I got back to my hotel, I got on the horn and found a place in Roppongi that was more accommodating — and the rest is history.
Now, where was I? Oh yes. I was a bit surprised they had this SM extravaganza at the Kabukicho DX theater again this year. I believe it was at this locale where, the previous year, a woman doing a self-bondage act threw in an unplanned seppuku (aka hara kiri) performance. She survived but only after being rushed to the hospital by ambulance. After that, I heard that they were going to put the ol’ kibosh on the SM shows. Guess not.
Why did she try to kill herself on stage? Apparently it had something to do with her relationship with Go Arisue of Hana to Hebi fame. And that’s all I know about that.
Here are some pics of Steve’s performances with Ageha.
KabukiJoe
