Archive for March, 2005


How’s this for choice!?! Four events this weekend covering Tokyo and Osaka. Igor wanted to go to IndustrialnatioN on Saturday, but with his glands still recovering from their blowout last weekend, Igor’s going to stay at home and work on the site. He might even put another ferret movie up – maybe one that you can see without turning up the brightness of your monitor to max. Okay, ‘nuf talk. Let’s go.

Saturday in Osaka
Well there’s two events going on there, but you got one early and one late, so you can go to both and sleep Sunday away.

Satanyanko @ Bears
First up it’s Satanyanko and Strawberry Song Orchestra playing @ Osaka-Namba Bears from 7 (opens 6:30). You get four bands for just 1,500 yen advance or 2,000 at the door. Satanyanko and Strawberry Song Orchestra just released a split CD which gives you a fine taste of both bands. Satanyanko’s got a lot of fresh energy to their track that reminded Igor of the early albums from punk bands of yore, and the Strawberry Song Orch. have a smooth, heavy yet orchestral feel…. and the bands are going to be in Tokyo on the 9th (yes, Igor’s going)! Worth a snark. Check out event details.

Territory’s Midnight Necropolis
The second event is Territory’s Midnight Necropolis, a Gothic dance party at Club Neo. The night starts at 10 p.m. and goes to the next morning (2,500/3,500 yen including one drink). Check Territory’s site.

Saturday in Tokyo

Midnight Mess’ IndustrialnatioN @ MARZ
The Mess has a very special offer on Saturday with IndustrialnatioN Night! There’s a giveaway to the first 30 people and the mag’s editor, Vig Vigler, will be doing an introduction. Starts late, late, late at 1 a.m. (open 12:30) and going through the night. The event costs 2,500/3,000 yen and includes one drink (I think). Check out event details.

Alamode @ Club Hoop
An event principally catering to the ladies of goth-loli. The event looks like fun for a dressed-up girls’ night out – sorry guys there seems to be strict rules regarding the male presence. Starts midnight and goes through to Sunday morning (2,000/2,500 yen). Check the Alamode page.

Another group suicide was reported today. Four men and one woman, apparently in their 20s died in a car from carbon mononoxide poisoning after sealing the car’s doors and windows then lighting charcoal stoves (Noogle recent news).

There is a strong focus on these kinds of suicides due to their macabre nature and tendency to be facilitated through contacts made on suicide-related site. However, even with the growth of such suicides in 2004 and 2005, they will still acount for less than one percent of the 30,000+ suicides in Japan. One wonders about the other 99+%.

Hey ya all. I thought this may be an interesting introduction to my two weasly accomplices. The movie is about 5MB or so, so it’ll take a while to download. I’ll keep it on during the day today and see how it affects site performance. Okay, this little flick stars Cinnamon (slimmer lighter color with pink nose) and Truffle (chubby, darker with little white spots above the eyes and a brown shnozz). Right-click the picture or this link to see the boyz.

Well, I did a little piece on the use of suitcases for corpse storage (Read Murder theme :: Suitcases) and it seemed that tendency was that only foreigners would find their last resting place in Louis Vuitton.

Well, that doesn’t mean that the locals are home and hosed – with one corpse disposer opting to place his ex-soon-to-be-former girlfriend’s body in a fride and dropping it off at a port (Mainichi article here. The murderer (AKA soon-to-be-former boyfriend) enlisted the help of a friend to dump the fridge. Now, what I want to know is how the hell did the guy get his friend to help?

Hey Taro, wassup? Look, I need you to come over and help me get rid of my fridge…. Yeah, I know it’s 3 a.m., but I just want to trash it okay…. I don’t know why it’s so heavy…. No. There’s nothing in there….. Honest.

Whatever you do, don’t open the icebox. Let this be a lesson to all would be gomi runners, some whitegoods are best left alone.

Woot!

Novala Takemoto, author of Shimotsuma Monogatari (Kamikaze Girls – Check the movie’s site), a gothic-lolita novel turned cult movie sat down with David McNeill of The Japan Times back in December for a bit a chat .

Just a brief mention about the movie…
The story of Kamikaze Girls centers around a girl, Momoko, the product of a chance encounter between a yakuza and a hostess. The story starts with her at 17, living out in Ibaraki prefecture, with a mind filled with frills and lace along with appropriate dress. And so we have the beginning of a story of someone who’s mind is living in a slightly different place than there body. Sorry, I’m scarping this off several pages (I heard of it, just haven’t seen it okay!?!). Looks fun and he’s got another project on the way.

