Japanese disco fans hit the dance floor and partied like it was 1989, reliving the glitz of the “bubble economy” heyday that defined the early years of the outgoing Heisei imperial era.
Tuesday night was the last chance for nostalgic Japanese to bid sayonara to the three-decade Heisei era, which ended at midnight with the abdication of emperor Akihito.
Emperor Naruhito’s reign began yesterday, ushering in the Reiwa imperial era, meaning “beautiful harmony.”
In an echo of the heady “bubble economy” days of early Heisei, women in slinky dresses at the Maharaja Roppongi disco grooved to the beat while mirror balls glittered and veteran disco personality DJ Osshy spun the turntables, with the party culminating in a midnight countdown.
“I used to go to Maharaja every Friday night in the early Heisei days. I feel like I’ve gone back in time,” said Yu Inada, a homemaker.
Inada brought for the occasion a white feather fan, a must-have accessory in the bubble days that she had held on to since then.
“Back then everyday was fun. It was a gorgeous era. Nowadays things are a little plain,” she said before hopping on the elevated stage to strut her stuff.
Shirin Higashi, a 54-year-old esthetician, came for the countdown.
“I thought it would be more fun with everyone here than at home alone. I’m happy I could take part in the celebration,” she said.
Heisei began in early 1989 at the height of a stock market and real-estate bubble, where it seemed money came easy and the good times would never end.
That exuberance fueled Japan’s nightlife, with discos like Maharaja and Juliana’s becoming a symbol of the fun and excess of the late 1980s and early 1990s go-go years.
Yet, with the collapse of the bubble in the early 1990s and subsequent “lost decade” of economic stagnation, extravagance was out and the clubs eventually closed.
However, times change and the strobe lights are coming back on.
Maharaja relaunched under new management in 2010 and has now opened six locations, targeting 40 to 60-year-olds, while Juliana’s reopened in Osaka in October last year.
Osshy hosts regular Sunday disco parties during adult-friendly afternoon hours, and last year established a national “Disco Day” on July 22 — the date when Saturday Night Fever premiered in Japan in 1978.
“Disco music has the power to make people move their body and feel energetic and happy, regardless of what era we’re in,” Osshy said after his set.
“From kids to senior citizens, it’s something we all have in common,” he said. “It transcends generations.”
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS