As a former DJ & Promoter in Tokyo I can confirm a lot of what you said. Yes, unless you are an established DJ or Production company things are difficult. When my friends and I started our first party at R-Lounge in Shibuya, known as Rock West back in the days, we luckily did not have to pay upfront. The owner's liked us and gave us a chance for the first event. It was a big success and we were offered a deal, we would get a fraction of the door for future parties and that was it. It worked out good for us and the owners moved us to a bigger venue across the street. I moved on to do another event with another promoter and we had to pay $4000 for the venue on a Friday night. We got 100% of the door though and it was a famous club so we took the chance. It worked for us for 3 months and then we both moved on.

Usually we didn't pay the support DJs, only the headliners and that was typical amongst parties. Instead we gave the support DJs drinks & guest lists. We also traded events. We would play at theirs, they would play at ours. It worked out and if we made money at the end of the night we would toss the support guys some 円. We didn't give a shit about getting paid though, we just wanted to play. We made money selling our CDs and doing our parties.

It's really only profitable for the venues and solid production groups. Everyone else is volunteering their time.

Most all clubs offer 1-2 drinks with entrance fee. I've noticed the drinks are getting smaller and crappier. Depending on the venue the promoters can choose to offer the drinks with the ticket price. There are many ways to do it. Sometimes it's mandatory though.

Someday I'll get around to writing about my days DJing and promoting in Tokyo.