Category Archive for Tokyo + Japan
JAPANESE GOTH CLUB PARTIES: TOKYO DARK CASTLE, MIDNIGHT MESS. BEST NIGHTLIFE IN JAPAN, GUIDE TO INDUSTRIAL CLUB NIGHTS.
Kampai, Tokyo spooks! Yukiro Dravarious (the purple X-eyed vampire) continues his report on last last weekend’s Gothic revelry. Take it away…
It was time for the first big alternative club events of the New Year to open their hellish gates. Tokyo Dark Castle usually happens the first Saturday of every month, but this time, it was on a Sunday night. Dark Castle is probably one of the most famous Gothic events in Japan. This particular event was “DJ Castle”, which means only DJs performed on stage and there were no bands. So on with your dance shoes and shake that thing to the EBM/industrial/cyber tunes of DJ Sisen, Chihiro, Taizo, Kenzo and more. From my personal point of view, it’s more entertaining when some bands play as well.
One of the night’s highlights: trying on a corset from a famous corset-maker who laces you in tight. He claimed to be the number one maker in Japan, and I never had such a small waist before — so he sure knew his thing. When DJ Chihiro entered the stage at the end, everyone got to go up on stage and dance with him, like always. The club owner Genet was a bit tipsy and we had a lot of fun partying with him (he usually doesn’t drink since his band Auto-Mod always plays at Tokyo Dark Castle). That night, the entry fee with dresscode was 2500 yen, but normally its 3500 yen if I’m not mistaken.
I also bought (with booze) a CD from DJ Sisen. To my surprise, there were a child-prevention product inside the folder branded Noble (see above). Sisen is hysterical!
So on the third day, (barely alive) I went to the same venue again (Club Marz) for Goth/Industrial party Midnight Mess. The New Year Vampire Ball was on and there was an all-you-can-drink offer plus entry for 3000 yen. This time all the staff (including me and Maya the club organizer) had to scrape up the money but it was worth it for 飲み放題 “nomihoudai” (all you can drink).
The belles of the ball were the lovely siblings from up-and-coming group Rose Noire. They put on a show like they always do; Gothic classical and very harmonic (I took a video of the performance). The band Chaos Royal gave us another slap in the face with their high bass sound. The singer Luke had two new recruited professional dancers on stage and they did some pretty impressive stuff: one of them did a rope “self-bondage” act and spun around the room.
Maya, on the other hand, had a booth were she sold her freshly-made mochi-waffles. It’s amazing how she juggles so many tasks — mistress, party organizer, DJ — and made tasty food at the same time. Maya also set aside time for free rope-extensions for anyone who wanted to try it.
The music at Midnight Mess was very good even though only a few people danced. Since the party stopped at 11pm, me and some friends had time for purikura (sticker booth pictures) before the last train. (Above: Yukiro with I Am Sebastien!) Don’t forget to go to the next Midnight Mess on the 23rd of January (tomorrow!).
Itching to check out these parties for yourself? There’s full info, addresses, directions and more in my Tokyo Cyber/Goth Club Guide. Lace on your corset and spread the word.
Song of the Day #289: Pierrot – Haruka (One of the most consistently excellent Visual Kei bands, IMO.)
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JAPANESE FETISH DRAG QUEEN CLUB PARTY, DEPARTMENT H. CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE MONSTERS COSPLAY COSTUMES.
Last last weekend, while you were cleaning your room, Yukiro Dravarious and friends were conquering Tokyo’s wildest fetish cosplay party, Department H. Here is Yukiro’s report. (You can see my previous coverage of the party here and here.)
We went fabulously late to the most extravagant event I ever been to: Department H. It’s located in Uguisudani on the Yamanote line, so if you live close to central Tokyo, it’s well worth the extra minutes to ride there from Shinjuku or Shibuya (where the parties normally take place). I had only been once before (for the Bizarre World TV episode co-hosted by our lovely La Carmina). I found the party surprisingly amusing, and this time was no exception.
My friends and I did a team-cosplay effort as The Bride of Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (at the same time), and The Mummy. As you can see, we went with a classic horror movie monster theme. (Jekyll/Hyde is, of course, Happy Phantom in another guise.)
It started off with a bang: all the drag queen people went on stage to show off their amazing costumes. A cat-walk to die for! That day, they had closed the bar to everyone’s surprise so we had to buy cheap “combini” (convenience store) booze instead and we were allowed (and expected!) to bring it inside the venue. A very rare experience in Japan.
Carmina’s note: I am in LOVE with Manabu, the dashing creature in the polyester shirt! I want to marry his Prince Valiant haircut!
Department H opens at midnight and the entrance fees are 3000yen with dress-code, 4000-5000yen without dress-code. So this party really gives you a discount for your effort.
From the bizarre to the disturbing to the amazing, it’s all here. If there is a slight possibility that a fetish or outfit can be done, it WILL be done at Department H — no matter how weird. Such as a cow riding a huge red “robotic-van” octopus. It was available for all of us to try for free and was rather insane!
On the huge stage there were various odd performances. In between the shows, they showed some very “interesting” films that you could watch all day, if there wasn’t a party going on…
Department H is a party worth cosplaying for. Everyone is super-friendly and extreme-ness is appreciated (a rare value in this society!). I recommend that you check it out if you’re in Tokyo on the first Saturday of every month.
Round-up of my latest CNNGo articles (see all of them here):
† Baby mice wine, bat hearts, and other resilient folk medicines (read about strange Asian remedies)
† Tinkering with Asian toy cameras (I try out the Ikimono and Super Fat from Superheadz in Tokyo)
† The true international house of pancakes (yummy photo gallery of Asian pancakes, including cute faced ones)
I think I want a vegan chocolate chip cookie now…
Song of the Day #286: Aicle. – Hammerhead (If you haven’t heard of this Visual Kei band… you have now.)
LA CARMINA
