Do fairies exist? In Tokyo, they do – at a theme restaurant called Valley of the Fairies (which you’ll see in my upcoming book) and in two of the cutest clothing shops you’ll ever visit.

Follow the trail of fairy dust and you’ll end up at 6% Doki Doki in Harajuku. In the mid-90s, two young avantgarde types (Sebastian Masudea and Emiko Saito) opened the store – the name is onomatopoeia for the sound of a beating heart – “to add a little bit extra excitement to people’s lives.” 6% Doki Doki’s Decora-cute meets “funny bad taste that old ladies sometimes have” led to success and then disillusionment. Saito moved to San Francisco to become a massage therapist, while Sebastian re-styled the store into the Fairy-kei headquarters that it is today. (Quotes from Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno, p 136-8.)

The teal-haired fairy in the previous post is Tavuchi Sayuri, leader of the Spank! Girls. She opened her first secondhand store (Spank!) in Koenji in 2004, followed by Spank Me! in Shibuya and Chelsea in Nagoya (which will reopen soon in another location). The clothes are a mash-up of Cyndi Lauper, My Little Pony, and Michelle from Full House; as Tavuchi puts it, “A girl with the pink heart is unrivaled!” And the Spank! Girls throw raucous 80s-pop-disco parties, as you can see in the video below.

Spank! and 6% Doki Doki are some of my favorite Tokyo shopping destinations because the staff live and breathe Fairy-kei; their passion and indie mentality are palpable. You can flit over more store photos on Style Arena (here and here).

Song of the Day #55: Spank has a killer YouTube channel; below is a glimpse at the stores and parties.