Death of a disco

December 31 will bring down the curtain on the calendar year as well as a Tokyo landmark and night-life institution. It is not clear where Velfarre got its name, but in the 12 years since it opened, the mammoth disco in the Roppongi entertainment district has become known in virtually every household.

The entertainment firm Avex Group Holdings set up the club to promote its stable of stars, including Ayumi Hamazaki and Kumi Koda. After years of success, attendance has been falling at the cavernous venue. Now, with the lease on the land and building about to expire, Velfarre is shutting down.

'Business has tapered off and every month it has been operating at a considerable deficit,' reported Nikkan Gendai magazine. 'The management is stumped over what to do. They have been looking for a buyer from the start of 2006, but no one appears to be interested.'

Promoting itself as the largest disco in Asia, Velfarre can host 2,000 patrons. Everything in it is on a vast scale, from the huge stage to the DJs' spacious booth to the revolving glitter ball above the enormous dance floor. There are bars on both ends of the stage, and a private members' lounge overlooks the masses of hoi polloi writhing to the latest hit track.

Specialising in house and techno music, Velfarre was unfortunate to open just as the Euro-beat phenomenon, which pushed dance music back into the pop market, was winding down. Management worked hard to get the club in the spotlight, and the disco was instrumental in driving the late-1990s' 'para para' dance scene.

That popular solo dancing style was fantastic fare for Japan's tabloid television: it involved legions of scantily clad young women performing strictly choreographed moves, mostly with their arms and upper bodies, while all facing the stage like line dancers. For a while, even Mickey Mouse was doing a para para number at Tokyo Disneyland.