If you talk to anyone who has been around Hiroshima for longer than 5 years, it's clear how much the city has changed, and for the better. Whilst the average foreigner's connection with Hiroshima is a fairly transient one, coming and going, getting involved or sticking a nose up at things, the locals in the city have been steadily creating a city that was more than a museum and a park. A city about which it's Mayor has proudly boasted; pointing to Lonely Planet's inclusion of Hiroshima in it's
'The Cities Book' as evidence of it's livability and it's cultural and leisure attractions. I certainly wouldn't have disagreed. I love Hiroshima. It's people, food, climate, okonomiyaki, rivers and much more, but right now a massive part of it's emergence has been strangled if not at birth but certainly in pre-adolesence. Along with all the bars, cafes and restaurants that have sprung up over the last 10 years or so, Hiroshima has also seen the birth of a club culture. Perhaps the most credit has to go to the local Drum and Bass crews. It is irrelevant whether you like the music or not, these guys have created a scene that sees them regularly pack clubs in town, and through a lot of effort and I imagine a lot of money, brought almost every major international Drum and Bass DJ to town. Only last week
Dynamite MC was sounding genuinely happy to be in Hiroshima for the first time. Everyone knows the name Hiroshima and everyone knows why, and the local promoters, clubbers, bar owners, DJs, bands etc. have been helping to give Hiroshima a very different image to that of the A-bombed city.
When I first came to Japan, I looked up Hiroshima in a battered old Lonely Planet which said if it hadn't been for the fact it had been bombed there would be very little reason to visit it. Not much of write up! And you can see from the fact LP chose the place as one of the top 200 cities in the world 10 years or so later that the city has taken a giant leap forward.
One leap forward for a city, one big foot to step down on it courtesy of the Hiroshima prefectural police. The last few months have seen the boys in blue clamping down on clubs and bars in the city apparently because of liscensing laws. What's come out is the existence of a ridiculously archaic law in Japan that forbids dancing after 1am. Apparently this is a public morals issue. This in the country where titty bars/soap lands whatever you want to call them are everywhere. Hiroshima police have seen fit to keep owners of El Barco night club and Cover in prison for over a week for liscensing violations. Suspected terrorists are sometimes kept for less time. Perhaps the prefectural police are planning a kind of camp X-ray, bright orange glow sticks for the city's clubbers.
A couple of days ago I popped into Edge to book a 3KBreaks night. No can do came the reply.....no more events.....why?.....because of the recent police actions. And it isn't just Edge, it's most of Hiroshima's clubs. Nice one Cuntstables. You've got the hard working, honest people of Hiroshima scared of running their businesses.
I hope we can at least make some noise about this. I don't see how we can change things without a complete change in the Japanese law, but as for Hiroshima, who's going to want to risk 10 days in prison for trying to host a party? I certainly don't want to put anyone at that kind of risk. Hiroshima's non sex related nightlife has taken a massive blow, one which I imagine will take years to recover from. I'm certainly questioning my desire to live here.
