First day, we woke up around 9 AM.

We’ve been granted 8 hours of good night’s sleep after 24 hours of grueling journey. The upcoming 24 hours are going to be just as tough to survive. The schedule is wild.

¶  Breakfast at Sukiya

We were on our way to Okachimachi Station when we had decided to allow Sukiya the privilege of being the first famiresu we have ever visited.

Upon entering the restaurant, we’ve been greeted by the staff member and shown to our table. As we had learnt later, this is not a baseline for each visit. Usually the staff is too busy, and expect guests to take their seats by themselves.

After we got ourselves comfortable, staff member put 3 glasses on the table and poured some barley tea. This is a convention we were yet to get used to. Most restaurants in Japan serve drinks free of charge before taking an order.

Placing an order turned out to be a trivial task with the aid of a table tablet. The entire menu is available in English and none of the items seemed puzzling. Sukiya serves traditional Japanese cuisine, yet their offer is remarkably accessible for foreigners. Cryptic names of all kinds of rice dishes are annotated with succinct lists of ingredients.

I’m a big fan of natto. Having sensed the opportunity to savour the authentic taste of this legendary delicacy, I ordered a breakfast set with a bowl of natto. My companions prefered safer choice and opted for fish sets.

¶  Getting Suica

Feeling refreshed and full of energy, we headed to Ueno Station to exchange our vouchers for JR Passes at JR EAST Travel Service Center. Summer is everyone’s favorite time of the year to visit Japan, with August always being the busiest month. Despite all windows operating at full power, we had to wait for about 30 minutes to collect our passes.

Last night, we were unable to collect Suica cards at Haneda Airport. It was long after midnight when we finally cleared immigration and public transport, along with all services like offices and ticket machines, does not operate during the night in Japan. At the time of our visit, IC cards manufacturers were experiencing a major chip shortage. JR EAST employed a countermeasure and reduced the number of points of sale by a great deal. Having no other choice, we had to travel back to Haneda just for this single errand.

We still had some time before the main course, so we decided to hit the Akihabara and kill some time at the arcade.

¶  The Day Of Hardcore 2023

The Day Of Hardcore used to be an annual hardcore techno party always taking place at 5th of August in Shibuya. The date wasn’t selected at random, it’s a play on words. Japanese pronounciation of word hardcore is ハーコー (ha–ko–), which consists of first syllabe of number 8 (八, hachi) and devoiced number 5 (五, go).

First edition has taken place in 2006 and been organized with joint efforts of X-TREME HARD and Maddest Chick’ndom, going by the name of Hardcore Osaka then.

Since 2006, TDOH has been organized 14 times at different venues in Shibuya. During each of editions, pressed promo CDs featuring mixes done by line-up artists were given out to participants for free.

From the first edition, TDOH did a good a job illustrating the rich profile of Japanese hardcore techno scene thanks its large and diverse line-up. Promo handed out in 2006 contains mixes attributed to HARDCORE TANO*C and SHARPNELSOUND, two worlds apart labels. Promos from later editions, as well as line-ups are usually contrasting in a similar way. The Day Of Hardcore didn’t need to gain its cult status. Big names from all corners of the scene guaranteed it from the very beginning.

5th of August is officially recognized as The Day Of Hardcore by Japan Anniversary Association.

It’s hardly surprising that TDOH went on hiatus as a real-life event after 2019 edition due to the COVID pandemic. It was held as a Twitch event in 2020 and featured overseas artists for the first time.

In 2021, for the first time in 14 years, The Day of Hardcore wasn’t celebrated. World had to wait until 2023 to observe the reemergence of this event.

Rumours about it have been circulating in the community since early 2023, but the final confirmation came on Jun 8, 2023 on M-Project’s Twitter.

It was announced as a free event taking place in EDEN, a BBQ rooftop bar in Shinjuku. Coincidentally enough, this place is owned by one of the artists mentioned in the line-up.

Organizers have imposed the limit on number of participants due to highly limited space in the venue. Only first 60 people to reserve the spot via the Twipla event have been guaranteed the admission to the event. The interest was much higher than that. Reserve list included more than 80 people willing to participate.

We were on cloud nine when the anouncement reached us. However, the initial joy did not last long. 60 spots run out within a blink of an eye. Despite the event being announced at a convenient time, we had to come to terms with the facts that we wouldn’t be able to attend. We had to resort to joining the reserve list and hope for the best.

On the day of the event, M-Project dropped more information on the actual organization. Following the instructions, we had appeared at the venue at 4 PM, 3 hours after the start of the event. This way, we could enter in place of people who failed to appear despite reserving their spot before.

Upon leaving the elevator at the rooftop level, a group of people greeted us and asked for our Twitter handles. I tried to explain that our names didn’t make it to the guaranteed entrance list. They seemed to have no problem with it and sold 3 wristbands and beer coupons to us, 500 yen each. Selling drink coupons instead of an actual event tickets is a practice commonly exercised in Japanese music venues.

