Dining Over Rock ‘n’ Rolls : East and West meet--and merge--at a sushi bar where patrons sometimes dance on the chairs.

To many it’s known simply as rock ‘n’ roll sushi, an adventure in rhythm and roe that has managed to find a point of conjunction between tooth-rattling American music and the traditional Japanese dining experience.

Tokyo Delve’s Sushi Bar is probably the only place around where the customers routinely drop their eel to climb up on the chairs and dance among the artificial stars that shine through the pasteboard rainbows hanging from the ceiling.

Dreamed up by Japanese businessman Tani Yuichi, whose middle name is Delve, which he points out is English for deep thinking, this sushi bar is every bit as warped a blending of American and Japanese sensibilities as Gammera the atomic flying turtle.

And just about as much cross-cultural fun, judging by the crowds waiting outside on the street many weekend nights.

“We are both mourning the loss of our boyfriends, so it was a great place,” said Carlene Jones, 41, of Van Nuys as she emerged smiling from the nondescript-looking restaurant on Lankershim Boulevard. Even outside, the disco rhythms exploding from the sound system, which Yuichi says proudly is the same one they employ in the Captain Eo exhibit in Disneyland, reverberated like small-ordinance fire.

“This is the best sushi place ever,” added her friend, Melinda Hayes, 19, of Van Nuys, who disputed Jones’ characterization of their romantic plight, saying she still had hopes for her relationship. As for the food, she had just returned from Japan and thinks Tokyo Delve’s has better sushi.

Yuichi, 52, was a successful businessman in Tokyo before moving everything to the United States a decade ago. He wanted to start a business here but was not sure what would attract American customers.

He and his “project team” mulled things over for months. Finally, they had a brainstorm: combining the best of Japanese entertaining with American popular music. “The idea is for the customer,” Yuichi said in careful English, “to make happy.”

It is a relatively small restaurant along an unimpressive row of storefronts in North Hollywood, not far from the Eagle’s coffeehouse, where musicians and storytellers entertain customers reclining on old sofas.

Inside, Tokyo Delve’s looks a little like the It’s A Small World exhibit gone Vegas showroom, complete with dancing and singing waiters. Besides the dangling rainbows, there are cut-outs of palm trees in pastel colors, and a small sailboat hangs behind the bar. The only thing missing is the bobbing-head dolls mercilessly repeating their cheerful refrain.

There are more games of chance than at a carnival. At 7, 9, and 11 p.m., a Lucky Lamp spotlight circles the room. Whoever is in its beam when the song ends wins a prize.

Any customer spending more than $40 can spin a wheel to win a dish. Dinner salad seemed especially popular with the fates one recent night, and several people won urns of hot sake.

Customers also can throw darts at a small green star behind the bar to win a beer. To participate, however, you must have already had three beers, thus guaranteeing you will be too debilitated to hit the star, and maybe the wall, given the size of the Sapporos they serve.

It’s easy to spot the drinkers in the crowd, because every time they bring out one of the 21.4-ounce Sapporos, the waiters all cheer, “Hey, Sapporo!” After the third one, which you were only having to try your hand at the dartboard, you can begin to feel a bit self-conscious, as though they were not celebrating your good taste but exposing your profligacy.

The men in headsets behind the counter orchestrate the food and the entertainment. They cheer every customer who comes in the door, causing some people to duck their heads shyly. But, being Americans, many others fling their arms up in victory.

It is the music, however--all taped, all popular, and all at levels that make conversation a challenge--that makes Tokyo Delve’s an experience. At least once a night, according to regulars, right around the time they turn on the Lucky Lamp and put “Reggae Dancing” on the sound system, everybody in the place climbs up on their chairs and begins swaying like eucalyptus trees in a Santa Ana.

Yuichi is aware of the tradition. “Very dangerous on the table,” he added. To say nothing of the threat to the California rolls.

WHERE AND WHEN

What: Tokyo Delve’s Sushi Bar.

Location: 5239 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.

Time To Go: 6 p.m. to midnight Monday to Saturday, except Friday, when they rock till 2 a.m. Weekend nights are best. Make sure to reserve, or you may find yourself waiting out on the street for as long as an hour.

Price: Reasonable, from $15 to $30 a person, or more if you really want to sample. The big Sapporos are $4.90 each.

Call: (818) 766-3868.