Category Archive for Tokyo + Japan
Tokyo Goth Halloween parties, drag queen shows, club nights! Japan yokai festival, Gothic alt cyberpunk clubs.
Looking to attend Tokyo, Japan Halloween parties and Goth clubs in October 2026? Then welcome to my coffin club… you’re in the right graveyard!
My Gothic alternative friends will be putting on tons of parties in Tokyo, Japan this spooky season, including drag shows and cyberpunk clubs. Read on for the dates and info.
Halloween is creeping around again… I won’t be in Tokyo to celebrate, but here are photos from my Japanese All Hallow’s Eve adventures last year. (I did makeup inspired by the band KISS — glam metal guitarist Ace Frehley wears this bat-like design around his eyes.)
In chronological order, here are 4 upcoming events you can’t miss in the Tokyo area:
Oct 10-12, Yokai Festival: Tokyo’s Yokai Bon Odori fest is back in Tachikawa!
Hang with Japanese folk monsters and supernatural spirits at this 3-day matsuri! Yokai-maxx with kitsune foxes, headless children, devilish oni demons, one-eyed priest Hitotsume kozō and more at Yokai Bon Odori 2026. When: Oct 10, 11, 12 Where: Green Springs 2F Plaza (3-1 Midoricho, Tachikawa City – about a 40 min train from central areas of Tokyo) More info: @yokaibonodori IG + yokaibonodori.tokyo
Oct 17, Casket of Horrors: Drag extravaganza with Yukiro (performing as Nattmara) and friends!
Japan’s alt-horror drag haus is having a space-themed show featuring intergalactic glamatrons… Tokyo’s most ghoulish drag kings, queens and everything in between will do their very best to probe your orifices!
Haus von Schwarz presents: Casket of Horrors, Kabukicho in Space – †666th Anniversary Show!!
Date: Sat, Oct 17
Place: Shinjuku Heist Club (B2, 2 Chome−25−6, Kabukicho)
Time: 7pm
Get tix from @hausvonschwarz IG or https://linktr.ee/hausvonschwarz
Oct 18: Midnight Mess – Cyberpunk Club in Shinjuku!
Join Mistress Maya and her fellow creatures of the night at this Goth Cyberpunk club night. You’ll be trick or treated to cyber rope installation, drag queens, and bizarre artistic performances – and dance to dark industrial techno EDM.
When: Oct 18 at at Club ArcH Shinjuku. Details and pre-sale/reservation tickets at https://tiget.net/events/524439
Oct 24, 31 and more all month: Tokyo Decadance and Deca Bar
Tokyo Decadance is also having a slew of Halloween events throughout October, including a Halloween in Shibuya bash on Oct 24, and Decabar Super celebration on Halloween itself, Oct 31.
See the full calendar for Tokyo Decadance / Decabar events on their IG @decabar_official
This photo of Noveli and Lilith illustrates exactly how I felt last year after Halloween-maxxing in Tokyo! Below is a recap of the Goth alternative events and costume parties I attended last season, to give you a sense of what to expect in Oct 2026.
Yokai Bon Odori is one hell of a party. Last year, Yukiro and I yokai-maxxed with kitsune foxes, headless children, devilish oni demons, one-eyed priest Hitotsume kozō and more.
We were enthralled by the spooky vendors, artistic performances, makeup booths, and disco DJ sets.
The crowd went wild for the yokai-themed perfomers under a demonic red faced and horned oni mask!
So many fab handmade costumes, from traditional Japanese yokai folk monsters / spirits to new characters.
I was tickled to see a jiangshi or Chinese jumping ghost / zombie! He even has the yellow “sticky note” (magic Taoist spell on paper to control the dead) stuck to him.
Many of the Koenji, Tokyo yokai parade regulars were there as well.
Share this post if you’d like to join a yokai parade in Japan! (For video of the yokai parade in Koenji, see my viral video here.)
Yokai Bon Odori 2026 festival
When: Oct 10, 11, 12
Where: Green Springs 2F Plaza (3-1 Midoricho, Tachikawa City – about a 40 min train from central areas of Tokyo)
More info: @yokaibonodori + yokaibonodori.tokyo
Watch my yokai festival in Tokyo reel from last year for a sense of the electronica performers, costumes and vibe!
