JGoth.com – Japan Goth Music

This is the second Psydoll video from my little adventure to Shinjuku’s Urga on May 29, 2010.

[Goth - DJ’d] The only regular Goth event in Nagoya, Stigmatic takes place on the third Saturday of odd-numbered months this year. That means you better turn up to every event, or you are going to be piking for 60 days for the next industrial-EBM-alt outing in Toyota land!
(more…)

[Uber Goth-Industrial Live & DJ] Here is the 2010, second-half schedule for TDC. Tokyo Dark Castle (TDC) is the main event for the Gothic underground in Tokyo. Populated by the best-dressed Goths from all walks of life TDC delivers some of the best live acts and DJs in the scene. This makes TDC a must-see on any Goth agenda.

TDC have the second half’s event schedule for 2010 and rather than do a single post each time the event is set to roll.

Unless otherwise stated, TDC begins at 12 midnight Saturdays and goes through to the early morning (around 6 a.m.). Remember that as with all overnight events you need photo ID to enter. (more…)

Neurotic Doll performing @ Urga in Shinjuku, Tokyo on Saturday, May 29.

Well, well, it’s finally time to get back into the scene! A big thanks to Nekoi @ Psydoll for the invitation to the Machinery Magic event last month. It was an awesome event with Psydoll, Neurotic Doll, CHC System and Custom Mummy delivering some fantastic music throughout the night.

Stay tuned as Igor gets his black-blooded juices moving flowing again to venture yet another time into Japan’s underground with Japanese Gothic and industrial event information, pictures & viddies, and reports.

If you look on the column on the right with the Amazon MP3 advertisement (note: even if you shop for other stuff at Amazon, just click on the ad so I might get a small sub-referral fee – yay!), you will see the upcoming events list in chronological order with links to the related information/story page. That works better for me, and hopefully for you too.

[Uber Goth-Industrial Live & DJ] Tokyo Dark Castle (TDC) is the main event for the Gothic underground in Tokyo. Populated by the best-dressed dark spirits in Tokyo and delivering the best acts in the scene make this event a must go for all. Being the single most important regular Goth event in Japan there is a special TDC sub-forum located in the new JGoth forum.

The December event avoids the pre-Xmas rush and New Year’s dirge by delivering post-punk-rock Auto-Mod, industrial rock from Destruct System and Gothika and more on the first day of December.

December 1, 2007 :: Tokyo Dark Castle #35
Where: Marz Shinjuku
Address: Dai-Ichi Tokiwa Building B1F, Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo :: 新宿区歌舞伎町2-45-1 第一トキワビルB1F :: Map
Tel: 03-3202-8298
Bands: Auto-Mod, Destruct System, Mira Kurumi, Gothika and Demons.
DJ’s: Chihiro, Taizo, Sisen
Exhibition: Luna Park and more.
Open: 24:00
Price: 3,000 yen adv. or with flyer :: 3,500 yen @ door
You can find reservation forms on the TDC site, but you can also book by contacting your favorite band.

Good morning folks.

I am sorry for the JGoth.com site problems and general instabilities in recent months. However, things are getting worked out just in time for Halloween (okay, most parties have finished), but there is still TDC to look forward to:
http://forum.jgoth.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8

First up, the board has been re-launched at the following URL:
http://forum.jgoth.com/ Being a stand-alone board it offers greater flexibility and more options, which is good for board members.

On top of that you will find that there is a stack of topics to cover more Japanese music scenes not to mention international sections to talk about various Gothic scenes overseas.

The board comes in five major sections. The lengthy list is:

1. The Welcome board with FAQs, Polls and Suggestion box
2. A smeg-load of boards covering J-Goth, industrial, other music styles and life in general in Japan. There are also special sections German, French, Spanish and Japanese.
3. A European section for listing the 10 countries that I get the most visitors from including the U.K., Germany, France, Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Italy, Greece, Spain and Belgium and a board for other countries.
4. Goth in the Americas with U.S.A. Canada, Brazil and Chile listed plus a board for other countries.
5. Finally Oceania and Asia where the bulk of visitors come from Australia & New Zealand and China/Hong Kong.

If you are interested in giving the JGoth.com forum another try I’d be most appreciative. Because the password encryption is different from the last board you will need to re-register. That takes about one minute to do. Once in feel free to post away!

Remember the new board is located at:
http://forum.jgoth.com/

The archived articles for JGoth.com are presently located at:
http://xfactor.jgoth.com/

So that’s three places to keep in mind:
Board: http://forum.jgoth.com/
Archive: http://xfactor.jgoth.com/
New site: http://www.jgoth.com/

Thanks again for your support.

Cheers

Igor/Admin
forum.jgoth.com
xfactor.jgoth.com
www.jgoth.com

My first overnight stay at Tokyo Dark Castle for over a year was damned exciting. The crowd set was a bit different from what I remember with only a few familiar faces, but they were pumped up and ready to scream. Golden Week is usually a pretty light time in terms of people turnout (because everybody runs away to their hometowns), but this event was pumping with a comfortably crowded Marz club and more cool fashion than you can point a sparkler at. Gothic, lolita, cyber, leather, fetish, dreg (uh me), and more.

