To celebrate Tokyo Weekender’s latest issue starring actor and singer Yu on the cover, photographed by the always artistic Solène Ballesta, we teamed up with Or (stylized as ‘or’) Miyashita Park, for an exciting TW January-February 2022 issue party on February 22. TW’s editors, writers, photographers and previous interviewees and collaborators got together to catch up and take a look at the magazine. From Yoshiyuki Miyamae, Issey Miyake’s A-POC Able brand designer, to Koffee Mameya Kakeru, it’s an issue full of fascinating people and stories.

The Venue

Encompassing three floors, this chic, versatile entertainment space plays host to a café, bar, nightclub, event venue and pop-up space. Or is a must-visit destination that channels the innate coolness of Shibuya, with street art, fashion, music and design playing a major role. On the first floor, you can relax with drinks and food while listening to great music. On the second floor, you can enjoy the music bar surrounded by the captivating art of Shohei Otomo. The third floor is a nightclub space with windows overlooking the incandescent streets of Shibuya with the metropolis rushing past.

It was the third floor where the TW party took place on February 22, with the occasional peek on the second floor where the walls are covered in Otomo’s art.

The Music

The night started off with our Tokyo Weekender resident DJ who played a mix of house and electronic tunes. Mumei and Sinzin followed with a set each, playing groovy minimal techno that kept the beverages and banter flowing until just before the last train. The Or afterparty kicked off with the DJ sets of DJ P.H.B., also known as Pure Human Beat, DJ Fu, DJ Fujiko and DJ Hokuto.

Pure Human Beat got the crowd going with tech house mixes, while DJ Fu brought in the chill vibes with calm, jazzy house grooves. DJ Fujiko and Hokuto played a setlist to finish the night strong with eclectic sets.

The Vibes

Pre-order tickets were sold out and there were long queues of people eager to purchase their door tickets for the night. Familiar TW faces were spotted at the party, including activist and architect Sari Kaede, who was on the cover of our September-October 2022 issue. Members of Haus Von Schwarz came to party with us too. Their drag performances at the TW October 2022 party and the TW Pride 2022 event were the talk of the town, while at this event they got to mingle and relax.

We also caught up with the team behind Millenials of Tokyo. We can’t forget our awesome TW writers, artists and previous interviewees who we collaborated with, who came out to enjoy a night out at Or. Lots of laughter and casual chatter was heard throughout the venue. Many stayed until the very last train. The biggest party animals stayed past midnight too.

Photo by Zoria P.K.

The January-February issue was placed at several different spots throughout the third floor alongside past September-October and November-December issues. All free for the taking, we are happy to say almost all copies ended up in our readers’ hands. We will be back with another issue and another party very soon. It will be at the same place, so stay tuned.