goth

Goth “Ura-Shinjuku Kayou Fes” at Wildside Tokyo

Wildside Tokyo is a small goth club in a converted basement in Shinjuku. The brick walls are painted black, tables are made out of repurposed metal cannisters and there’s a (new) Mötley Crüe poster pasted up next to the bar.

A laminated black card on the bar counter tells you what’s available. The ingredients aren’t listed, so I asked the bartender what was good and he gave me something he made up on the spot. I leaned against a pillar near the entrance, drank my drink and waited for the show. Among the bands in question were Sredni Vashtar, Psydoll, Yoshiwara Enjou, nicht, meDag and malo from Anheling. Enjoy the photos!

Ura-Shinjuku Kayou Fes at Wildside Tokyo: Opening act.

Ura-Shinjuku Kayou Fes at Wildside Tokyo: meDag.

Ura-Shinjuku Kayou Fes at Wildside Tokyo: Yoshiwara Enjou.

Winter Comiket is a Tokyo anime-manga-games-otaku convention dedicated to fan-made comics (doujinshi) and merchandise. It’s held at the Tokyo Big Sight on the last three days in December. Cosplay is a huge part of the event too.

However, the location for cosplaying has changed yet again. I thought the garden area was good for photography last year, but very crowded. Using the carpark(!) makes for terrible backgrounds, but it’s easier to navigate.

I think perhaps the oddest cosplayer I met was the Eiga Dorobou. If you’ve ever been to a cinema in Japan, there’s an ad beforehand featuring this prancing guy with a camcorder for a head warning you not to record or download the film. So, that guy. There were also the inevitable and unwelcome Nazi cosplayers. What is it about anime events that make these people go, “Hm, Gamers… maids… butlers… I guess I’ll get my Hitler outfit”?

More tasteful outfits included this rendition of Batsubukuro man, a character often found on NicoNico Douga.

However, I’ve always found the nicest people to be the cosplayers who are doing it for fun. I had a warm welcome from a Kuroshitsuji cosplay group consisting of Ciel, Sebastian and Trancy (from Kuroshitsuji Season Two).

Kuroshitsuji Season 2: Sebastian cosplayer.

Kuroshitsuji Season 2: Trancy cosplayer.

As I mentioned in my last Comiket report (Winter Comiket 2009), cosplaying from older series is less common in Japan. However, there are always a few classic characters whose popularity persists.

The last section of cosplayer types is probably the most popular amongst photographers. These women don’t necessarily have to have chosen a popular character to cosplay.

I had a look around at doujinshi, but nothing really caught my eye, mainly because few of my favourite series are popular right now.

Outside was this anime-themed car to advertise IS: Infinite Stratos. Photos aren’t allowed at Comiket except in the cosplay zone, so it’s a fairly common advertising strategy to leave interesting things to photograph outside the venue. Quick plot of IS, found on Wikipedia, is that special mecha are created that can only be piloted by women, until a boy is found who can pilot them too. He has to attend a mecha training academy as the only boy. Not something I’ll be watching, but nice car.

Afterwards, I decided to walk from the Big Sight to Tokyo Station. What I didn’t know was that you’ve got some amazing views on the way there, with Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Sky Tree clearly visible either side of you.

Spam From Japan: Design Festa (Spring 2010)

While the Kuroshitsuji musical has the best-dressed audience, Design Festa attendees are the most original. A number of them were wearing their original creations, many of them using kimono fabric.

I arrived at 10:30am at the Big Sight knowing that it opened at around 11:00am. With my experience attending Comiket and the Tokyo International Anime Fair, I figured that that would get me inside the quickest. I needn’t have worried, since there was only a tiny queue. Many of the booth staff were still setting up at that time as well, so it wasn’t like I missed anything. You might as well arrive at a little past opening.

There was a huge variety of Stuff available to buy. At first glance, grandma-style Victoriana seemed to outstrip the goth Victoriana, but the latter was still there. One shop specialised in black gothic dresses with straps featuring crucified bunny rabbits.

