When talking about dancing at the Apollo, Americans who grew up in New York during the golden age of jazz tend to wax nostalgic. A smile might spread across their faces as they recall swinging to the sounds of Louis Armstrong and Chick Webb.
When talking about dancing at the Apollo with Osakans who grew up during the bubble economy years, however, the likely reaction is a smirk or a giggle of embarrassed laughter. It's not that the Osaka namesake of Harlem's famed nightclub doesn't swing in its own right. It's just that those gyrating to the rhythms on stage are not nattily dressed musicians but undressed ladies.
Located in south Osaka, near Sakuragawa Station on the Sennichimae subway line about 10 minutes from JR Nanba Station, the Apollo building is a collection of "show pubs" -- six floors and a basement of raunchy entertainment that pulls in a wide variety of males of all ages.