I'll testify to that. I went out alone on my first visit to Japan (before I met my husband) and felt very safe.

I'll mention that on my first night in Tokyo I arrived at the club I was heading for in Azabu Juban too early and wound up walking up to Roppongi (because I didn't know any better ;) ) and then down again, and whilst in Roppongi some weird Japanese guy did follow me for a little while. But he was easy enough to shake off, and I never felt particularly threatened (just a little creeped out).

Never had any other problems as a lone female.

If you're at all concerned, I'd say avoid Roppongi (it has a greater sleaze factor than almost any other part of the city). Take the usual care, don't drink too much and keep your wits about you, but I'd say Tokyo has to be one of the safest cities to go out in at night. Especially if you get back on the last train. (Whatever you do, don't try and get a taxi for any destination more than a 3 or 4 stops away on the subway. Not if you want to stay on budget. And don't ever assume the taxi driver knows where he's going, or that he'll give you the right change back.)

Pretty certain that by just reading this thread one could perceive the nightlife of Roppongi to be a “must skip” instead of a very fun evening out. A very bad misconception to conjure up in the minds of those that do not know. It is a city for goodness sake, not a country vilalge. You get a bit of sleaze, but you will not be bored and Japan is very soft white milk toast compared to the sleaze of a city like New York.

Places like Lex are okay for dancing and picking up girls late at night. Lots of young great looking women there. Gas Panic on the other hand is bar worth skipping unless you really are afraid to try out a few words of Japanese. That said, the version in Shibuya gets far higher marks for talent and Japanese to Westerner ration.

Hostess clubs in Roppongi are for the hostesses that cannot get work in Ginza. As such there are a lot of hostesses that will actually smoke at the table, laugh uproariously, etc. The non-Japanese contingent appeals mainly to the Japanese guys who have no realization that the women of this land are oh so lovely as well. Educated and highly intelligent are two words that do not spring immediately to mind in describing the women at these places. They make great pretensions about knowing how to talk to any guest from any walk of life, blah, blah, blah, but a Cartier watch does not a classy chick make. They are what they are. Impossible to make more of them than that. They all give out and take numbers and e-mail addresses and do meet the clients outside of the shop almost everyday. They do not earn the gifts at the bar, believe me. And gifts they get aplenty. And this applies equally to the 6-Chome crowd of Ginza.

If you want to have a good night out in Roppongi, and I am going to take this to mean a good meal, a few drinks, and maybe some dancing and chat, try something along the lines of:

Dinner at a place in or around Roppongi Hills or in a place highly rated and recommended by a site like bento.com or eatpia.com. A real city for foodies.

Have drinks at a safe bar to warm up. Someplace like the bar at the Oak Door in the Grand Hyatt comes to mind. Move from there to something a little more swinging like Heartland downstairs from the Hyatt or even club at this point. Tons of them available and you can find something that appeals by perusing a magazine like Metroplis (online also). As the evening wears on and the senses are numbing, give thought to a second club or a shot bar like Geronimo’s. You will be about ready for breakfast shortly after that and you would not believe how good Yakiniku can be at 5:30am. Ramen is another good call, but my own favorite is a plate of curry. Stay out all night and enjoy the city. Not a big fan of Shinjuku at all, and Shibuya always makes me feel old, at least until it shuts down at its very early closing hours. Give Roppongi a shot. I have been in many fun cities around the world, but here you find one of the best by far.

Any idea what time is the last train and wat time is the earliest train too?

I got a plane to catch on the 26th 9am and need to travel from ikebukuro to narita airport. Seeing the reviews on taxi, i guess i will take the train to the airport though. :eek:

I'm sure you have more experience than me with these places, you're welcome to it.:) I do know that I spoke in depth to at least 3 women at the place I went to, they were accomplished, well educated (the level of English helped to highlight this) and extremely intelligent.

Perhaps you feel better writing them all off the way you have. But then, you are what you are....


(One thing in Roppongi's favour, less yakuza operate here than in other more 'respectable' districts. Of course the people who'll notice this most are the bar and izakaya owners rather than those who frequent them).

Last trains run at around 12-12:30 leaving central Tokyo for their relative end stations. Way too early to head back if you want to have fun though.

