Sho Suzuki saw what lay ahead for Tokyo¡¯s live music community well before the government issued any state of emergency over COVID-19. All he had to do was look at Club Asia and three other venues operated by parent company Culture of Asia, at which he works as Space Division Director.
¡°Organizers were getting in touch with us from early March to postpone or cancel events,¡± says Suzuki. ¡°The audiences for the parties that went on that month decreased by about half.¡±
By the end of that month, the Culture of Asia family of clubs ¡ª which also includes Glad, Lounge Neo and Vuenos ¡ª had closed, following the country¡¯s state of emergency going into effect. As May arrived, Suzuki and his team had some tough choices to make.
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