Category Archive for Tokyo + Japan
KAYA VISUAL KEI MAKEUP TUTORIAL, H.NAOTO FRILL DRESS AT IKEBUKURO BLACK HOLE. HOW TO BUY JROCK VISUAL KEI CONCERT TICKETS IN JAPAN.
How does one buy J-rock and Visual Kei concert tickets in Japan? The system is insanely complicated: fan club members often get the first batch, and instead of a Tickermaster-like site, one must brave the frustrating Japanese-only ticket vending machines at the Lawson convenience store…
Once you have the tickets in your hand, there’s still the matter of finding the venue. We circled all over Ikebukuro before being sucked into Black Hole, where Kaya’s band Kaleidoscope was headlining.
Dress: h.NAOTO Frill, from Closet Child
Green “belt”: actually a very long stocking, gifted from Sock Dreams
Crucifix headband: actually a cloth choker, gifted from Limebarb (do you sense a theme here?)
Yellow boots: John Fluevog
Rings: from various little Japanese stores
My makeup is inspired by Kaya’s “Last Snow” album cover. Whenever I need inspiration, I find it helpful to look at Visual Kei faces and try out some of their techniques.
I experimented with a rounder lip shape and filled it in with little green and purple eye liner pencils. Like Kaya, I extended the eyeshadow past the inner crease of my eye. I added magenta at the top outer corner to make the colors pop.
Yukiro can’t remember where he got his clothes, but they fit him like a glove! (I’ll post a video tomorrow with our usual “what am I wearing” segment.”)
Visual Kei bands Lix, Keith and Thomas were also on the bill, but Kaya’s band Kaleidoscope tore down the live house. There will be concert footage in the next post, so you can see Kaya’s manly look and hear his glorious voice!
Like at many J-rock concert venues, the stage is on the lower level, and the staircase is lined with pretty Visual Kei posters.
We traded in our drink ticket and flipped through the Visual Kei flyers and magazines, and waited for the former Schwarz Stein vocalist to take the stage… Come back tomorrow for a full review and VIDEO footage of Kaya live!
Are you a Kaya fan? Did you see him perform during his North American tour?
PS: last chance to enter my giveaway contest for a swanky cat scratcher and chair! Simply comment in this blog post to win the grand prize.
Japanese Word of the Day: Jime jime = Damp
Song of the Day: Kaya – Last Snow
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RIDICULOUS STORE: AMERIKAMURA & SHINSAIBASHI VINTAGE SHOPPING, OSAKA'S HARAJUKU STREET STYLE. WEIRD JAPAN LOVE HOTEL.
Yukiro and I had a ridiculous time in Osaka! Here I am in a ridiculous outfit, kissing one of the four big-head statues outside a Shinsaibashi love hotel. (Remember my bizarre photos of Tokyo love hotels?)
Shinsaibashi is the number one district to encounter random ridiculousness. How about Yukiro molesting a man in a takoyaki hat…
However, the award for “Most Ridiculous Store in Osaka” goes to… Ridiculous in Amerikamura. Point one: the shop mascot is an immense blue monster with blood trailing from its eyes and mouth.
Point two: Ridiculous is run by a ridiculous fellow with hair all over his face and an infestation of piercings. (Note the subdermal circle implant in his hand in the last photo.)
Point three: the shop is painted neon pink and blue, and the floor is made up of staggered levels that make it impossible to walk without tripping.
Point four: Swinging from the racks are ridiculous 1980s secondhand trash (or treasures), such as a witch’s hat, Robocop sunglasses and Toni Basil rejects from the 1980s.
And the prices? Absolutely ridiculous! Yukiro found a ridiculously short black and white dress for 2000 yen ($20), which you’ll see in upcoming photos…
The Ridiculous store owner insisted on taking photos — and the following day, we ran into him at DJ Taiki’s Black Veil Goth party! I say there’s only one word to describe that, and it begins with an R…
Ridiculous Store
7/F, 2-18-6 Avenue, West Shinsaibashi (by Triangle Park), Osaka
Map of the building location
More photos from occult and Lolita stores in the same building coming up ASAP. What’s the most ridiculous clothing boutique you’ve ever stepped into?
Japanese Word of the Day: Matomo ja nai = Ridiculous
Song of the Day: Pentagram – Sign of the Wolf (is there anything more ridiculous than 1970s doom metal?)
LA CARMINA
