Yock

I thought I'd try something different today and start bringing things other than fashion into my blog. So we're having a look at some Japanese artists! I love guro, manga and art, and Yock was an artist who was introduced to me recently by a friend of mine.

Yock (Yoshitaka Kawakami) has produced some amazing CG pieces of disturbing school girls. I see these floating around tumblr every so often, and his skill always amazes me. Currently his website has been removed...I'm not sure what happened there and if anyone else has info it would be appreciated!

Japan 2012 #3

This is just going to be a small spam of places I plan to stop off at while I'm in Tokyo. Either by myself or not, I don't really mind! I realize some of these are really geeky, some just a little bit weird, but I've always wanted to go and this time I'm determined to do so!


Number one!
@Homecafe


We all know about maid cafe! @homecafe is the largest in Akihabara, sporting several locations of varied type, they are also foreigner friendly, some of their locations hosting english speaking maids! Worry not about being refused entry for not being Japanese at any of their cafes.


Number two!
Taito Akihabara


Out of all the arcades I went to on previous visits to Japan, I found the Taito ones to be the most entertaining, namely because I'm easily amused by simple games and they have some good UFO machines!


Number Three!
The Trump Room

How cool is this for nightlife? Trump room is one of Tokyo's more interesting bars/venues, they do a lot of strange nights, but I've been told its an experience just for the decor of the place! I know it definitely looks like somewhere I would LOVE to go!


Number Four!
Ice cream city in Sunshine city (Ikebukuro)


Located in the infamous Namja town, Ice cream city promises some of the most bizarre and disgusting ice cream flavours you could ever imagine. E.g. 'snake' icecream, 'octopus' icecream and 'salad' ice cream. I promise to video my adventure here, feel free to nominate the grossest one you can think of and I'll try it with video evidence.


Number five!
Himuro Mansion


Anyone into ghost stories?
I'm a lover of horror and morbid tales, so the Himuro mansion tale has always been one of my favourite. No one knows it's exact location though, but it's still somewhere I would loooove to visit.
"According to urban legend, lying just beyond the city of Tokyo is one of the most haunted locations in all of Japan. The mansion is said to have been home to one of the most gruesome murders in modern Japanese history. Local lore has it that for generations, the Himuro family had participated in a strange, twisted Shinto ritual known as “The Strangling Ritual” in order to seal off bad karma from within the Earth, every half century or so. Many weird happenings have been reported in and near the old mansion; including apparitions of those who once lived there, bloody handprints and sprays of blood, which mysteriously appear on the walls.Sometimes, a small girl in a kimono is seen in one of the windows. To add to the mansion’s mystery, no one knows the significance of the vast tunnels the run underneath."

That's all for now on the places to visit post, but I'll come up with some more for you guys in another!

Japan 2012 #2

So this is going to be my second post about heading to Japan in the summer, more things are set in stone now so I thought I would share.



This trip is going to be a lot more interesting than my last, simply for the fact that I'm going to be getting chance to travel and experience some of the summer festivals in the north of the country. The time I managed to get off work actually falls on a really good time period, even though it's earlier than I first planned to travel, but the first week of August is festival season in Aomori! For those who don't know, Aomori prefecture is the very north before you cross to Hokkaido. At this time of year they have a lot of snow, but in the summer it's still as warm as ever. (Thankfully not as hot as Tokyo, but only by a few degrees!)


As you can see it's a distance from Tokyo. I'll be taking the bullet train the day that I land in Japan. First I'll have to travel from Narita into Tokyo itself and get the train from the central or Ueno station. It's a trip right to the end of the Tohoku line to Aomori city itself and then a regular train out to where I will be staying. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep on both the plane and the bullet train, if not I'll be super jetlagged when I arrive!

After then I'll be staying north until the friday, then back to Tokyo for 10 days until I fly home.

Once in Tokyo I'd like to see a band or two, shopping obviously, and then a few things like Namja town and Sunshine city, The Lockup ect ect. Recommend me your favourite places to go and I'll be sure to check them out !


For those who wanted to find out more about the bullet train here's some information pages which I found useful. I've used the bullet train before to travel south to Hiroshima and Osaka, but not everyone knows how to use it! I can recommend getting a 'JRP - Japan Rail Pass' if you plan to take any kind of long journey by train, it can make things a LOT cheaper.

Shinkansen Guide

Official JR Site (timetables ect ect, all in english)

JRP information and purchase (UK)

Suica card (Like the London Oyster)