I was amazed at the number of satirical T-shirts featuring un-PC depictions of Kim Jong-Il and other political figures, which I really don’t see much in Japan. There were torn shirts made from non-torn shirts, ordinary-looking jeans and patched together animal headpieces. I also saw a cool rabbit gasmark; but wear it once and you’re awesome, wear it twice and you’re that guy with the rabbit gasmask. There were also bars of home-made soap for sale, which intrigued me. I looked into it once and found I’d have to look for a lye (sodium hydroxide) supplier in Japan. That couldn’t be easy.

In the end, I bought two postcards by Akito, who seems to be inspired by H. R. Giger and anime. I would have loved to be able to buy artbooks from any of the booths or, even better, a collection from a selection of booths (yes, I realise that’s impossible). I don’t have anywhere to put the stuff on sale, or it’s not something I would wear or use, but it was so awesome I wanted to keep it to look at anyway. Photographs for that end (which are fine at most booths) seem mean-spirited.

Click on any of the photographs to enlarge.

Live painting area:

Booths:

(My friends declared the giant plant-thing to be ‘kawaii’ and ‘cute’. What do you think?)

Dolls:

More Booths:

(One of the booths specialised in making plastic keyrings with everyday objects subjected to a type of Japanese bondage called ‘kinbaku’. I thought this was awesome, but not everyone agreed!)

There were two stages. One was bigger, indoors and had more mainstream acts. The other was outdoors, tending towards goth/punk/indie and was like a tiny Glastonbury festival. This was what kept me at Design Festa from the very start until closing. The atmosphere was amazing. The bar next to the stage had the worst beer I’ve ever had, while the French-style hotdog stand tasted great and used real sausages.

Bands:

(Jack and Sally, plus two of Kojinshugi Gekijo.)

Psydoll, one of my favourites:

N.S.D.P, who seemed to have lots of female fans:

ENIGMATIC DRIVE did alt. jazz. I wouldn’t have said jazz was really my thing, but it was a great feeling at the end of the day to hear those notes echo into the sky as it got darker.

More than anything, I was left with a strong desire to create something or design something or just… DO something. Well at least I have a blog, I guess.

Spam From Japan: The Saga Of The Man-Dress

It began in early January 2009. I purchased a fukubukuro or “New Year lucky dip bag” at the Atelier Boz store in Shibuya. These bags are basically a form of gambling. Pick your size and gender and, while the contents of the bag usually retail for somewhere between two to six times the sale price, you can never be quite sure of what you’re going to get.

In my case, I chose men’s L size. I got a white half-shirt, half-waistcoat hybrid and… something else. It buttoned up to my neck and the material reached to my feet. One might be inclined to call it a dress. Except… it wasn’t. Not quite. It seemed to be for a slim man who could pull off the priest’s cassock look, or for a woman who enjoyed looking like Victorian widow. It was impeccably designed, hung perfectly on whoever wore it, and seemed to warp itself according to the general body shape of the person who put it on. As a trans guy, this was exactly what I didn’t want.

And one last detail? The tag said it was supposed to have retailed for around thirty thousand yen (US$315). What’s a guy with an expensive man-dress to do?

In my case, I decided to sell it at Closet Child, a well-known second-hand goth shop.

How to sell clothing at Closet Child

Go to the counter and tell them you have stuff to sell.
Show them ID with your date of birth on it. You can use your gaijin card (if you live here) or your passport (if you don’t).
You will be given a piece of paper to fill in with your name, street address, e-mail address and phone number.
You then will be given a seller’s card (separate from a point card). Write your name on it.
You will be asked to return in an hour to see how much money they will offer you. You won’t be asked any embarrassing questions, like why you’re in possession of a man-dress.

In my case, they offered me 1900 yen (around US$20) for the man-dress and I politely declined, although I accepted their offers on some other items. The man-dress saga continues…

Spam From Japan

Live from Tokyo

Goth “Ura-Shinjuku Kayou Fes” at Wildside Tokyo

Spam From Japan: Winter Comiket 2010 (Cosplay Photos)

Spam From Japan: Design Festa (Spring 2010)

Spam From Japan: The Saga Of The Man-Dress

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