Has the typical “couples can only play with couples, single women can only play with single men, single men can play with anyone” rule, which is… not great 🙄 But were flexible on us playing together since we came together.

Getting in and out of the play area is a bit of faff (must fully undress, prepare, ask for staff to open the door…), but the area is large and has a number of options (large group rooms, smaller private ones).

On the nights we were there (Friday/Saturday): overall decent-sized crowd without being overcrowded. Near-exclusively Japanese (our group excepted), rather young (skewing 20-something), and friendly. Didn’t see any BDSM play, but managers said rope and light play was absolutely fine.

Cons:
– Unfortunately quiet (for a Saturday night): only other patrons were 3 singles (1w, 2m). Perhaps bad luck due to next day being a special event.
– Place is a little cramped and messy. Play areas are 1 small and 1 medium-sized (~2-3 couples) rooms, with one-way mirrors.

I wouldn’t harp on too much on safety, as Depachi was always way more of a Japanese-style underground BDSM/kink/fetish event, where safety came a distant second to anything-goes WTFness (whether that’s a good thing, is up to anyone to decide for themselves). But even on that count, I think anyone going looking for the extreme Tokyo kink scene of the 2000s, would be sorely disappointed: nowadays, it is a very tame fetish fashion show with the odd BDSM performance thrown in (only a notch up from show events like Torture Garden).

I personally really like the door policy choice of accepting anyone, but giving a strong financial incentive to people actively dressing up. Never felt like they were particularly judgy on “lack of effort” (if anything, there was a point where a few too many punters seemed to get away with a few cheap Donki accessories thrown on). Regardless, it has very clearly become ~80% tourists (either the travelling kind, or the voyeur kind), with the remaining fraction made up of pros, and the odd old-timers. I think the vast majority of the local BDSM scene has long moved to other venues and events.

tl;dr: its notoriety, easy door policy, and friendliness to non-Jp-speakers, make it a good option for tourists looking to spend a somewhat entertaining night surrounded by people in fetish gear. For anyone looking for a real BDSM event, there’s a plethora of better ones to choose from.