BLABLAHOSPITAL JAPANESE PUNK FASHION PHOTOSHOOT, HOLLYWOOD SIGN & BATCAFES. KERA MAGAZINE, TOKYO BOYS PUNK MODELLING.
Isn’t life random? In January 2010, I wrote a blog post about my friend Ako’s punk brand, Blablahospital. I included two photos of her main model… who happens to be Sebastiano Serafini! We were both friends with Ako, but didn’t end up meeting each other until Halloween 2010.
Ako made me this punky red dress, which was featured in Kera Magazine. What a fun and unique design; you could never find this in a big-box store. Sebastiano tried to put on the dress… and got stuck!
We did a Blablahospital shoot with Shannon Cottrell, photographer for LA Weekly. She drove us near the Hollywood sign, at the “batcaves” where the Batman TV series was filmed. Seba’s hat and shirt are by Blablahospital.
Striped socks: gifted from Artisan Socks
Shiny black boots: Alice and the Pirates, from Closet Child
Patched up punk jacket: Yellow House Harajuku
By accident, Shannon caught these incredible shots of me dancing at the mouth of the cave.
Reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood.
Inside the spooky caves. Aren’t Blablahospital designs adorable?
You can see Ako’s latest designs and purchase them internationally here. She speaks English and can custom-make something for any body size.
Bonus photo: Sebastiano in Like Atmosphere, a Japanese brand he also models for. Hollywood, baby.
Punk fashion — is it alive and thrashing in Japan? Got any favorite punk bands or designers?
Japanese Word of the Day: Mechakucha – Messy, chaotic
Song of the Day: Joy Division – Chance
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PHOTOS OF JAPAN MAID CAFES: PRETTY JAPANESE GIRLS IN AKIHABARA, TOKYO. COSPLAY FRENCH MAIDS, OTAKU SUBCULTURES.
Ah, so much to do before Houston (Anime Matsuri) and Tokyo (NOH8 campaign and Belgium TV show!).
Today, I have an article about Japanese maid cafes on the front page of Huffington Post Travel, where I’m a featured writer.
In these establishments, customers pay good money to be pampered by cute, young girls in frilly costumes. The roleplay goes pretty far. Waitresses will get on hand and knees to take orders from “Master.” Some even offer ear-cleaning and spoon-feeding.
There are dozens of cosplay cafes in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. On weekends, lonely boys line up for a plate of ketchup-rice decorated by their favorite maid.
These eateries are an odd but harmless fantasy — a space where nerdy “otaku” can get attention from anime and manga heroines. Some develop warm “moe” crushes on their favorite maid. For a few hundred yen, customers can buy decorated Polaroids, or capsule toys from “gashapon” machines.
Japanese maids are elusive creatures. Most of these cafes ban photography, since they cash in by selling photos of the girls. Try to take a photo of a maid handing out flyers in the street, and she’ll cover her face and walk away.
However, I’ve had special access: I often bring TV shows to maid cafes, and photographed several for my Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo book. Here’s a peek at my photo collection…
For a a French TV documentary, I instructed Antoine de Caunes (of Eurotrash fame) on master-maid relations. He wasn’t too swift – and got slapped by a maid in this video clip.
Miko-san Cafe featured girls dressed as Shinto temple maidens. The spirits were not pleased. This theme cafe barely lasted a year.
In the changing rooms, there are racks of cute dresses and toy purses to choose from.
This maid cafe’s a drag. Look closely. All of the servers are cross-dressed men! (Yukiro worked here.)
At Mai:lish, the French maid blows on a spoonful of hot food… and hand-feeds the customer.
Each maid has an anime doppleganger. Customers buy merchandise, such as keychains and towels, with their favorite server’s image.
“Meidos” stand in the streets of Akihabara, handing out flyers to potential clients.
Melty Cure doubles as a massage parlor. Wonder what goes on behind the curtain…
You can see more photos and stories of maid cafes are in my book, Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo.
I’ll soon be in Tokyo again, hosting a documentary about cherry blossom season for Belgium TV (VRK). To help prepare me, my Scottish Fold fat cat Basil Farrow taught a Japanese lesson about sakura season on Maggie Sensei’s blog! Come check it out here; Maggie’s blog is a wonderful resource for Japanese language learning that uses pop culture and visuals to make the process fun.
Which maid would you most like to spoon-feed or slap you? Please take a second to Like and Fan my profile on Huffington Post, and comment or share the article. I appreciate the support, and it’ll let me bring you more crazy Japanese coverage!
Japanese Word of the Day: Natsukashii = Fondly remember
Song of the Day: Amanda Lear – Follow Me (Vampire disco magnificato.)
LA CARMINA
