The beaches between Zushi and Enoshima were buzzing with activity as my friends and I sped southbound along the strip. They were not only crowded with sunbathers, but also choked with oversize beach bars, lined up cheek to jowl along the foreshore. Some of these bars are extravagant multistory structures that look like they've been imported wholesale from Thailand.

To be honest, I don't care much for the summer beach scene, preferring, as I do, to prowl the streets at night. But one lonely outpost called Sputnik, located on a relatively deserted stretch of beach near Tujido, stands out above the rest. Sputnik is the creation of a Japanese interior-design company called Idee. Unlike all the other wannabe beach bars along the strip, it is hidden from the road. Unless you knew it was there, you'd never find it.

But there it has sat for five summers, quietly nurturing alternative beach culture. People like my friends -- members of an African djembe group called Komazawa Genjyumin -- perform here on the beach each summer. As, too, have some of Tokyo's best club DJs -- like Matsuura from UFO and Tsuyoshi from Joujouka. And coming up Friday is a very special event called Dub Above Zaboon, which will collect some of Tokyo's best DJs together on two stages with two sound systems.