Wow, it has been 3 years since I first decided to do this site (1st year anniversary message :: 2nd year anniversary message). The last year has been difficult with the body conking out sometime in April 2006. Lots of missed parties, lots of quiet Saturday nights tap-tap-tapping away because it was all I could do. The site went from being relevant to being comical-sad. Perhaps there is no recovery from that fall, but it doesn’t matter. I only came online to do one thing, facilitate the birth of an appreciation of the Japanese Gothic underground scene.

:: Why does Igor do what he does? ::

Way back in the first half of 2005 when I first met U-tarou and Mikito of Chronotrigger, now called Baal, U-tarou asked me why do I do this site. I could not explain back then, but I can now.

I see a fractured, earthly beauty of the Japanese underground scene, that I have not seen anywhere else in Japan. While the many aspects of Japanese culture that I know have such strong connections to fixed traditions and etiquettes, the Gothic scene is like a wild child; perhaps lacking some finesse, but awe-inspiring in its natural, unconscientious beauty. It could be light-hearted or it could be pure darkness, it could be melancholic or it could be manic, but it always remains an unrepentant an expression of self. It breaks with the mores of Japanese society and is untainted by the manufactured processes that feature prominently in many music scenes. It is an unpolished gem that very few people can see (although many more can see it now).

Since mid-2004 I have wanted the world to see what I could see right in front of my eyes. I wanted to make something happen. And I guess my senseless screaming worked a little bit to bring attention to this scene. Can you see what I see?

:: The high point with Astan ::

By October 2005 I received an e-mail from the German magazine Astan – a magazine I had not heard of before, but they are the third-largest Gothic mag in Germany. They were interested in contacting a couple of more widely-recognized visual bands (they actually are quite good bands), but since I didn’t know these bands personally I could not get a response from them. However, I certainly knew quite a few Goth bands so I started doing a little jig to introduce bands that I personally knew to the lord of Astan.

It was a lot of work, with e-mails buzzing around and some home-brew copy-editing and re-translation for my friends in Baal, as U-tarou and myself attempted to bring Mikito’s poetic genius across from Japanese to English – but it was time well spent. After about three months Astan 22 came out and Germany got its first full-dose of Japanese Goth. There was even a whole page dedicated to me as Igor and a little photo of me with one of my faithful ferrets, little Truffle. It was golden. Here’s the official victory announcement.

And here’s Astan’s interview with Igor.

:: Falling down, but nice memories ::

Soon after that, my body conked out and the rest of 2006 faded away with it. There were also a handful of problems that caused a great deal of concern for me, and by the time I started to regenerate sufficiently to look at my little world as lord and slave JGoth.com, I realized that the train had rolled out of the station while I was in the lavatory!

Not to worry. I know I can never be omega, but, in some ways, I was part of alpha, and it was nice. I want to thank Steff from Astan for trusting in my judgment for bands that he had never heard of, and the bands for trusting my judgment with Astan, and Kiwamu from Blood for sharing his wisdom in those early days.

Most of all, I want to thank U-tarou & Mikito for taking the challenge and making the most of things. You guys shine brilliant like diamonds in the night. Baal reminds me that no matter what happens to JGoth.com and “Igor” that the effort was worth it. Every time I hear Baal piping in my speakers it brings a smile to my dial – their music is the sound of hope.

:: Where to now? ::

So year four rolls around and the things boiling my noodle are direction of the site and the upcoming re-connection with a few good friends. I don’t know what value JGoth.com is to people now, but that didn’t stop me before. The site has almost fully returned and will be around for a while, but there are other ways to move the agenda of getting more people to see what I can see. And perhaps I’ll turn up in unexpected places doing unexpected things in the months ahead.

:: Thank you ::

To everybody who has been kind enough to drop in from time to time – thank you very much for your support, I am so grateful.