The foreign contribution to Tokyo's nightlife is not all Roppongi sleaze. Take Guy Perryman, for example, who has created a unique lounge-cum-event space around a radio station. Guy had just started his career as an FM disc jockey in Sydney when he was recruited by Virgin to spin at the opening of their first Megastore in Tokyo.
"I was to stay after the opening to train local DJs in the 'Virgin way,' " he laughs, as his honey-toned voice rises a decibel or two above its usual radio baritone. "But they couldn't find any suitable candidates." What was supposed to be a three-month stint became six, at the end of which he was hooked.
Guy also hosted U.K. indies nights at clubs, mostly under the Virgin banner. "The club scene was world class, but I was appalled by the lack of good FM radio in Tokyo," he adds, noting that none of the options we currently enjoy existed then. And so it was that he inadvertently began a decade-long journey to realize a dream -- his own radio station in Tokyo.