Auto-Mod :: info
The bands were fiery hot. Auto-Mod were in fine form with a fantastic set featuring ye olde metal grinder (a real one flashing out sparks and shit), fireplay, and a meatier sound that showed these legends of the local scene can continue to deliver to today’s audience. The band has come a long way in the past 14 months, when I last saw the start of the change with the new line-up/arrangement.

Lloy :: info
Lloy smashed my pre-conceptions of thinking of them as a moody alt-rock band. These guys are hard rock with strong femme vocals making them a very hot item on stage. A number of people inside the scene told me they were damned good – I just didn’t know how good.

Baal :: info
I was primed by this time, but I was not prepared for the next act, my dear friends Baal. They just ripped shit up on stage and had the audience screaming and jumping. I have loved Baal’s live performances since I first saw the band as Chronotrigger in 2005 (A fresh, harsh industrial group who’ll blow you away), but Baal has kept on ratcheting up the intensity, power and its appeal to the point where it truly is one sexy beast! While they are my friends, I am being completely honest in my comments – they are that damned good!

Destruct System :: info
Finally I scoped Destruct System who I have seen quite often at a number of events. These guys are harsh hard rock that is just plain hot. Where Baal left off, DS took over turning the lower level into a grinding pit of Gothic flesh. They know how to connect and their sets are varied to suit the tastes of the night (metal, Gothic, electronic, etc.) so you will get something a bit different every time you see them. These guys are damned good and can ignite any crowd with their intensity.

So that wraps that up. Tokyo Dark Castle is bigger and flasher than ever. All the bands are stepping up the intensity to deliver an array of hard-hitting sounds that will soon be able to shed the “J” moniker and be considered as part of the global Goth scene. And the crowd is growing all the time.

As for me personally, turning up after a long hiatus as a cybernetic entity, it was kind of strange. There were some familiar faces, but I am a stranger again. It was good to catch up with a few good friends and see just how far the scene has progressed in the past 12 months.

There is also some great stuff afoot with a some fuck yeah! news, a couple of viddies but more on that stuff later…

Yes, even nerdy types like me get interviews. This was an unexpected benefit of doing some legwork in the initial Japanese Goth invasion of Astan magazine! Aside from knowing I doing good work, there will always be this interview on page 15 of the magazine. As it is now over a year since I did the interview and as the magazine is in German, I’m guessing it is cool to put this online now. I would guess staff from Astan pop in from time to time – so if there is a problem guys just tell me. Want to see what Igor was thinking over a year ago?

* Actually this is a draft, I cannot find the final original now… Well read on…

Astan: Please describe for our readers: what is JP Goth?

Igor: In a nutshell, it is a launch portal for Japanese Goth.

JGoth.com is essentially an attempt to develop a guide and community to Japan’s underground scene. It aims to highlight bands and events in English, which may be hard to find otherwise.

The site began as a mixture of diary and blog in 2004. But when I started mentioning major Gothic events in Japan, I started receiving emails from really interesting people who were looking for more information on the Goth scene so by early-2005 the site switched to a Japan Goth news and event information center.

The goals for the 2006 version of the site is to move towards a bilingual interface (haha that died!) to encourage people from both sides of the language fence to venture into the scene and hopefully bring people together globally.

Astan: What is your personal role in JGoth and tell us something about your person?

Igor: The site is still a one-person show, so I guess JPGoth.com (old site) and JGoth.com play a role in my life rather than the other way around. Around 90% of the news and event information is coming from me, but a couple of members are taking a more active role with reports and information and keeping the board ticking over. The launch of the bilingual JGoth.com will take this cooperative effort further with a better interface for people to get more actively involved to create more of a community site (Well it was nice on paper!).

About me? Well, I hail from Australia and have been in Japan for around eight years. People have spotted the obvious lack of “Gothishness” in me at events, but I like to think of myself as someone who enjoys alternative scenes rather than belonging to a particular group. My music of choice at home is pretty mellow – 70′/80′s punk/alternative/instrumental, but that is quickly changing to local Goth bands who have a real edge and witchy sound.

Astan: What is typical Japanese Goth Bands?

Igor: The great thing about Goth in Japan is that it is not bound by sound or image limitations. The unifying concept seems to be that they have stepped away from the mainstream to create something that touches the spirit.

The common visuals with elaborate kabuki-style face make up (whether the look is china doll, horror or industrial accident), mixing leather, lace and Victorian dress, seems to be the trade mark of the Goth underground, but the variance is incredible.

Likewise the sounds span a broad spectrum of genres from opera, to Grimm-style story-telling, to harsh rock, retro, elektronicka and beyond. The Goths are united by their diversity, their desire to step beyond the system. This is very different from the Visual Kei, which tends to be more uniform in look and many bands having a distinctive synth-pop sound – of course there is some diversity there as well.

These people are here to release themselves from a society that does not satisfy the needs of their hearts and souls. This would be the base core where the scene launches off. Emotionally powerful.

