MADAM WOO TOKYO Interview: CEO KAZU on Building Neo-Tokyo Nightlife
Translation, attribution and age note: This English edition was translated and edited from HIPHOPCs’ Japanese interview published on June 23, 2026. The question order and CEO KAZU’s first-person meaning are preserved. Statements about private guests, staff, business scale and future plans remain his account unless an official source is cited. MADAM WOO TOKYO is an adults-only nightlife venue; its official site lists entry restrictions, conduct rules and current operating information.
MADAM WOO TOKYO has been presented as a Shibuya meeting point between contemporary US hip-hop, music-led nightlife and a distinctly Japanese approach to hospitality. The gentlemen’s club opened in Dogenzaka in November 2018. CEO KAZU says he joined during its founding period after an invitation from rapper and producer RYUZO.
The venue’s imagined setting is a “Neo-Tokyo” where New York’s Chinatown and Tokyo have merged. Music, fashion, art and sensual performance meet inside that frame. The person explaining how it works is CEO KAZU: MADAM WOO TOKYO’s manager and, as his official TuneCore profile states, the CEO behind the Tokyo hip-hop parties NEVER BROKE and BLUE MAGIC.
HIPHOPCs director YTG Sam spoke with KAZU about the concept, coordinating a team of more than thirty dancers, working with DJs, encounters with visiting artists and his longer-term plan for a larger music-centered strip club. Interview: YTG Sam.
Who is CEO KAZU, and how did he become involved?
KAZU: I work at MADAM WOO TOKYO, a New York-style gentlemen’s club that started in November 2018.
I have been involved since the founding period. RYUZO approached me and invited me to join. I knew his work before MADAM WOO existed, and my ultimate ambition had been to create a strip club.
That kind of business was still unusual in Japan at the time. The invitation arrived at the right moment, and I decided to do it. Today I am the overall manager and handle the venue’s operations.
What does MADAM WOO’s “futuristic Neo-Tokyo” mean?
KAZU: MADAM WOO’s concept is a futuristic Neo-Tokyo that merges New York’s Chinatown with Tokyo.
I have worked in entertainment for many years, and I wanted to help broaden hip-hop culture in Japan. “Neo-Tokyo” can mean different things. Some people hear a new Tokyo; others hear an evolved Tokyo.
We wanted to create something that had not existed in Japan, but not simply copy America. We combined Japanese culture and hospitality with MADAM WOO’s neon world and tried to present it as a new culture from Japan. It mixes something recognizably New York with something recognizably Tokyo.
Because it is a gentlemen’s club, many guests come from the United States. We want them to feel an atmosphere comparable to what they know, while also experiencing something particular to Japan.
Which part of the interior design mattered most?
KAZU: The designer YOSHIROTTEN put everything into creating the interior.
He is an outstanding designer who now works across many projects beyond MADAM WOO. We place great importance on the world he created.
Editor’s verification: YOSHIROTTEN’s official collaboration archive lists MADAM WOO TOKYO among his projects.
What makes MADAM WOO different?
KAZU: It is the point where music, eros and culture meet. I do not think another space feels exactly like this.
I want first-time visitors to experience that combination of music and eros. It is not only erotic entertainment. When hip-hop culture enters the space, I feel that something more is created.
We are grateful that many customers have supported MADAM WOO. I can feel that what we spent years building has taken form.
How is the music on the floor chosen?
KAZU: The DJs basically choose the music. I am also involved in shaping the atmosphere: deciding what suits a particular time, or what track fits the guests who are in the room. My years of going to clubs are useful there.
A gentlemen’s-club DJ cannot simply play songs. The role differs from that of a regular club DJ. The selections have to shape the room and also support the business.
I watch the customers and the atmosphere, communicate closely with the DJ and think together about what should play next. We do not leave the entire room to the DJ; we build it through constant coordination.
What was hardest during the founding period?
KAZU: Coordinating more than thirty dancers was the biggest challenge. I had managed a team of around ten before, but it grew to roughly thirty and expanded into Osaka and other regions. It was genuinely difficult.
Managing the dancers while operating the venue felt almost like running a school. Life itself is a continuing education.
Now the dancers, DJs and staff work together as one. Recently, “family” has begun to feel like the right word for the organization.
Of course I want people to succeed and live well through MADAM WOO. Beyond that, I want them to find the dreams that come next. I hope MADAM WOO becomes one step toward each person’s own goal.
Workplace framing: Team size, expansion and internal culture are KAZU’s description. HIPHOPCs has not independently audited employment arrangements, dancer contracts or regional operations.
Why a gentlemen’s club rather than a conventional club?
KAZU: My ultimate dream remains building a large strip club. There were few precedents in Japan, so we began at the more compact scale we have now.
The current size creates its own sense of unity. In the future, I want to develop it into a much larger strip club.
How do guests from overseas respond?
KAZU: They truly enjoy themselves. When we approach the music, drinks and dancers with respect, guests return that respect. I love that.
Word of mouth is powerful too. Visitors take the memory home and tell people that MADAM WOO was fun. When I travel to New York or Los Angeles, people sometimes tell me they know MADAM WOO. Some say they want us to do it in Los Angeles or New York.