The Koenji yokai parade was fab too – see photos and video of the Japan yokai parade here!
Japanese folk spirits, demons, tricksters and ghouls added to the Halloween spirit by marching down the shopping street by Koenji station. Their handmade costumes of kappa, oni, kitsune and custom creatures are spooktacular. Many participants are part of the alternative/Gothic subculture in Japan & host regular yokai events.
Looking for Halloween Goth events in Tokyo? Japan’s alt-horror drag icons are back onstage on Oct 17 in Shinjuku! Join mother Yukiro Dravarious (drag queen Nattmara) and Haus von Schwarz, and get beamed up for a space-themed drag show.
Special guest Noveli will be returning — she always delivers dark and passionate performances that stay with you long afterwards.
This one was to the guttoral Latin groans of Diamanda Galas in her song Sono L’Antichristo! The cock-crucifix… yass.
Speaking of saints and sinners… Last year, we were treated to voguing by Stefani St. Slut.
Julia Your Makeup is Terrible got down in the spirit of trick or treating.
Langley Chi Chi is serving schoolgirl…
While Angel Heart is old school glam with darkness beneath!
Such a great show by Haus von Schwarz. Don’t miss them this year on Oct 17 at Shinjuku Heist club.
The devil may be lurking in the audience…
Our Goth alt subcultures crew always comes out for these drag shows.
Hope you can make it to their Halloween drag performance this year!
Haus von Schwarz presents: Casket of Horrors, Kabukicho in Space – †666th Anniversary Show
Date: Sat, Oct 17
Place: Shinjuku Heist Club (B2, 2 Chome−25−6, Kabukicho)
Time: 7pm
Get tix from @hausvonschwarz IG or https://linktr.ee/hausvonschwarz
The day after, Oct 18, Mistress Maya is hosting her regular Cyberpunk Club at Club Arch. Here are images from her Midnight★Mess event last Halloween season, where I was a special guest… along with this giant dancing panda bear! Full details and tickets here.
Midnight Mess’ events are out of this world — Maya’s attention to detail has been impeccable since 2002 (it is Tokyo’s longest running Goth club).
Dance to the dark sounds of industrial, EDM, techno, new wave, Gothic and future-pop.
The bizarre performances are always to die for… last year, Duncan Whom did an unravelling dance with this spooktastic mask.
Panda-chan joined in on the dancing and musical performances.
Lily, a life-like doll, also wheeled by. She seems to be enjoying the show.
Mistress Maya did a shibari / rope tying and dom performance with whips and hot wax from candles. This year, you can watch her Cyber-rope Installation.
Gothic divas represent.
Noveli wowed the crowd with a Dia de los Muertos drag performance.
Kiki, the designer of Kikirara Shoten, brought her velvet-lined coffin for undead guests to lie in.
As Nattmara, Yukiro strutted the stage and nailed all the tricks.
The best performance of the night goes to the cleanup crew!
Gothic/Industrial club Midnight★Mess since 2002 – attend the Cyberpunk Club on Oct 18 at Club Arch Shinjuku! Full details and tickets here.
Finally, here was the scene for last year’s Tokyo Decadance Halloween.
Several floors of varying vibes, from visual kei performers to Dark Dimension’s Goth industrial tech.
Last year, the bash took place at Shinjuku Ohjo building.
Adrien le Danois, Porco and other longtime Decabar collaborators will be hosting alt events all October. The major ones are a Shibuya bash on Oct 24, and Decabar Super celebration on Halloween, Oct 31.
To see all the Tokyo Decadance / Decabar events coming up, visit their IG @decabar_official
Noveli is always giving Goth demon queen.
Mistress Maya and Ricky DJed on the Dark Dimension floor.
And DJ SiSEN held it down in another room. Love his carnival glow.
Visual Kei star Kaya (迦夜), vocalist of Schwarz Stein, dazzled us with her stage presence. Long live VK.
Candy Spooky Theater and more performed – such a throwback to my formative years in the Harajuku subculture.
