In presenting a book to the world about Tokyo in the 2000s, right after the decadence of the 90s. I felt it necessary to make a page showing respect and love for one of the metropolis' most legendary nightclubs - Gas Panic. It was just a place that had to be experienced. Anyone who was there, would know how intense it was. It was a landmark of a super exciting period in Tokyo's nightlife and pop culture.

There would be too much to write about Gas Panic to fit on this page. While I have my own crazy adventures from the club, many other people have their personal amazing experiences. As the saying goes...

'If the walls could only talk.'

Well, at Gas Panic the walls would do more than talking, because they would be going berserk, frantic and hysteric with stories!

From the 90s into the 2010s - Gaspanic had many locations with different clubs and bars spread throughout Roppongi - there was Gas Bar, Gas Club, Gas Café, Club 99 and Red Area. Although during the 2000s the most iconic building was perhaps the one pictured above. There were also two Gaspanic clubs in Shibuya - one upstairs in the Dogenzaka district and one underground in Centergai - which sadly closed in 2019. It was the end of an era.

I took the photo above around 2005 while crossing the road - hence the visual blur as I was in motion. It was early evening, so what I captured was a silent moment in the building's wild history. Sometimes I would see Tokyo Gyaru eating pizza around midday at the front of Gas Café - which was open 24 hours. I couldn't tell if they were hanging around from the party from the previous night or just hanging out waiting until things started to warm up later that afternoon or evening in Roppongi.

One of the really exciting things about going to Gas Panic was the feeling that you might bump into anyone from all different parts of the world. Gas Panic welcomed everybody, but it did have one clear condition to enjoying the party. There was a large sign on the wall reading...

EVERYBODY MUST BE DRINKING TO STAY INSIDE GASPANIC

The staff definitely weren't shy about enforcing this rule.

Upon entering one could encounter literally everything and anything going on in the club - from the bartenders doing fire breathing performances, projecting bursts of flames from their mouths blasting into the small confines of a packed club. Groups of people going crazy... dancing. Literally stomping from one end of the bar counter to the other.

Gaspanic was like one long party every day of the year - where anyone could join in as long as they could keep up with the pace.

ガスパニックに行って本当にエキサイティングなことの一つは、世界のさまざまな地域から来た誰にでも出会えるかもしれないという感覚でした。 ガスパニックは誰でも歓迎しましたが、パーティを楽しむための明確なルールが一つありました。ガスパニックの中にいるためには、誰もがノンストップで酒を飲まなければならなかったです。 ソフトドリンクも大丈夫だったと思います。スタッフは間違いなく顧客にルールを説明することにシャイではありませんでした。

中に入ると、クラブで多くのワイルドでクレイジーな出来事が起こっているのを見ることができました。 バーテンダーが火吹きパフォーマンスをしており、バーの上でビートに合わせて足を踏み鳴らして踊っている人もよくいました。毎晩、クラブは人でいっぱいでした。

ガスパニックは一年中毎日長いパーティのようなもので、ペースについていくことができれば誰でも参加できました。

There was one relatively unknown Gaspanic Club in Jack Mall in Yokohama's beautiful Minato Mirai district. Near the club, there was also a game center in Jack Mall called 'Game Panic'.

Nobody could go home or anywhere else from the Yokohama Gaspanic, because there were no trains after midnight and it was a long walk to the center of Yokohama. People stayed there all night. It was much bigger than the Tokyo Gaspanic venues and had car racing game simulators, boxing game machines and a large area to chill out for people who couldn't go home.

In the early hours of the morning, Minato Mirai was often completely silent and a picturesque scene of lights and industrial bayside beauty. Gaspanic Yokohama was definitely not silent - raging until the next morning. An oasis for anyone who had missed the last train in Yokohama, Kannai and the surrounding areas.

The style of music and atmosphere was completely different to Tokyo. In retrospect, it reminded me of something straight of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo drift.

Yokohama Jack Mall no longer exists. I recently saw photos of the area before it closed in 2012 and it was but a shadow of its former lively state.

Some of the buildings in Roppongi and Shibuya where the Gaspanic clubs once were - still do exist. Although, the iconic atmosphere that attracted many people from all over the world is most definitely gone. The vivid memories for those that got to experience it all in the 90s and 2000s may remain - but change is inevitable.

