Halloween in Hiroshima

This weekend numerous Halloween celebrations were afoot in Hiroshima: a dress-up party at Chinatown, a few house parties and the like. I opted for a psytrance evening in the heart of Hachobori. I wore my new gothy pants* especially for the occassion, with my mesh shirt, a black-and-white striped Chinese top and black-and-white striped stockings (to maximise the violet lighting).

The venue was heaving with local trancers and I was pleased to note that I was the only foreigner there (thus no drunk marines). Many of the punters were dressed in feral grungy woollens (woolly hats, rainbow shawls which looked splendidly crazy-coloured and urchin-like under UV) and a few boys danced topless with their pretty, pixie girlfriends. A female DJ had a towering afro beehive that reminded me - alack - of that early 90s band, M People,** but the DJ suited it very well with her mismatched clothing (chequered skirt with fluro orange sneakers). I danced along happily under violet lights while the punters around me went into what appeared to be magic-mushroom-wasabi-induced hysteria. The place was decorated with fluroescent orange pumpkins and little bats and lots of pink mushrooms (they have a thing for cute mushroom imagery in Japan, esp those little redcap toadstools with the white spots from fairytales, or the "Smurfs").

Will definitely revisit this club in my campaign to befriend a local or two.

After twirling on the dance floor for most of the night, I biked off to Churi`s Falafel House (yes, it`s most fun to whizz around town on a little red bike at an ungodly hour) and I indulged in a veggie pocket pita amid a riot of locals and Belgian backpackers. Maid Maz and Sir Keith have agreed that the falafels at Churis are to die for. Ooishi des!

Then I finished my night at Mac Bar with a final drink, where some fellow scholars and gaijin locals were having their last Halloween beer. Outside the toilets I was accosted by a sheep (a New Zealander called John) and terrorised by Jason in his notorious hockey mask with a bourbon and coke (my fellow scholar, another amusing New Zealander). Then off I went on my little red bike past an old man walking his labrador along the quiet Kyobashi river. Everything was stained grey with the dawn and the birds twittered with irritation as I rattled home over the pebbled path.

*cute and comfy three-quarter length pants, with an emblem of angel wings on one leg, a couple of straps hanging from the waist in a cyberish manner, and a pleated skirtish-panel chained to the back of said pants. This is my first goth shop purchase here and twas it expensive!
** Who for some absurd reason won Best New Album or Band or some such over Blur at the Brit Awards which caused much outrage and general rioting.