Farewell A-Life! Popular club in Nishi-Azabu “ends its 20-year history
The club that has been the stage for many disturbances finally closes. 150 people lined up on the last day, and the shouting did not stop until dawn. ......
At 11:00 p.m. on January 22, about 150 people were waiting in line on Roppongi Dori in the cold weather. …… They were waiting to enter the club “A Life” in Nishi-Azabu, which was closing its doors after 20 years of existence.
A Life closed in 2012 after being caught violating the Entertainment Control Law, but reopened in 2004 on the current site. It was popular with the general public as a so-called ‘pick-up box. There were many foreign customers who wanted to pick up girls, and there was a large inbound demand.
It was the first weekend of the “priority measures to prevent the spread of the disease” in Tokyo, but the dance floor was so crowded that there was no room to pass. A male customer in his twenties wearing a white T-shirt and skimpy pants, beer in hand, said, “I heard the bar was closed today.
A male customer in his twenties wearing a white T-shirt and skimpy pants, beer in hand, said, “I heard it was closing today, so I came here for the first time! What do you want? Women. There are so many of them, we have to get someone. No, no, it’s embarrassing to wear a mask in a club!”
A couple in their 40s who had been coming to A-Life since it first opened said they had been there over 100 times. The husband recalls.
The husband recalls, “I met my wife at A Life, so I came here for the last time because it’s an important place for us. When this place closes, I’ll probably leave the club too. I don’t have the stamina to dance until the first train starts moving like I used to, so I’m going home early. My wife is a club addict, so I’m sure she’ll go somewhere else (laughs).
At 5:00 a.m., when the temperature was 2 degrees Celsius, nearly a hundred people were hanging out on Roppongi Street, talking loudly with drinks in their hands.
The long-established club, which had been a “human crossroads” in Tokyo’s best entertainment district, had a grand final day despite the Covid-19 disaster and put an end to its history.
From “FRIDAY” February 11, 2022 issue
PHOTO： Takayuki Ogawauchi
