Japan fetish club, hook suspension & extreme body modifications: Club Idea in Kobe.
UPDATE – see the full guide to visiting Gothic & Fetish Bar Idea here!
My friend John Skeleton submits this photo of Idea, a Kobe subcultures and fetish bar, where hook suspension and play piercings take place. He writes:
IDEA is a dark sanctuary created by Japanese kinbaku artist Midori, located in the beautiful city of Kobe, Japan. No stranger to the world of the occult, Midori holds special “Sabbats” for each of the eight festivals on the Neopagan Wheel of the Year. On such nights, ladies may enter free of charge, and the eve is filled with decadent rituals and nameless rites.
The darkened space sees a full range of guests, from the curious spectators to the hardened connoisseurs, representing all ranges of the social spectrum — an atmosphere reminiscent of a fin-de-siècle London salon.
For more, see LaCarmina’s Japan Goth clubs guide.
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44 Comments
Congrats to the winners!
thanks to all who entered!
i’ve done it before,best experience ever <3
Was your experience similar to that of the writer’s?
if John Skeleton has done it more then me,then probably not.i have only done it twice,tore my skin pretty bad the 1st but it gets addicting to me the more you do it.and i will be sure to check out your blog.
i thought about it but I don’t think it’s for me. I liked reading john’s experience.
It looks painful ;_; but the way the person described it was very interesting. ^_^
yes, I don’t think I’d do it…
*shudder*
I seriously doubt I would ever do it myself, but I think suspension is absolutely mesmerizing. I think its amazing how people being hung from sharp hooks in their back can smile and have the best time of their lives because of the adrenaline.
So many people have described it as a spiritual experience, it’s intriguing..
Too hard for me, I prefer aestetic Kinbaku (ropes suspensions) I see a lot in Tokyo ^^
I’ve been aware of suspension for year, not something I’d do myself, but interesting.
More of my friends have done it, recently. Funny how something that used to freak me out has become a regular occurance..
had 32 18 gauge needles in my back for a birthday a few years ago. Its a spiritual experience.
ahh i would imagine that would hurt like hell i dont know if i would do it even though i have got piercings thats diffrent :P
It’s not for me either, but the essay is very well written
Huge respect to John ^_*”
:)
Is it really “body modification”? It’s very temporary for one, and modification doesn’t seem the purpose :s
Even though I have seen some Native Americans do this I still get goosebumps hard to look at.
Yeah… hook suspension is not for me, but I’m intrigued to hear others’ experiences.
I liked reading the article, but suspension’s not something I’d like to try anytime soon. Please bring us more ‘unusual’ articles, I love reading about things that challenge my mind, even though I might not want to experience them myself. Thanks!! xx
I’m glad you like the various perspectives from guest posters on my blog! Mr Skeleton has another post coming up, and there will also be reports from Sophia of Blood Stain Child. Stay tuned!
Going to practice on the wife first and I will let you know how it goes. Anyone got a gag ?
Cool stuff :)
Hook Suspension is a spiritual experience, your body goes through chemical changes creating a euphoric affect- thumbs up to all!
nononononono. hook suspension is like the one thing I can’t deal with.
Not something I’d ever want to do personally, but if it is something that others want to do, I’m not going to stand in their way. Probably not something I’d suggest for kids to do though…
I admire those who have guts to go through hook suspension. I like s&m (I’m type m) and I have piercings (lips, large ear gauges, etc.) but hook suspension is too much for me. I’d rather not go through the pain xD But I wouldn’t mind watching someone do it~
And yay! I won haha Thanks ^^
^__ ^ congrats!!
i am a spiritual person and respect death and have my share of spiritual experiences. and i am a open minded person. i can see why someone can do this for the pain but im not one that likes this but i do respect it and those who do it.
Same with me :)
I hadn’t heard of this before and it scared me a bit when I read it, but now I’m curious. I want to find out more. Thanks.
I dont know about hook suspension for myself but more power to you for trying it. I like your blogs they are very informative. I love how the Japanese people can be so open minded about things. A conservative office could be into maid cosplay, a farmer could like kawaii, a schoolgirl could be a Gothic lolita. I love the duality that they have. Wish more people in the US were more open minded.
I wouldn’t try this myself but if you try it, more power to you. Your blog has been great and informative; I’m still trying to wrap my head around the concept but trying to be more open minded is the best thing I’ve been trying to learn. Besides finishing my first year of college which is great since I figured out that Journalism is really something I like along with Japanese.
Thank you, I really appreciate it! I’m trying my best… it’s hard sometimes -__-
It’s paying off. I’ve actually told my professor that you’re one of the reasons I’m majoring in Journalism. I want to learn about other cultures view as pop culture.
I’ve seen suspension before, and it still gives me the shivers in pictures. It’s definitely not my thing, I have hard time getting piercings most days. All it reminds me of is some terrible (but honorable traditional) Native American ritual, which I can’t remember the name of. All that I can say is that the Native American ritual ends with the loss of skin, and this is the outcome I always expect to happen to those people who choose to be suspended.
On a sidebar, mozilla has suddenly begun to think that LaCarmina.com is an attack site. Haven’t the slightest idea why, but it’s definitely bothersome and something you should look into. Mozilla by way of google seem to be the apparently culprits.
I heard about that ritual — where they get hooks into the back, and walk or dance around a pole I think…
I really admire anyone who can do suspension since i dont really have the courage to do it >.< . But it is something that i have been curious about for quite some time. Maybe someday I'll have enough courage to do this……but most likely not……
:)
Cheers!
that looked like fun to me.