横浜の美しいみなとみらい地区のジャックモールに、あまり知られていないガスパニックがありました。 クラブの近くには、ジャックモール内に「ゲームパニック」というゲームセンターもありました。

ほとんどの人は、横浜ガスパニックから家にもどこにも帰ることができませんでした。 真夜中を過ぎると電車がなく、横浜の中心部まで歩くのは長い距離だったからです。 東京ガスパニックの会場よりもはるかに広く、レーシングカーゲームのシミュレーターゲームとボクシングゲームなどのゲームがあり、 帰宅できない人のための広い休憩スペースもありました。

早朝のみなとみらいは完全に静寂に包まれ、光とベイサイドの美しさで絵のように美しい風景が広がっていました。 横浜ガスパニックは決して静かではなく、パーティは翌朝まで続いていました。

音楽のスタイルも雰囲気も東京と全く違いました。 振り返ってみるとそれはまさに「ワイルド・スピード３：東京ドリフト」のようなものを思い出させました。

横浜ジャックモールはもう存在していません。 最近、２０１２年に取り壊される前の写真を見ましたが、以前の活気に満ちた状態は影にすぎませんでした。良い思い出がたくさんあり、めちゃ楽しいエリアでした。

かつてガスパニッククラブがあった六本木と渋谷の建物一部は今も残っています。 とはいえ、以前のような雰囲気はありません。９０年代と２０００年代にそれを経験した人にとっては良い思い出が残るかもしれませんが、変化は避けられません。

Photos surfaced in the past few years of Tokyo Hip Hop Superstar Yuki Chiba aka Kohh, wearing a Gas Panic vintage t-shirt. Seeing the photo made me happy, as a new generation of street culture rises in Japan, one of its biggest stars paid homage to one of the most raucous and unruly nightclubs ever in Japan.

Many people growing up in Tokyo right now, may not know about Gas Panic, but as anyone who went there in the 90s or 2000s knows...

There will never, ever…
Be another place like Gas Panic.

Gas Panic was not a place that can be theorized or intellectualized - it was a place to be experienced. I could not write about Gaspanic, if I had not experienced it. I think you can tell by know, if you have been reading the pages on this site - I write from experience.

I couldn't be honest with you if I was just looking at magazines from the past and acting like a historical authority on it. I speak from the heart and am here to tell you on ground level how things actually were.

When you read TOKYO BREATHLESS NEON LOVE you are going to be exploring Harajuku and Shibuya to the extreme - but as the adventure drives along you will most definitely find yourself in Roppongi - right at its peak.

Chapter 10 in the book, delves into Roppongi's nightlife and what it was like for foreigners living in Tokyo at the time. From this point in the book - the seductive Roppongi nightscape becomes a subtheme - running as one of many undercurrents in the novel.

最近、日本ヒップホップのスーパースター、千葉雄喜aka KohhがガスパニックのヴィンテージTシャツを着ている写真を見ました。 写真を見て幸せな気持ちでした。日本で最も有名なヒップホップスターの一人が、東京史上最も伝説的なナイトクラブの一つにリスペクトしました。

東京の若者の多くは今覚えていないかもしれませんが、 ９０年代、２０００年代と２０１０年代にそこに行った人ならだれでも知っているように、ガスパニックのような場所は決して他に存在しません。

TOKYO BREATHLESS NEON LOVEを読むと、裏原宿と渋谷で極限までクレイジーなアドベンチャーをすることになりますが、 物語が進むにつれ、間違いなく、六本木で最もエキサイティングな時代の一つを経験することができます。

９０年代と２０００年代の東京の眠れないとパーティエネルギーは永遠です。

２０００年代に東京でたくさんの人に会いました。もしかしたら、当時私が出会った人の中にもこのページを読んでいる人もいるかもしれません。 友達、街で偶然会った人たち、少ししか話せなかった人たちも。もしかして、これまで私に会ったことがないかもしれません。

悲しいですが、あの頃出会った人たちの多くはもう二度と会えないかもしれません。

当時私に会った人も、会ったことがなかった人も、今、このサイトを通じて、昔のことのように私の声を聞こえることができます。 たとえ、あなたともう一度話すことができなくても、私の言葉はあなたの心に届くかもしれません。

Now go get my book, because anyone who owns a copy of TOKYO BREATHLESS NEON LOVE is definitely going to experience, feel and live Roppongi as it was at the time … without holding back all the details that I can't write here.

For anyone who loves Roppongi, Shibuya and Harajuku…

THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!

Who knows you might even feel it by holding the book in your hands or by looking at it on your coffee table. You might even hear your favourite Roppongi anthems blaring out when the book rests beside your bed as you get ready to sleep at night.
That is because...

The spirit of sleepless nights in Roppongi live on in…

TOKYO BREATHLESS NEON LOVE!!

By Sean Kavanagh「ショーン・カバナ」

PS. If anyone remembers any of the other Gaspanic locations - email me and I will add them in. (Also if you have photos of the time - I would love to see them.)

PPS. If you are looking for a superstar copywriter to set your business into gear like it was the year 2000 in Tokyo... Then message me now at:

seankavanagh10@protonmail.com