Aoyama is a breeding ground for night culture. It's as if someone dropped an extremely virulent strain of lounge-bar.alt in the area and it went berserk. Almost every time you round a corner, there's yet another stylish light-box sign marking the entrance of another chic new hideaway (some don't even have signs). But Aoyama is also a graveyard for experiments gone wrong. They often disappear as quickly as they come.

When I first visited Soft, one of a half-dozen mini-clubs-cum-lounge bars in Aoyama at the time, I didn't give it long to live. But I was wrong. Here we are five years later and Soft is still there. And, if anything, it's going stronger than ever before -- despite the fact that, even now, I rarely pick up fliers promoting events here or find them listed on the Web. I do, however, get e-mails from friends who have parties here from time to time.

Basically, Soft has survived by providing an inner circle of local and foreign DJs, performers and artists a space in which to host their events. Some of them will charge a cover at door and some don't. People like Justin "Britches" Spohn -- better known for his series of Blotto parties at Ebisu's Milk and other venues -- will pull together a line-up of live artists and DJs and invite you all to come on down for free.