Tokyo Bento: After Dark

Ever since the 1980s, when I ran ‘Psychotic  Reaction’, a weekly night at Vienna’s notorious Chelsea Club, I have been fascinated by  the musical universe of garage rock, rock ’n’ roll, exotica and 60s sounds. Tokyo has a lively scene for all of this, with  concerts taking place several nights a week across numerous small venues known as live houses. The clubs are dark, cramped and almost always busy, the audiences euphoric and the bands  consistently impressive – even if their names  occasionally raise a few Western eyebrows.  

The start times also take some getting used to: concerts often begin by 6 pm at the latest – and they stick to it. With several bands usually playing on the same bill, and Tokyo’s public transport not running through the night, most clubs wrap up by around 11 pm. That still  leaves both audiences and musicians enough time to catch the last train home. At times, this early schedule takes on slightly surreal proportions. Some events, especially on Sundays, start as early as midday. One moment you are standing in a dark club surrounded by deafening sound; the next, you are washed back out into the streets of Tokyo in broad daylight.   

Tokyo After Dark.  


This publication is a (selective) gig diary from our six months in Tokyo, part of the Tokyo Bento series.
Edition of six Zines in a polystyrene sushi container

68 pages, digital print
Print run: 6 copies
2026, printed in Japan