1974 Tokyo Weekender

[Mulboyne]

Captain Japan has drawn my attention to some 1974 archive editions of the Tokyo Weekender. A lot of FGs have probably never read a copy but it was as ubiquitous as Metropolis in its day. It used to have the same mix of classifieds, listings, reviews and ads for local shops and restaurants although editor Corky Alexander eventually moved away from that model which allowed other magazines to steal a march on him. It also described itself as "A forum for foreigners in Japan" which you'll find online these days in places like FG.

The articles aren't up to much but it's interesting to see some of the same subjects discussed that crop up today: fertility festivals, cheap shopping, international schools, can a foreigner ever be accepted by Japanese, what does "accepted mean etc. And sex:



It's the adverts that caught my eye. You don't see a company advertising interpreting and escort services in the same ad. Perhaps "escort services" meant something different in 1974, I'm sure Greji can tell us.



The classifieds have some similarities to today but also some differences:




Peter Barakan first arrived in Japan in 1974 but I doubt that he was involved with this joint:



Anyone who has read Robert Whiting's "Tokyo Underworld" will know this name:



I don't think you see hiragana used for foreign words so much these days:

[oyajikun]

Awesome post!

[osopolar]

Seriously great find.

It's nice to take a peek into the Japan Greji was introduced to, way back in the day.

[Greji]

Seriously great find.

It's nice to take a peek into the Japan Greji was introduced to, way back in the day.

Wise ass! Just because I knew Nicholas (and his daughter) and Corky when he worked for Stars and Stripes, and Peter was a NooB, doesn't mean I'm that old. Hell, it was only 75. It's not like it was a long time ago. Since we've been talking horseracing on other forms, I saw Shinzan win the Arima Kinen...

[GomiGirl]

....it was only 75.

Yes but I was in kindergarten in 75.

[Yokohammer]

Found the Weekender archives a while ago and did a serious trip down memory lane. I'm hoping that some more classic material will be added as time goes on.

Yeah, I met Nick*, and Corky, and Bob Cutts (the guy who wrote the cover article to the issue pictured in this thread ... and a great writer IMHO) back in the day. For a short while I even worked in one of the venues advertised in the 1975 issues. Good times. The Weekender really was *the* info source for many of us.

Nick and Corky are gone, but does anyone know whatever happened to Bob Cutts?

And hey, I'll bet some of you who are all nostalgic about the Weekender archives also spent some evenings at Eri's Cabin(?).

* Actually, I had the distinction of being kicked out of Nicola's by ol' Nick back when he was in his "anti-young-people" phase. He had a few phases.

[Mulboyne]

I was struck by how many European restaurants and butchers were advertising in the Weekender in the 70s. Most of them were German (or, at least, German-American) but I saw ads for Hungarian, Czech and Austrian joints too. You can find such places today but it looks like they may have been a bigger part of the foreign restaurant scene back then.

[Captain Japan]

I was struck by how many European restaurants and butchers were advertising in the Weekender in the 70s. Most of them were German (or, at least, German-American) but I saw ads for Hungarian, Czech and Austrian joints too. You can find such places today but it looks like they may have been a bigger part of the foreign restaurant scene back then.

I was struck by how the same subjects for articles come up now as they did then: Narita as a lousy airport, Tsukiji, Japanese porn vs. U.S., sleaze clubs, etc.

[CrankyBastard]

Hell, it was only 75. It's not like it was a long time ago.

Reading those archives, I, too, felt the same way.
But now that I think about it, that's almost four decades ago .............
And it was twelve years before that, when I was pissed off about all the hoopla of the approaching Olympics!!!! Jeeeeezus in '75 the Tokyo Olympics were part of Japan's 'Recent History'

[Greji]

Reading those archives, I, too, felt the same way.
But now that I think about it, that's almost four decades ago .............
And it was twelve years before that, when I was pissed off about all the hoopla of the approaching Olympics!!!! Jeeeeezus in '75 the Tokyo Olympics were part of Japan's 'Recent History'

Cranky, don't talk about the Tokyo Olympics. That's a sore topic. That's when they raised the price of booze and whores for the tourists and found out they could get away with those outrageous demands on the us poor resident consumers. The price for all-night shot up to ten dollars US in a flash, with a short-time going at five (3,600 and 1,800 at 360 to 1). A truly dark day in history from which we've never recovered....

[CrankyBastard]

Cranky, don't talk about the Tokyo Olympics. That's a sore topic. That's when they raised the price of booze and whores for the tourists and found out they could get away with those outrageous demands on the us poor resident consumers. The price for all-night shot up to ten dollars US in a flash, with a short-time going at five (3,600 and 1,800 at 360 to 1). A truly dark day in history from which we've never recovered....

Grej, I commiserate with you. Though I was in Kobe in those days and Clancy's Bar et-al tried to up the ante but it wasn't until Osaka Expo that the prices really started to hit the roof.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Jeezus...what are you spring chickens on about?
What really drove the prices up was the '51 peace treaty. All I needed until then was a packet of chewing gum....

[CrankyBastard]

Jeezus...what are you spring chickens on about?
What really drove the prices up was the '51 peace treaty. All I needed until then was a packet of chewing gum....

LOL, but you still had to pay for the penicillin shots and sulfa pills though!!!:shock:

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

LOL, but you still had to pay for the penicillin shots and sulfa pills though!!!:shock:

Nah, I never worried about 'em. Just kept using the old thing until I dropped off, which at least gave me the satisfaction of feeling somewhat assimilated because I then had the same length as most of the local guys around me.

[Greji]

LOL, but you still had to pay for the penicillin shots and sulfa pills though!!!:shock:

Naw, I was a zoomie, not crewing a leaky row boat with you Crank. We got those fancy state of the art pro-kits that you had to keep on your johnson for a period of time, or until your johnson fell off, which ever came first....

[Failsafe]

These are fantastic. Thanks for sharing, Mulboyne.

[Bucky]

speaking of the Weekender here's another link

once you go here, if you click on the page it embiggins so you can read it.

[Greji]

speaking of the Weekender here's another link

once you go here, if you click on the page it embiggins so you can read it.

That's Allen Merrill right? I believe he wrote and recorded "I Love Rock and Roll" here in Tokyo around that time. Used see a lot of him (and his mom) around the local joints. But his song is only remembered as Joan Jett's ticket to fame because she was the one that took it to the top...

[Mulboyne]

That's Allen Merrill right? I believe he wrote and recorded "I Love Rock and Roll" here in Tokyo around that time. Used see a lot of him (and his mom) around the local joints. But his song is only remembered as Joan Jett's ticket to fame because she was the one that took it to the top...

Old thread

[Greji]

Old thread

Sorry Mulby! Should have run a search, or at least known that you would have been on top of it!

[Mulboyne]

Sorry Mulby! Should have run a search, or at least known that you would have been on top of it!

Not at all! I'm always up for mentions of Alan Merrill because he was an uber-FG in his day. I think he'd happily swap his royalties if someone could promise him a couple of years repeating his time in Tokyo at the peak of his fame in Japan.