Astan: Please describe in short words what the J-Goth Scene is and who are the important bands?

Igor: I’ll tell you who buzzes me in the underground scene. I won’t mention the big names (like Mana) nor Visual Kei as 1) You probably know more than me and 2) I’m into the underground scene.

Auto-Mod  EThe Goth father with 25 years of solid Goth/hard rock (Tokyo Dark Castle)
Jubilee – Goth-glam legends from Osaka (Glamtronik).
Agent Murder  EPsycho hard elektronika and more (Adultery),
Despair – Lynch-pin in extreme industrial scene (Junk Children)
Selia/Seirenes – The sweetest voice, classical performances.
Destruct System – lethal rock sounds and incredible stage presence
Zeus Machina – creators of legendary Club Walpurgis in the 80s (relaunched as event in 2005).

Bands that I like are BAAL (industrial rock), Satanyanko (romantic punk sounds), Euthanasie (Gothika sexy elektro industrial), 2Bullet (tactical elektro industrial created by DeeLee from Agent Murder), Gadget (retro hard rock), Aural Vampire and Phantasmagoria.

The scene is full of gems hiding in different nooks, so don’t be afraid to explore and send me info!

Astan: In Germany we know a few things about the so called Visual Kei Scene. We think that VK and Goth have a lot of things in common. Are the J-Goth Scene and the VK Scene departed?

Igor: Their origins are very different with the Goth scene developing in a wholly underground environment and Visual Kei evolving more as an alternate pop for a young market. The looks can be similar with the make-up and costumes, but the origins, substance and direction are widely divergent. From afar they look similar, as the bands that make it outside Japan from the Visual Kei scene usually have more bite than the rank and file. If you spend time in the Visual Kei scene locally you soon see a lot of synth-pop bands and start understanding that they are quite different from the Gothic underground. Bands like Calmando Qual and Blood are great examples of bands who have styles that span both scenes (Calmando Qual even got a set at Tokyo Dark Castle which shows that the band is an exceptional sound).

The Goth scene has a much darker bent than the much of the Visual Kei scene and the imagery would be more consistently in line with Goth scenes overseas. They are generally underground bands so the commercial aspect is played down for the artistic expression.

Astan: The look of Gothic Bands makes a lot of them very special. Which of the J-Goth Bands look the best?

Igor: This depends what you are looking for. Japanese Goths invest heavily in their outfits and accessories. Agent Murder is probably the most glorious with black leather and make-up, looking like something out of the Matrix. Selia, for pure Victorian beauty. Despair for the rioting slave look – Ana is ultra cool in her corsetry and dreads. Baal for it’s look of the haunted industrial ghost style. Minimal make-up but great dress sense goes to Euthanasie. Mushi for looking like a soviet Marylin Manson and one member who looks like he just walked off Clockwork Orange. Pineal for being forest Satyr or devil spirit.

Astan: I know that not to many Japanese people speak English. In which language do the Bands sing and what do they sing about?

Igor: Most Japanese can speak some English, although not so many would be considered fully functional in day-to-day situations. Tokyo and Osaka have many people who can speak English well and a foreigner can usually scoot by without any Japanese in those cities. The language mix in the songs depends on the band – many have some English and some are very eloquent. For some bands almost all the lyrics are Japanese, but quite a few will have considerable amounts of English in songs. Some, like Agent Murder and Gadget will be almost exclusively in English (AM’s 2nd album was actually more Japanese, but all is cool).

The content of the material would not be terribly different from what you get in European Goth bands. Some will be painting a post-apocalyptic landscape (working as a cadaver thief for example), trials within the soul, a vampire preparing to die, sadomasochism, class and society, cultural colonialism, personal loss, discovering hope, Grimm Gothy fairy tales etc., etc.. The mix can take you anywhere depending on the band, the show or the CD.

Astan: How big is the Asian Goth and industrial scene and who or what influences the bands?

Igor: I’m too busy trying to keep up with the Japanese scene! I have seen mentions of Asian Goth or dark-metal bands ex-Japan, but have not had time to investigate them or the scenes. I suspect they would be smaller or with less variety than the Japanese scene. I’d be really interested in seeing what is happening in Korea as it seems to produce some really good stuff in the pop, punk and metal arena. Some places are getting into the cosplay and J-Pop so you would likely see some derivatives of light Visual Kei before you see the darker, more socially challenging artforms of darker Kei and Goth.

Astan: In the European goth scene things like cults, vampires and religion or old Gothic fairy tales and stories influence many of the bands. How is this in Japan?

Igor: European iconography does feature in bands who delve into the vampire/horror/fairy tale genres. You will also find that a lot of local legends/religious figures that are not too unfamiliar to European legends like kitsune (a fox spirit with Loki-like, trickster qualities), vampires or beings with vampiric traits, ghosts, demons, etc. The kabuki-styled face make-up is prevalent, but I do not know how deeply the bands delve into European or Japanese legends.

Some bands are overtly Japanese Gothic Theater (Strawberry Song Orchestra for example), but generally the iconography appears to be layered into the overall picture. Obviously I am still a novice  Eask me again next year!