First set we’ve listened to was FOXYUN’s. FOXYUN is well-known for his fascination of the origins of gabber/hardcore music and Dutch culture in general. His first works are dated back to mid-90’s XROGER releases. This label preceades more widely known Handaya Rave, a collective of artists carrying on the tradition of throwing outdoor raves in Sendai’s Kotodai Park. The history of this initiative has been penned by Speedbeatz in his blog.

FOXYUN expressed his affinity towards Netherlands in several ways. A flag of Rotterdam football team Feyenoord was put on display. Under the jacket with a Dutch flag badge, he was wearing a t-shirt with a print refering to New Kids, a Dutch TV show he’s apparently a big fan of.

His set mostly consisted of early hardcore/gabber classics like Hakke en Zage by Gabber Piet (lol). He posted a full playlist on his Twitter.

As the venue kept getting crowder and crowder, we listened to the set of Kamikaze’s, relatively young producer active both locally and internationally. In 2022, a legendary Dutch label Mokum Records released the album credited to him and M-Project.

Finally, the highlight of the day. On the second thought, the highlight of the entire trip. DJ Sharpnel (technically Jea) live set. Seemingly unreachable dream that came to life after 10 years. Pure and blissful happiness was pumped into my body with each kick as I was enjoying every second of this unforgettable experience to the fullest.

Jea maintained the usual structure of the set starting with timeless classic Speed Disco Vol. 2 and finishing with Blue Noah 2006. Although the middle part consisted primarly of his newer original works, some older jaycore tracks made it to the tracklist.

Despite its uttermost significance, this event wasn’t included in the holiday plans list from the very beginning. When DJ Sharpnel announced a complete transition to VR in 2017 that meant a termination of all operations of their main label Sharpnelsound. This officialized the gradual shift from real-life to VR events that could have been observed since 2014. For the next few years, DJ Sharpnel seldom performed at IRL events.

The announcement left me especially devastated after I missed DJ Sharpnel playing live at DoKomi in 2015, and then at Bangface in 2017. Back then, I used to perceive these events as once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to experience Sharpnel sounds first-hand. Unfortunately, I had to let the unique opportunities go.

Now it seems like Jea is trying to make it up for the last two years of pandemic restrictions. He performed IRL 3 times during our stay in Japan and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to stop. I hope his enthusiasm will encourage him to do another overseas tour, like he did earlier this year with Kitty On Fire Records. Pretty please :J

The next performer to get behind the decks was M-Project. I had an opportunity to listen to his set earlier this year, at Bangface 2023 in the UK. Comparing two sets to each other, one could easily tell that TDOH set was primarly focused on genres like makina and powerstomp, while the audience at Bangface could enjoy more tracks leaning towards UK and happy hardcore.

I would venture to say that M-Project is primarly associated with powerstomp and related genres by the Japanese audience thanks to his long-running Underground Makina Connectionz series and the catalog of Terraform Music. Makina itself is very prominent genre in Japan, abundant in commercial and underground projects and labels (e.g. Japan Makina Club, YTR Records). This may possibly explain slight difference between selections M-Project made for his sets.

Nadeco, who happens to be the owner of the venue, was the last DJ to play at the event. My knowledge of his works was limited at that time and I didn’t really know what to expect. The set began with nice transition between the last track of M-Project’s set, a hardcore remix of all-time classic James Brown Is Dead and Blunted – Fantasy, a gabber remix of iconic Final Fantasy OST track Prelude. Both artists topped the stunt by making a toast shot.

We left the venue shortly before the party ended at 8 PM. On our way to the exit, I noticed a stack of CDs lined up on the ticket counter. Certainly I wasn’t prepare to spot LIVE at VIRTUAL DISCO by DieTRAX, a mix CD released at M3-49 in 2022, apparently limited to just 150 copies. I’m a huge fan of DieTRAX for his exquisite and amusing sampling taste combined with raw and ruthless gabber style. Just like everything from 全日本レコード, this release is not easy to come by, so I was more than happy to obtain it. We also had a bit awkward conversation with M-Project, whom I didn’t recognize until he confessed his identity to me. It was then when I noticed cloth indentations on his forehead. In the end, I left the venue with one more CD.

¶  Weekend Ravers

After a quick shower in the hotel, we headed out to Shibuya to hit yet another party – Weekend Ravers V.37.

As the name suggest, it was 37th iteration of an event regularly organized since 2013. I couldn’t find exact information on the history of this party, but past posts on Twitter and Facebook make me believe it’s strongly affiliated with DJ Shimamura. Unlike most of the Japanese electronic music events, Weekend Ravers runs all night long. The door close at 5 AM, just the right time to catch one of the earliest trains in Tokyo.