Fab costumes and vendors at Tokyo Decadance Halloween.
Adrien le Danois as the ringmaster, doing some last-min fixes to the venue (talk about a haunted house).
Check out my iPhone snaps from the event with friends, as well as video clips, in my @lacarmina IG reel here.
Monstrous makeup skills! Japan remains one of the best places in the world to celebrate Halloween and do all things Goth, so I hope you’ll get to check out some of these events. (See the top of the post for what’s coming up.)
Also, sorry for the slowdown in blogs — I’ve been traveling almost nonstop since May, but I’m now back and grinding. Lots to share from my recent travels, so I promise to post more articles here soon — and you can see previews on my Instagram @LaCarmina. (I really need to catch up, as there will be some once-in-a-lifetime adventures in the next months… let’s keep the momentum going!)
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Tokyo, Japan Goth & metal bars! Alternative gothic bar guide, Guinea Pig Shinjuku address, Nanzuka Taken sci-fi Sorayama.
Tons of you enjoyed my guide to Tokyo Goth, metal and horror bars on IG — especially our fav, Guinea Pig — so let’s dive in deeper!
You’ll find my spooky crew at the following Japan Gothic alt haunts mostly in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. This isn’t a comprehensive list — our other favorite bars incude Godz, Bar Psy (music) and Caribbean (absinthe) in Shinjuku, Bar Tram (Ebisu) for specialty absinthe, and others previously featured on La Carmina Blog and IG @LaCarmina,
In this previous post, you can see my dispatches from Golden Gai’s Deathmatch in Hell, Roppongi’s Trick or Treat Halloween bar, cyberpunk apocalypse Neo-Shinjuku Atsushi, LGBTQ Eagle Blue, and more to round out this list!
Read on to be transported into the new Nanzuka Taken. It’s a Hajime Sorayama (sexy robots) meets HR Giger (alien horror) bar in Shinjuku that makes you feel as if you’ve been abducted by extraterrestrials and are floating in space!
(See our reel about our Nanzula Taken Sorayama bar visit.)
Our fav horror / alt / Tokyo Goth bar by far is Guinea Pig – a fetish gore-fest with animal fetuses in jars and bloody B movies on the screens!
Look out for facehuggers and decapitated heads everywhere…
Guinea Pig is not easy to find in Kabukicho, so heed the address: 2-41-2 Leo Kotobuki Building 3-A, Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo
It’s not open every night. Look for the white classical-looking building with a staircase, and take the elevator to the third floor.
The shelves are fully of oddities like skulls and fetuses in jars. Ask for the grapefruit tequila cocktail, my personal fav, which washes down nicely with the free popcorn or snacks.
Guinea Pig has a bloody gory b-horror movie theme throughout.
Say hello to the live leech… There used to be a pet snake at Guinea Pig too!
Tourists tend go to the best-known Goth horror bars, like Death Match in Hell (in Golden Gai – details in this previous post). For a true subterranean Gothic experience, head to Ricky Bar: my friend’s Goth music hangout in Shimokitazawa every Wednesday night.
Info here about Ricky Bar in Shimo. He’ll play Goth, industrial and EDM tunes as he serves highballs, beers and snacks — it’s a regular spot for Tokyo’s Goths and bizarros to gather!
Although Shinjuku is full of tourists these days, it’s still ground zero for alt / hard rock / heavy metal bars. We love to stop by From Dusk Till Dawn, which has a retro horror theme.
Mori rocks a classic Gothic Lolita look in the streets of Kabukicho.
Details of their silver rings and Gothic cross jewelry.
With Lilith, Noveli and Yukiro at From Dusk Till Dawn. You can request heavy metal or hard rock songs, and drink umeshu (plum wine) on ice.
Cambiare is a Suspiria-themed little bar up a narrow set of stairs in Golden Gai, Shinjuku. Or it used to be… I sadly can’t recommend it in its current state of management. The Suspiria (Dario Argento 70s bloody supernatural horror) vibe has been papered over with random flyers, hip hop music blares, the drinks are bleh… It’s one of the many spots in Tokyo that was better back in the day, before the current over-tourism.