First trains and buses leave Shinjuku/Ikebukuro around 6am or so and get to Narita about 7:30. Are you comfortable with the 1.5 hours ahead of flight time for check in? If in C class you will be fine. If in Economy it will be fine probably, but the recommended time is a bit more than this.

Dear, dear. Did I hit a nerve there? I may be a bit out of the loop but, I have only been here for 16 years and work and live in the vicinity. What could I possibly be expected to know? Your one experience with three non-Japanese women who have become accomplished in English and who worked at the one place you went to that proffered their services, err, time for in depth conversation would certainly make for a far better basis for sweeping generalizations. I do not doubt for one minute that you had an engaging conversation with these people. I do suspect that they are far from rocket scientists however. There are ample opportunities for people with such accomplished language skills that do include such work.


Ouch. Very atypical of the insightful and extremely agreeable conversation I have come to enjoy reading from you here. Perhaps the implied rudeness could be avoided in future.

Mike

I really really enjoyed LUNCH (11:30 am to 2:30 pm) in the Park Hyatt's New York Grill for their Prix Fixe menu. Yes, American food but some items have a Japanese twist. The place is crowded so be willing to sit at the restaurants dining bar and watch the chef actually prepare the presentation of the dishes and sometimes chat with them too. Very upscale at the Park Hyatt on the 51st floor but at $35 the 3 course meal is very reasonable just watch out for those drinks since one drink can cost half the price of lunch. I choose the elegant antipasta bar and a dessert bar with a choice of entree when I was there. I think dinner can run up to $100 or so. But please don't tell anyone about this deal since I don't want this to get out. ^

Agreed.

I found your comments about the level of intelligence of women working in hostess bars extremely rude, I'd be grateful if this could be avoided in future.

I'd be jumping in too if someone decided to say that the people who work as couriers in London were morons, otherwise they could easily find other opportunities...

Perhaps these ladies should be able to find 'better' work in Tokyo, but who'd give them the visas? I think you're being very unfair.

I found this article last weekend in SF Chron to be entertaining and interesting:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...RG01MRNIR1.DTL

"Tokyo turnaround: Enjoying Japan's big city for little dough is easy"

When we were in Tokyo almost a year ago we found a visit to Tsukiji Fish Market to be a great use of time, plus we had really good sushi there.

Hmmm…

What I was looking for was more along the lines of an apology for a strength of comment I have never seen you dish out at an individual here, but as one does not appear to be forthcoming, I shall at least for my part, and for the frustration my own words caused you, say that I am sorry for such.

I suspect you use the example of the courier to illustrate your point by drawing a comparison to work which you know I did. A poor analogy though given that I did that work as student. Perhaps a better statement would be many couriers in London are students. ;)

Laws are in place for people to find employment in this and every city. If visa rules bother people, I have no pity. If this is the only work that can be found which supplies a visa, then so be it. I think however that if these folks were as skilled and accomplished as I have taken your description to make them seem, finding employment which also came with a visa should not truly be that difficult.

Just to clarify I meant strip clubs or you know ;) ;) those kinda places, I was being polite. :p

I work for rock bands so my treatment is usually special. We always drink for free off of a special menu they give us. Sorry I couldn't clarify VIP for you.

I say watch out for those strange African men that dress like Hip Hop style. They are major scammers and I punched one in Akasaka in Jan. He grabbed me by the arm.

Let's all be friends
 

I have found some interesting things in some of the strip clubs in Rappongi. Apart from the obvious that is. The pay differential between Tokyo and Eastern Europe is enormous. One woman I talked to was a nurse in Romania and made more in a month in Tokyo than the rest of the year in her home country being a nurse. There was a pretty wide range of backgrounds in the women I met.

Ive never been hassled on the street there although I am positive it happens. On the other hand it happens in other places too, unfortunately. A couple days ago in Europe some really short, small weird guy either tried to take me down or physically throw me off balance enough to get my wallet while I was walking down the street in broad daylight. He locked his leg behind mine and kept trying to push me back to trip me. Never had anything like that happen in New York or elsewhere in the States but it is possible anywhere. I probably feel safer on the streets of Tokyo than any othe large city in the world. But it is a large city, and stuff happens.

I'm writing the movie for Jack Black now - It's a kind of Nacho Libre sequel.

The cute nun finds that she can fund the orphanage by fulfilling her exhibitionist fantasies... it all goes well until the bishop gets wind of her activities.. but she cant kick the habit...