Category Archive for Nightcrawling
BAR MIDIAN IN OSAKA, OWNED BY FU-KI OF VISUAL KEI BAND BLOOD. HARD ROCK HEAVY METAL GOTHIC BARS IN JAPAN.
Are you a fan of BLOOD, the deathrock/Goth/Visual Kei band that disbanded last year? (Do I even need to ask?) Dravarious and I heard that vocalist Fu-ki opened up a rock bar in Osaka — so we went on a treasure hunt to find Bar Midian. It was quite the adventure, with scandalous boy-on-boy action along the way…
I’m wearing an Alice and the Pirates jacket and Algonquins skirt. I found my cute Takoyaki-chan in an Umeda convenience store (he has a smiling octopus on his forehead!). As for my shirt… it has special significance. Read on for the story…
Listen up, my little vampires: you will get LOST looking for Bar Midian. Even with this map, Doyamacho is mad confusing — we back-tracked and detoured for 40 minutes. So before you set out to hang with Fu-ki, study these photos and instructions carefully…
How to get to Bar Midian
† Walk east from Umeda station. Head towards the Hep Five shopping mall with the red ferris wheel.
† When you see the yellow Tsutaya bookstore sign, you’re getting close.
† Go to that side of street. When you see the red Big Echo and Drug store signs, turn left.
† Welcome to a maze of side-streets and gay bars. When you spot the magic dragon (ahah), you’re going the right way.
† Keep going until you see the BINGO sign on the left, and the red fish sign on the right. You’re almost there. Turn left…
† … and look up at this mess of signs. Do you see 2F, Bar Midian?
† Walk up to the skull entrance. Congrats, you’ve reached the goal!
As soon as I entered the small red room, I knew I’d found my new favorite watering hole. Skulls, axes and dragons… an undead heavy metal wet dream!
Who was behind the bar, mixing drinks and ominously hacking blocks of ice with a pick? None other than Fu-ki himself!
Visual Kei bands are notorious for abusing makeup and Photoshop to look pretty (Blood was no exception). But in real life, vocalist Fu-ki is a looker with long black hair.
You’ll be glad to hear that he’s in great spirits. Fu-ki was smiling and having fun all night, mixing drinks and rocking out to 1980s heavy metal.
The cocktails have names such as Black Rose and Satan. Fu-ki made me special one, which was so strong and citrus-delicious that I ordered another. He’s friendly and chatty; when he heard this was our first time in Osaka, he insisted that the round of drinks was on the house!
The TV screen blasted metal music videos (Poison, Def Leppard). I freaked out when he put on a Black Sabbath tape from the early 1970s — I happed to be wearing a vintage Sabbath shirt that day.
There were about 10 other people on the barstools — tattooed and pierced rocker-types who entertained us with their yaoi antics. Let’s just say in any situation, boy-on-boy action is always a welcome addition.
Although BLOOD disbanded, Fu-ki is still very involved with music. He has an entire wall of CDs and DVDs (left photo) and sings in an Osaka-based Motley Crue cover band. Bar Midian was the perfect enterprise: Fu-ki gets to blast music and hang out with fellow metal-heads every night.
If you’re ever in Osaka, you must visit Fu-ki’s bar. Follow our treasure hunt instructions carefully, and give him the devil-horns from us!
Bar Midian
大阪市北区堂山町10-16 叶第一レジャービル2F
2F, 10-16 Kanai First Leisure building, Doyamacho, Umeda, Osaka
Tel: 06-6312-8281
Are you surprised and pleased to see what Fu-ki’s been up to?
Japanese Word of the Day: Itazura = Playful, mischief
Song of the Day: BLOOD – I Remember You (Because none of us will forget his amazing band.)
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TOKYO ABSINTHE: BAR TRAM IN EBISU. WHERE TO FIND JAPANESE ABSINTHE, DRUGS & LIQUOR IN JAPAN.
The fin-de-siecle decadents and I have many things in common, but above all, oh we love our absinthe! Same goes for my Tokyo spooky-spooks — so we gathered at Bar Tram in Ebisu for a date with the green fairy.
I love playing around with colors that match my newly-orange hair. Deep purple and turquoise work quite well, don’t you think? I accented my eyes with Aromaleigh eyeshadows, glitter dot stickers from a Japanese dollar store, and fake eyelashes. My lips are actually drawn and colored with a lip pencil: a nice trick to get a perfect outline and unconventional shade.
Bar Tram (which once had a booth at Midnight Mess) doesn’t have a website, but here’s a map. It’s northwest of Ebisu Station. Look for a giant stuffed raven and empty absinthe bottles outside.
Bar Tram carries over a hundred varieties of absinthe from all over the world. I tried Blanche de Fougerolles from France and a secret, ultra-strong herbal absinthe that isn’t on the menu. The waiter brought sugarcubes, absinthe spoons and a water drip to the table so that we could light our own fires. G-suS drank so much that he turned into the Green Fairy! (“Just keeding,” as Sebastien would say…)
Naomi expresses her happiness at the plush couches and old-time French decor.
Michelle brought tarot cards and gave Comte de Sang an exceedingly negative reading. I’m not sure why Kana is wearing a face mask…
Comte de Sang now has three tongue piercings. My dress is Carina e Arlequin, a Lolita brand. Found it in – you guessed it – Closet Child Harajuku. More photos coming up…
I leave you with a shot of my kawaii rings. From left to right: bought in fairy kei store Nile Perch in Laforet, gifted by Komodokat, and a gift from my mother. The rainbow nail polish colors are from Daiso.
Have you ever tried absinthe? Does it give you hallucinations or visions? The green fairy always brings me lucid, architectural dreams…
Japanese Word of the Day: Fairy = Yousei
Song of the Day: Yoko Nagayama – You’re My Love, You’re My Life (Japanese Italo Disco!)
LA CARMINA
