I was going to make just one recommendation for New Year's Eve -- the countdown party at Milk, a freestyle club in Ebisu. I have had a couple of great New Year's Eves there -- including one special moment making mochi (traditional rice cakes) as the first tendrils of dawn crept across the sky in the year 2000. I wasn't in the mood for a big party; however, hammering at gooey rice balls was a perfect match.

And thereby hangs the thread that would unravel any attempt to make just one recommendation. New Year's Eve not only means different things to different people, it can also mean different things to the same person -- depending on their mood. And the fact that dance music is fragmenting into an ever-expanding array of categories confirms that one party could never fit all . . .

But as most people (most years) are in the mood to party on New Year's Eve, I've listed a selection of the best parties Tokyo has to offer this Dec. 31. And the winners are . . .