But there are under the radar places that still rock, like Bar Ame. Located in Shinjuku, it’s an artsy fortune teller cocktail hangout (and you can find Miffy bunny plushes and drawings throughout!)
And we found a new spaceship bar, which has yet to be discovered by tourists… Nanzuka Taken! Located in Shibuya, it’s a sci-fi space themed bar with robotos by Hajime Sorayama and dark art by HR Giger
The main table is glowing with a sexy silver robot lady by iconic artist Hajime Sorayama. (Remember we saw his exhibit in Shibuya last time?)
A must-visit for cybergoth aliens. Watch our reel about Nanzuka Taken to see these sleek projections in motion.
Everything is so shiny and chrime… you feel as if you’ve been teleported into the stars.
Drink whiskey cocktails while feeling like you’ve been abducted by aliens & are floating in space… now that’s a cybergoth sci-fi dream come true.
Tokyo used to have a H.R. Giger bar (like the Giger bar / museum I visited in Gruyeres, Switzerland) between 1989 and 1996 (the height of civilization!) While the Japan Giger themed bar is no more, there are some of his biomechanical works hanging on the walls of Nanzuka Taken.
Even the metal futuristic furniture is custom-made!
Sorayama’s glowing helmet in collab with F1’s Lewis Hamilton is on display.
Take me back to Nanzuka Taken, the Hajime Sorayama bar in Shibuya! (See our reel for a peek inside.)
I’ll leave you with a few more recent adventures from Japan. Have you heard of Japan’s Daruma Temple Katsuoji, in the outskirts of Osaka?
✨⛩️ It’s filled with cute red roly-poly dolls representing luck and perseverance (they’re the embodiment of “I get knocked down / But I get up again / You’re never gonna keep me down.”)
Joey Wong took these images of Katsuo-ji Temple, home to thousands of Japanese #daruma (which were invented in the 17th c, inspired by plump Buddhist monk Bodhidharma).
His travel tips: Take a 1 hour bus from Osaka, arrive around closing to avoid crowds, come in autumn for vibrant colors, collect stamps around the grounds for a neat postcard souvenir, and combine your visit with nearby Minoh Falls.
See all his images from Katsuo-ji Daruma Temple outside Osaka here on @lacarmina IG.
Have you been to a themed Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine in Japan? There are many dedicated to foxes, onigiri and more… I even went to a hell temple in Osaka, pentagram temple in Kyoto, and two cat temples/shrines in Tokyo!
I wanted to close by sharing a special day with my Tokyo Goth friends at Yokohama Cemtery. Missing you, Kuroe Akiwake… can’t believe it’s been 2 years since our alien idol ascended to an alternate plane, to use her lexicon. (Grateful we got one final adventure at the Tokyo tarot museum and cafe.)
Our Tokyo Goth crew wanted to give Kuroe a send-off worthy of her passions and power (if you ever met her, you’ll know what I mean).
One of her final messages to me suggested a plan for when I was in Japan: “What if we paid a visit to Yamate in Yokohama, to look at the fancy foreign diplomat houses, and paid a visit to the “foreigners’ graveyard” there? It’s super goth and cool and I haven’t been there in like ten years. Maybe we could go in a group if people are free. We could take the scenic walk along Yamashita Park and Osambashi, too. Maybe eat some food in Chinatown.”
Life got busy and we didn’t end up making this happen. But last fall, my friends and I executed this day out in her honour – and as you can see, it was absolutely fabulous. (We were intriged by the freemason symbols we saw on the tombstones throughout Yokohama Foreigners Cemetery!)
See the full IG post and photos about how we honored Kuroe here.
We did a tarot card ritual together in her honor. (This is my cult-y Osho Zen Tarot deck.)
You’ve made such an impact on the people in your life, Kuroe, and we will always be with you.
What’s next in the cards? I’ll keep on keeping on… More Japan alternative Goth dispatches to come, as well as reports from my travels in Africa, Europe and Central Asia.
Find me on @LaCarmina Instagram, and comment if you have any questions about Tokyo Goth nightlife, subculture, parties — or anything at all!
LA CARMINA