I think a form of Japanese hospitality that does not exist in quite the same way there is being valued as a new genre.
Attribution note: The overseas reactions and private conversations above are KAZU’s recollection, not independently measured audience research.
Which visiting artists left the strongest impression?
KAZU: Everything about A$AP Rocky was cool, including the way he carried himself. T.I. had a powerful “king” aura; you could feel his presence in his words and posture.
They gave me courage. I am stimulated by seeing them as people living through the same era.
Guest-attribution note: These impressions and visit accounts are KAZU’s firsthand recollection. This English edition does not reproduce the Japanese article’s supplied guest photographs.
What is MADAM WOO like at 4 a.m.?
KAZU: At four in the morning, some dancers may be lying down exhausted while others still want to keep drinking. It can be complete chaos.
We call ourselves a professional party collective. After the Budokan event, there were times when we continued drinking together until morning. But the artist always comes first. We have genuine respect for artists.
Health and labor note: This passage preserves KAZU’s description of the late-night atmosphere. It is not an endorsement of excessive alcohol use or unsafe working conditions.
Do Japanese artists visit too?
KAZU: I think most of them have visited at least once. I go to many different places, but at this point I think MADAM WOO is the best place.
Scope note: “Most” and “best” are KAZU’s estimate and opinion; HIPHOPCs does not present them as a complete guest record or an objective ranking.
Are there stories only the staff know?
KAZU: An artist working at the front line internationally once rented the venue outside business hours to shoot a music video.
I will not name anyone, but there have also been cases where interactions developed between internationally prominent artists and dancers. I feel honored that leading artists choose to create here.
Private-claim boundary: The people are intentionally unnamed in the original interview. HIPHOPCs has not verified the private booking, production or interpersonal accounts and does not infer a romantic or sexual relationship from the word “interaction.”
Does MADAM WOO sit close to US hip-hop culture?
KAZU: Yes. Regardless of whether the language is Japanese or English, I think it is a place close to the leading edge of US hip-hop. Many Japanese artists visit too, so that mixture should become even more interesting.
Editorial framing: “Close to the leading edge” is KAZU’s cultural assessment, not a measurable industry ranking.
How should a first-time guest experience the venue?
KAZU: Many Japanese guests feel shy and cannot start tipping immediately. But I would like them to try at least one stack—a bundle of bills used for tipping. Enjoying the tipping culture definitely raises the energy.
I also recommend experiencing “Make It Rain” in a VIP room. It can function as a kind of status display. I particularly want first-time guests to experience it.
Practical boundary: This is KAZU’s description of venue culture, not financial advice or pressure to spend. Guests should set their own limits, ask staff about current prices and rules, and respect performers’ consent and venue policy. MADAM WOO’s official site states that people under twenty may not enter and prohibits excessive contact, unauthorized photography or video, staff recruitment and entry while excessively intoxicated.
What does KAZU ultimately want to build?
KAZU: The final form would be a large strip club fused with music: a space beyond the current MADAM WOO where people can enjoy live performance and strip entertainment together.
Club culture is popular in Japan. It will not be easy to create, but I want to take on the challenge.
What events and content are planned?
KAZU: The MADAM WOO team continues to hold its own events. We are also producing original strip songs from MADAM WOO.
We plan to keep making events and content that come from the venue, including Japanese-language music.
Timing note: These plans were described in the June 2026 interview. Readers should use the official venue site for current schedules rather than treating planned activity as a completed release.
What would KAZU say to somebody who has never visited?
KAZU: I am confident that you can experience a different world here—something you do not encounter in ordinary life. I hope you will visit MADAM WOO at least once.
Not a copy of America, but a Tokyo translation
KAZU’s central claim is not that MADAM WOO imports an American model unchanged. He describes a process of joining it to Japanese hospitality and presenting the result as a culture of its own. Music, adult entertainment and nightlife business meet inside that argument.
The distinction matters because the interview’s strongest claims are also subjective. “Leading edge,” “most artists” and “best place” express KAZU’s position inside Tokyo nightlife; they are not independent rankings. The verifiable framework is narrower: the official venue site confirms the current Tokyo location and operating information, CEO KAZU’s official music profile identifies his roles, and YOSHIROTTEN’s site records the design collaboration.
Current official information and further reading
Checked August 19, 2026: MADAM WOO TOKYO, 9F Nagashima Daiichi Building, 1-22-12 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0043; telephone 03-6416-0577; open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 p.m.–4 a.m. Hours, admission and pricing can change, so confirm with the venue before traveling.
- MADAM WOO: official English site, location, hours and venue rules
- TuneCore Japan: official CEO KAZU artist profile
- YOSHIROTTEN: official collaboration archive
- EYESCREAM: earlier RYUZO interview about MADAM WOO TOKYO
- Tokyo Rap Atlas: why the city has never had one hip-hop sound
- KIRA interview: club culture and “omotenashi” in another Japanese nightlife context
- More HIPHOPCs exclusive interviews in English
- More Japanese rap coverage in English
Interview: YTG Sam / HIPHOPCs
Japanese-edition photographs: described in the source post as supplied by MADAM WOO TOKYO; not reproduced in this English edition because attachment-level reuse terms were not recorded
English-edition artwork: original typography-only HIPHOPCs editorial design
