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I was in the bookshop in town today, when a magazine caught my eye – on
the cover, written in both English and katakana, was the word “CURE.” I
thought it might be something about the British band, but no; it was in
fact a magazine about Japanese rock, visual and gothic bands. Of course,
since that’s something very close to my heart, I had to buy that too. It
may have been 800 yen (£4.00), but I feel that it’s justified as after I
read the mag, I can cut out the pictures and use them to beautify my
otherwise bare room (the magazine even came with a cool pull-out poster).
The Goth scene in Japan is really fascinating. For one thing, although the
imagery used is very similar to that used in the West, Japanese Goths want
nothing to do with the Western music. Japanese Goth actually evolved
internally, probably starting with the band X-Japan and several other
subsequent “visual” rock bands. Japanese Goths (although none really seem
to have that label as “Goth” in Japan seems to be a far less rigid concept
than in the West) listen to their own music, the styles of which varies
from poppy to very heavy metal. The most important aspect of Goth bands in
Japan isn’t so much the music, it seems, but the way the members dress,
hence the “visual” genre. The only ones I’ve heard so far are X-Japan,
L’arc-en-ciel (an older band, which is really poppy), Dir~en~Grey (heavy
metal) and Malice Mizer (very weird, sometimes pop, sometimes rock
electronic noises), but now I’ve bought this mag, I’ll have to try and
listen to some more!
I also had a look at the more pricey Goth-Loli and Rococo magazines, which
are devoted to the “Lolita” scene. This off-shoot of traditional Goth is
probably unique to Japan; girls wearing Victorian-esque French-maid dolly
dresses, which make them look like a cross between Alice in Wonderland and
a gothic doll. The magazine even had instructions on creating your own
Lolita outfit!
I’m going to be spending EVEN MORE money tomorrow visiting Kumamoto Castle
festival and then Ian’s party…oh dear. I really am going to regret all
these silly purchases when my electricity/water and phone bill come
through. I need a job! But I can’t get one until I’ve been here for three
months, and even then I can only do English teaching, as the university
forbids just about anything else.
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