Category Archive for Food + Theme Restaurants
VISUAL KEI HORROR BAND SATAN IS BREAKING UP. HARAJUKU GIRLS FASHION: STREET SNAPS OF SWEET LOLITAS, DECORA JAPANESE FASHION.
More shakeups in the Visual Kei world! I was at the Candy Spooky Theater and Satan concert tonight in Tokyo, and they announced that this was Satan’s final show with the original 4 members. Shiya and DK are leaving the horror metal band to pursue new projects. Mr. Satan and leader Hi-na will soon find new members and restart the project.
I’ll have videos, photos and a full report of the last Satan concert coming up on my blog. Until then, you can see Satan live in my concert video and article from last May (with GPKISM).
Back to the Sony Australia travel show shoot. I hardly had any sleep after partying at Decadance Bar’s Seileen release party (and filming it for the Australian travel TV show). No sleep for the wicked… up and at ’em! TV hosting and arranging is a marathon; one must be Strong to make it through. So I rolled out of bed and headed to Harajuku station.
Pirate military buttons top: Putumayo, from Closet Child
Red skirt: Emily Temple Cute, from Closet Child
Little red plaid hat: Putumayo, from Closet Child
Platform Mary Janes: h.NAOTO, from Closet Child
Coffin backpack: h.NAOTO, from Closet Child
Holy knee socks: old things
One of the Aussie hosts, Tim, thought the main shopping street (Takeashita Doori) sounded like “take-a-shit-a”… Hence the mature pose.
The heyday of Jingu-bashi is over. You’ll no longer find cosplayers and Gothic Lolita fashionistas congregated on the iconic Harajuku bridge. On this particular Sunday, there was a matsuri (traditional festival) on a make-shift stage.
However, in Harajuku, you can still see Tinseltown-baroque fashion moving about on two legs. On-camera, I spoke about the district’s history and the various fashion tribes that blossomed here. We interviewed these Decora girls, who mix Sweet Lolita (Angelic Pretty dresses) with a rainfall of kawaii kitsch accessories.
The spirit of Harajuku fashion is DIY. Experimentation. Choose your own adventure. I interviewed two horned and black-winged girls who called their style Devil Kei. This pink-headed lady from Nagoya calls her look Zombie Kei. Every aspect is brilliantly coordinated, don’t you think?
On the weekends, many Japanese girls dress up and shop in Harajuku with their friends. Angelic Pretty remains very popular among the Sweet Loli set. I’m personally more of a Goth-stomper-boots type.
The Pirates had made arrangements to visit Takuya Angel’s cyber Goth boutique. Excellent news: the shop is no longer closing. It’ll be in the same location, but now you use the back entrance to access it.
The Australians were blown away by Takuya’s cyber-techno designs.Next, we visited Sex Pot Revenge around the corner.
Many TV crews ask me to take them to weird Japanese theme restaurants, since I wrote a book about them. We ended the day at Kayaga, possibly the maddest, wildest bar in Tokyo. Vibrating beers!
The owner, Mark, stunned the Australians with his surreal kindergarten performance art (here is a video.) To boot, he’s a talented chef who whipped up one of my favorite foods — kabocha, or Japanese pumpkin. (I’m also obsessed with the citrus, yuzu, which is a Frappucino flavor at Japan Starbucks.)
Want to learn more about my company La Carmina & The Pirates? We offer coolhunting, translating, Japanese travel arranging, TV hosting and production coordination. Come aboard our fair ship!
Japanese Word of the Day: Ginga = The Milky Way
Song of the Day: Galyernus – Destiny (This Japan metal band is my new favorite.)
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ROBOT CAFE IN YOYOGI, TOKYO: OTAKU BAR & RESTAURANT, JAPANESE ROBOTO FIGURES, RARE TOYS & COLLECTIBLES.
I aim to visit every bizarre theme restaurant in Tokyo — and Robot Cafe in Yoyogi needed to be crossed off the list. I rounded up Professor Fearstone (head of Horror High School) and we circled around the block several times, looking for signs of otaku. Finally, Gundam appeared and saved the day.
I was filming with the CNN TV show earlier that day, hence the same outfit (more photos here).
Little cake hat: gifted from Agent Lover. So cute, and easy to attach.
Gothic Lolita dress: Innocent World, from Closet Child Harajuku.
Long, sheer overcoat: Ozz Croce, from Closet Child Shinjuku.
Orb-print tights: Vivienne Westwood, from Marui Womens Shinjuku.
Swashbuckler boots: Alice and the Pirates, from Closet Child Harajuku.
Coffin backpack: h.NAOTO, from Closet Child Ikebukuro.
Robot Cafe is, obviously, a hangout for nerdy types. The decoration was a bit too close to “otaku reality”: every square inch of the slightly shabby establishment was covered in toys, superhero belts and collectible vinyl figures.
Growing up? Becoming an adult? No thank you.
Manga and anime heavyweights left their signatures on the wall.
Every customer received a loyalty card with a cute girl on it. You can rack up points on return visits.
The special cocktails came with sexy vinyl girl figurines. Kim chi, hot rice, soy sauce and raw egg mixed together — a favorite Akihabara dish. Don’t know it til you’ve tried it.
The drinks were not very strong, so we sought another theme (and alcoholic) fix. Onward to Showa Disco, a Shinjuku bar dedicated to Japanese pop idols of the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
The Backstreet Boys look like the Ninja Turtles next to this old-time Japanese boy band.
You could request Italo Disco songs, such as covers by Japanese girl duo Wink. We were the only people there, other than a middle-aged couple reminiscing about their days of glory. Want to see more? Check out this post about Showa Disco.
Any Italo Disco fanatics out there? Who are your favorite artists from that horrible and genius era?
PS: thanks to you, I made it to the final round of the Canadian Weblog Awards! The polls are closing tomorrow, so please take a second to vote for La Carmina. Huge hugs.
PPS: Add me on Twitter for my latest Tokyo updates! Such as… “Bought a RIDICULOUS amount of yuzu juice, pumpkin pizza and nail clippers.” “A Nightmare truck drove by, covered w/ photos of the #visualkei #jrock band + blasting their new single. 10th anniversary album out 10/20.”
Japanese Word of the Day: Otonagai = People who buy a lot of child-like goods
Song of the Day: Wink – Boys Don’t Cry (Italo cheese alert!)
LA CARMINA