The party title The Night of Hardcore is an obvious reference to the special date it was taking place on and its daytime celebration. Apart from the similar naming, both initiatives seem to be rather disconnected from each other. Nadeco was the only artist to perform at both The Day and The Night of Hardcore.

The party was taking place at clubasia located in Maruyamacho district of Shibuya. Being established in 1996, this club carries a long legacy as a pioneer of Shibuya club culture. The main floor has an open feel with a ceiling height of 6 meters, and cafe floor has a uniquely shaped bar counter located in the middle of the room. Another bar is being run at the lounge floor upstairs.

Upon entering the venue, I found myself standing in the middle of the cafe floor. Suddenly, I met the gaze of the MC standing behind the bar counter. There is a single word I could pick up from otherwise incomprehensible torrent of words he spouted – Bangface. Yeah, I was still wearing that t-shirt. Everyone on the floor applauded and noded their heads expressing accolade and impression. Taken aback by this sudden turn of events, I responded with a timid smile. A fashionably dressed girl (who I think was DJ S3L△ performing later in the night) complimented my look with some simple English phrase. After this warm welcome, I started making myself comfortable in the new place and exploring the club.

After just a few minutes I could tell the most evident difference between this and an average music club in my homeland. Very high involvement of MCs in the sets. According to my clubbing and raving experience in Europe, an MC accompanying a hardcore techno DJ is a sight as rare as hen’s teeth.

During that night, rap was an essential and integral part of every DJ’s set, regardless of music style and the stage it was played on. According to my observations, one MC kept doing his job for 3 to 4 consecutive sets before being replaced by another performer. On the main stage several MCs would engage in various acts of tomfoolery, such as rap batles, wrestling or competetive emptying out bottles of spirit.

They did a massive job animating the crowd, obliterating artificial frontiers between stage and audience and “fueling” the all-night-long running party. The entire show was one of the most engaging raves I have ever participated in. Western scene could learn many valuable lessons from the Japanese style of leading the event.

Quality of sound and lights equipment was outstanding, especially on the main stage. Sound was crisp clear, lasers allowed for the most sophisticated show I have ever witnessed in such a comfy club. Organizers certainly take pride in the visual facet of the show and mention figures reponsible for it on the party flyer.

The atmosphere in the venue was friendly and admirable. Throughout the night, I could feel the sense of unity and kindness shared with everyone in the club. I had several kind interactions with the locals and the Bangface t-shirt proved to be a particularly effective ice-breaker.

The line-up abounded in artists I was hardly a devoted follower of. Despite that, I enjoyed most of the sets I listened to.

One of the names on the flyer that sparked my interest is DJ Shimamura, unprecedenced pioneer of happy hardcore genre in Japan. Personally I mostly enjoy his less known side projects closely linked to nerdcore clique, like 下痢便発電所 and Akira Trax. The other incarnation of Shimamura I’m particularly fond of is Geraid, a name usually associated with RaverZ Project!, which laid the foundation of happy hardcore movement in Japan in late 90s. Obviously I didn’t expect to hear Great Teacher or Dinosaur Slippy during the party, especially given the fact Shimamura played B2B with DJ Wildparty, but I still enjoyed uplifting energetic vibe and unparalleled mixing skills he has been mastering for over 25 years. The set could described as a non-stopping pendulum, constantly and consistently balancing between origins and contempoprary derivatives of rave music.

Another artists in my array of priorities for the night was Yuta Imai, a hardstyle producer and founder of Tokyo Hard Dance. My primal exposure to Yuta Imai happened through newer editions of beatmania IIDX. I admired Yuta unique style combining contemporary trends in the hardcore scene like heavy use of distored kicks, a signature of uptempo with reverse bass, a facet distinctive for subgenres like oldschool hardstyle and rawstyle.

We left the party while REDALiCE was playing back-to-back with DJ Noriken with a tinge of a slight disappointment. If asked, I’m capable of drawing a hard line between two eras of his period of activity, and anything beyond that line stays out of the scope of my musical interest. As in contrast to DJ Shimamura, REDALiCE interspersed his show with backtracks to the origins of his legacy rather scarcely. I must admit that despite my earnest attempts to approach this encounter of a high personal significance with a hint of realism and pragmatism, I still couldn’t help but feel a bit of a let-down.

Wandering between streets of Shibuya, we reached the train station just in time to board the second train in the schedule. It was packed with half-dead people who just have finished their own big city adventures. Yamanote Line is a service running in 34.5 km long loop around the urban centres. Okachimachi, our destination at that time is located almost ideally on the other side of the circle looking from Shibuya. No matter the direction, there was the longest possible route ahead of us. We stopped by a konbini on the way from the station to the hotel and grabbed a few bottles of Pocari. I think we entered the room around half past six, chugged on pocaris and promptly died.