Meet Hiroshima-san -- a diminutive, pixie-faced bottle-blond who favors either skinny polyester shirts held half-open with a chain or grungy sweaters. He is the owner of Boys Town Cafe, a gem of a juke joint (sans box) about to celebrate its seventh year on Friday in the back streets of Naka-Meguro.
But it is his parents we should thank for this bar and for teething him on the best of '60s and '70s rock. While other kids were listening to Disney soundtracks, baby Hiroshima-kun was rocking in his crib to Led Zeppelin and The Beatles and catchy J-pop tunes by the Tigers and Pink Lady. After he hit the streets, he also discovered punk and funk and metal.
Hiroshima-san spins all of the above genres when at the helm of Boys Town, which is most nights from midnight. And like his mom and dad, he spins a mixed bag of Japanese and foreign tunes. But with so much to choose from -- an archive totaling 3 meters of vinyl spine-to-spine (not including the singles under the bar) and a wall of CDs -- he's happy to field requests, from which he compiles a top 10 each month.