STAR CAFE TOKYO: VISUAL KEI & HEAVY METAL JROCK BARS IN KABUKI-CHO, SHINJUKU. CURE MAGAZINE, POKEMON PILLOWS & TOYS.
Where am I? In a retro toy store with Luke of Chaos Royale? Not even close. We’re in Star Cafe, the Visual Kei bar in Kabuki-cho where spiky-haired groups like Anti-Feminism drink after playing a live. (For the record, they didn’t understand the meaning of the band name when they picked it…)
How typical of Japan… the cute and the hardcore, blended together seamlessly.
Naomi and I had a full day of shooting with Norway TV, but we still had energy left for an after-after-party. We decided on the vintage whiskey.
There’s a rack of Cure Magazines, so you can do shots while flipping through the pages.
Lolita rose headdress: gifted from My Velcroe by Emily Blong. (I wore it on the Norway TV shoot… more photos to come.)
Skull t-shirt: Super Lovers, from Closet Child
What’s the proper thing to do when a customer falls asleep at the bar? Take photos involving Cookie Monster and V-fingers, of course!
Star Cafe is well-stocked with alcohol and J-rock DVDs.
Mistress Maya, “Queen of Kabuki-cho,” comes here frequently.
Visual Kei band posters cover the walls, like in my bedroom.
STAR★CAFE is located at 2F 1-11-5 Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo.
How to get there: walk toward Studio ALTA from Shinjuku station (East exit). Cross the main avenue (Yasukuni Doori), walk in a front street (Kabuki-cho Ichibangai), and you will arrive at Shinjuku Koma Theater. Opens 11:00pm.
Want to see more photos from Tokyo Visual Kei bars? I visited Visual Kei Bar Zin, Fu-ki’s Bar Midian, and Osaka’s Moonwalk and Rock Rock.
What type of bars do you prefer? In addition to headbanger bars, I love retro/absinthe/burlesque establishments…
PS: come read my latest CNNGo article about 10 extremely extreme sports involving yaks, angry bulls and the North Korean border. Also, my CNN picks for best travel destinations in 2011. Sichuan, Himalayas, Bolivia and more.
Japanese Word of the Day: Sonzai = Existence or being
Song of the Day: Anti-Feminism – Tokage
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TOKYO DECADANCE CYBER GOTH PARTY AT CHRISTON CAFE, JAPAN. SALINE INJECTIONS IN FOREHEAD, BIZARRE DONUT HEAD EXTREME BODY MODIFICATIONS.
What’s better than heavily pierced and tattooed Japanese girls kissing? Making out with flickering snake tongues. Meaning the center of their tongues are split, like a cobra’s. And they’re flicking the points together. Welcome to Tokyo Decadance!
The grand finale of the French TV show (that I co-hosted with Antoine de Caunes) took place at Decadance Bar, above Christon Cafe Shinjuku. These lovely individuals belong to an extreme body modifications group. They sat in a row, stuck IV drips into their foreheads… and waited until their heads bulged with a giant “donut.”
The body inflation effect is temporary, but boy… talk about cinema bizarre!
Antoine de Caunes gamely put on a Hana-Kengo costume for the party. It takes a brave soul to wear boingy balls, a furry codpiece and white poop on his head.
Eating chicken wings with the “worn-in” gloves… Also not a feat for the weak-willed.
Time to party with G-suS, Count de Sang, Yukiro and your other favorites.
Coco, Cotton Bale, the original Kengo, and DJ SiSEN.
As always, there was decadent fashion everywhere you turned.
The visuals were perfect for the TV documentary. Many French viewers emailed me after the show, saying they wanted to party with us in Tokyo!
The absinthe flowed… and so did the green tea.
No party is complete without a kigurumi (person in a full anime body suit).
Cute Japanese girls in bright flowers, feathers and wigs.
Kana has the same Goth Nun PVC outfit as me! (Here are photos of mine from Torture Garden Japan.)
What a life we lead in Halloween-town, eh?
Come party with us at Tokyo Decadance and Decabar! For addresses, RSVP, maps and more, please check out my Tokyo club guide.
Which are your favorite photos and outfits from the night? Coverage of my Los Angeles invasion with Seba coming right up!
Japanese Word of the Day: Meshiagaru = Polite word for “to eat”
Song of the Day: Combichrist – Get Your Body Beat (An oldie but a goodie.)
LA CARMINA
