MAKAI feat. YUCHUN -- Tokyo Lovelight

Tokyo Midtown is one of the two big commercial complexes in the Roppongi area along with Roppongi Hills. Of course, being a foodie, I've known it more for the restaurants in there, and when I was living there, there was Francis Ford Coppola's establishment along with a burger joint and one of my favourite tonkatsu restaurants, Hirata Bokujo. I did go there during my last visit to Tokyo in 2017, and I tucked into some sort of seasonal course. Of course, extra helpings of shredded cabbage, miso soup and rice were on the house.

Yup, did love my Tokyo and still miss the various areas of Roppongi, Ginza, Omotesando, Shibuya, Sugamo and all the rest. That's why when I encountered this speedy video of driving through the megalopolis, I got all sorts of pangs for my former area of work and hobby life.

Moreover, the song that goes with it isn't too shabby either. This is "Tokyo Lovelight" by house DJ MAKAI with YUCHUN (now formerly) of the South Korean group Tohoshinki（東方神起）providing the smooth vocals. Especially with those opening seconds, the visuals of bombing down through the bright lights and big city of Tokyo along with "Tokyo Lovelight" playing in the background brought back all sorts of wishes of being able to return and soak up all the atmosphere. Memories of Mondo Grosso and some aspects of Fantastic Plastic Machine come to mind. I especially like the way YUCHUN's vocals echo off the walls.

I heard all about Tohoshinki when I was living there due to their popularity but didn't know anything about MAKAI. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1979, he started spinning those discs from around 1990 and released 6 original albums between 2005 and 2010. His Wikipedia page says that his career is still going on, but on J-Wiki, he apparently announced his retirement from DJ'ing in 2012. "Tokyo Lovelight" is the lead track on his 4th album "STARS" released in September 2008 (which peaked at No. 32 on Oricon). As for the official music video, if anyone is asking, it's model Katrina Ikeda（池田カトリーナ）enjoying her city life there.

I checked online and happily the Hirata Bokujo branch at Tokyo Midtown is still there. I'm hoping that it continues to do so. Try not to eat the screen.🐖