I guess you could call Novala Takemoto a respected, cult novelist with his works leaning towards the cute-grotesque nature of the Japanese goth-loli fashion/style/mind-set. Remember Alice in Wonderland? Now drop Alice in the middle of Tokyo. Oh, here’s a good quote from the man himself in this article in Asahi

“Lolita is a form of aestheticism. I think Lolita is a condition in which two conflicting elements co-exist without contradiction, for example, something grotesque as well as cute,” he says. “A Lolita loves Alice in Wonderland because the chaotic situation in Wonderland is very Lolitalike.”

Anyway, you can check the mind of the writer in in the JT article, or the Asahi article. Sorry, still got a lot to learn….

Surfing around and found this girl-oriented event (sorry guys – read the restrictions below). It’s called Alamode and will be at Club Hoop on April 2, starting at 12 midnight (2000 yen adv./2,500 yen @ door) – min. age 18. It looks to be a pretty amazing gothic lolita party including names that are becoming more and more familiar like Isola and DJs Wakana and Violet (I’m learning okay!). Keep in mind this looks like it’s an event mainly for the goth-loli’s rather than the boys.

Notice to the male-folk – it looks like that you are required to be in full elegant dress and (maybe or, but I can’t read too proper-like) accompanied by a female to get in plus sending an e-mail beforehand would be in order (welcome to the neo-Victorian world lads). Ladies – well I guess dress is the most important issue here. For more information, or just a snark check out the Alamode site.

The Satanic cat lovers from Osaka, Satanyanko will be spinning their brand of punk romance at Osaka-Namba Bears. The band has just released a split CD with Strawberry Song Orchestra (also playing) featuring 7 tracks and an 8 page booklet that you will no doubt be able to pick up at the event. If you can’t go, the CD can be picked up for a mere 1,500 yen (or $15 plus shipping) from their Web site.

Event info:
Event: Satanyanko & Strawberry Song Orchestra
Place: Osaka-namba-BEARS
Address: B1 Shinnihon-nanba-BLD. 2-14-5, Nanba-naka, Naniwa-ku, Osaka
Phone: 06-6649-5564
Tickets: (Satanyanko) info@satanyanko.com
Date: Saturday, April 2, 2004.
Start: 18:30 Open † 19:00 Start
Price: 1,500 yen (2,000 at door)
Bands: Satanyanko, Strawberry Song Orchestra, QP-Crazy and Ryokuchi
Web site: http://www.satanyanko.com/
Club page: http://home.att.ne.jp/orange/bears/

Midnight Mess has got something special with IndustrialnatioN Night – a party to celebrate the release of a new compilation CD from
IndustrialnatioN
! There’s a giveaway to the first 30 people and the mag’s editor, Vig Vigler, will be doing an introduction.

The flier pits ElectroBeat versus Gothic so, hell yeah, that sounds verrrry interesting (damnable shame I can’t go). You got Sino, Zeus Machina, Ruin Close Reptile and Euthanasie and a business of DJs to drag you screaming through the night.

Event info:
Event: Midnight Mess
Place: MARZ
Address: No. 1 Kiwa Bldg. 2-45-1 Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku
Phone: (Marz) 03-3202-8248
Date: Saturday April 2, 2004
Start: 24:30 (Sunday morning actually) – Start 25:00 ~ next morning
Price: 2,500 yen (incl. 1 drink) † 3,000 yen door (incl. 1 drink)
Live: Sino, Zeus Machina, Ruin Close Reptile and Euthanasie
DJs: Sato M., Yuu, Maya, Sin
Web site: http://www.midnightmess.com/

Anders Manga’s new CD, One Up for the Dying, is due for release on March 29. Very dance-able Goth tracks with some retro layered in for good measure. The CD is just US$12.95 and includes a free sticker and poster (not sure if it’s limited time, but check the page). Check out his site for some downloads and order information.

Another one of those interesting links to useful tidbits in Japan. Yahoo Japan recently improved it’s online earthquake information area to reduce time lag between the occurance of an earthquake and the online announcement. It’s in Japanese, but even if you’re totally J-illiterate you can get the general idea with time and size. Check it out at.