Hyper Japan Christmas Market 2015 Highlights

Photo by Storm Stewart

Hyper Japan Christmas Market 2015 had so much to offer, so much that a lot of the great acts were lost in the mishmash of updates but one thing was for sure there were great music acts such as; Lacroix Despheres, WING WORKS, TRy 1, Kuli Kala and the newest metal sensation Lady Baby.

Tabacco Dock being famed for having a large venue with endless rooms had a massive room dedicated to the Ai My Maid cafe where the maids and butlers served food and played games with people on the day. Before the cafe had officially opened they were greeted by a large queue of curious people who were new to the concept and left with a better knowledge of novelty cafes and with t shirts from their new range.

Being a visual kei fan it was refreshing to see Lacroix Despheres, preform (interview coming soon). After bumping into them on my way to the food stalls, I was amazed to see the transition from everyday to kitted out rocking their opera on stage.

Lacroix Despheres

One of my favourite random moments was walking into the hot dog eating contest and seeing a few of my friends on stage competing for the crown of sausage King (or Queen). Seeing the top three scores from three rounds being wittled down to three stop spaces which were 3rd 11, 2nd 12 and the winner eating a whooping 14 sausages, what a beat ! This was no other than one of my friends Arcadio (or Arcade as the host called him) and he was chuffed enough to get a free dinner than a prize on top which was a voucher for a free meal for two inn  a swanky restaurant in London. 

Arcadio ensuing sausage annihilation

Since I had consulted Hyper Japan to bring the newborn metal band to the UK as part to their tour, it was natural I went to the Ladybaby Uk Fanclub meet where I met up with fellow fans. There the founding members had made a birthday book for Rei. There was also a fan made banner which we all signed and and drew pictures on. One fan made birthday t-shirts for a limited number of members to wear and show their appreciation to Rei, sadly I missed out on the t-shirt but the fan gave me their single instead - I never have been so humbled by a kind gesture from a complete stranger. Thank you once again ! We also had one of the youngest members who later was lucky enough to go on stage and present Rei with a birthday rose - it was so adorable. Rei started crying from all the gifts the fanclub presented her. I stood proudly at the front with the other members cheering on the group. (More photos here)

Not everything went to plan at Hyper Japan like the fashion show which left poor fashionista Minori without a translator and poor organisation leading to models walking into each other on stage Let's see some of the good moments in this video including Sake Awards, fashion, stalls, performances and food.

Many thanks to Storm Stewart who Filmed and edited this.

To follow my adventures at conventions, and to read my anime/gaming reviews and see general cat photos follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

^_^ Aisha Anime

Ladybaby - cute girls and a beardy wrestler

Another novelty band you may think but actually so were Babymetal but they did pretty well right? I came across this time a Japanese trio called Ladybaby -formed with two young Japanese girls - Rie Kaneko, 17; Rei Kuromiya, 14 who are accompanied by Australian Wrestler, 32, Ladybeard. They are described on their facebook as to "Destroy dancing and singing all of the border , a new sense idle group of Japan souvenir". 

So this Ladybeard is a Cosplayer, pin-up model (witch his own book may I add), established wrestler in Asia, and a heavy metal singer. Oh, and sometimes, a movie reviewer. the irony is as much as th pin up aspect freaks you out (but you cant help but look closer) one of the girls was also a puin up...in her younger years...moving along swiftly.

The bearded idol has been perfecting this look for years now, starting to wrestle in dresses from 2009 and wearing a dress at the age of 14 at a costume party. Since then, he's enjoyed wearing women's clothing to the max and boy does he own the style.

While Ladybeard might seem gimmicky to most like Conchita (Eurovision contest) there's a bit more going on than just a bearded guy in a dress: his vocals aren't too shabby and he manages to incorperate otaku motifs in his performances and style.

It was Ladybeard who formed the band and coined the genre of his music as ‘Kawaiicore’ – death metal covers of J-pop songs. The unlikely pop group's first music video featuring a track called ‘Nippon Manju’ (Japanese Bun), a song covering all the things they love about Japan hit 1million views after being uploaded.

The video shows Ladybeard singing with his band while dressed in a French Maid's outfit or Little Bo Peep, while his two little scantily clad co-singers dance alongside him through the streets of Tokyo, one day I would like to see this in person.

Watch their video here.

For more news on Japanese culture, anime, cosplay, gaming and events follow me on Facebook and Twitter ^_^ Aisha Anime

Ladybeard cosplayed as Chun Li at Comicket 2015  in Japan