OSAKA OCCULT TAROT CARD & FORTUNE TELLING PARLOR, BLEEDING MARIA. RETRO 1980S TOY SHOP IN AMERIKAMURA, SHINSAIBASHI JAPAN.
Do you remember our adventure at the ridiculous Ridiculous clothing boutique in Osaka? It’s not the only wonky place in the building. As we were leaving, we found a door marked with pentagrams. The signs read “Bleeding Maria” and “Protected by Witchcraft.”
Gingerly, we pulled back the beaded curtains — and stepped into a witch’s parlor or haunted apothecary. Shelves cluttered with scary dolls and animal skulls. Potent potions, gems, and spells for sale.
This Goth Punk lady is the proprietor. She offered to give us a tarot card reading or tell our fortune. We were weirded out not by the macabre atmosphere or her styling… but because she spoke perfect English. What’s going on in this ridiculous shop?
She welcomed us to take photos. Virgin Mary statues, scattered rose petals, arachnophobia.
Next to voodoo dolls, a cute bunny and a Nightmare Before Christmas pillow, several of her friends were eating junk food and drinking Coca-Cola. We tentatively said hi and high-tailed it out of there. I think the Bleeding Maria occult shop should be renamed… Ridiculous!
And that’s not all. On yet another floor, we found a rainbow toy shop packed to the brim with 1980s toys such as My Little Ponies and Troll dolls… If you want to check out this ridiculous cluster of shops in Amerikamura (Shinsabashi), the building address and directions are in this post.
PS: Thanks to Jenna for the colorful interview in My Life As A Magazine. I’ve fallen behind on Gothloli of the Week… if you’d like to be featured on this site, please read the submission details here.
PPS: Anyone remember this cartoon theme song? “Sometimes, some crimes, go slipping through the cracks but these two, gumshoes, are picking up the slack there’s no CASE too big no CASE too small, if you need help just call: Ch-ch-ch-Chip ‘N Dale! Rescue Rangers!” I watched Rescue Rangers and Garfield and Friends obsessively in the late 1980s. That’s probably the reason I have an Adventure Team and funny fat cat today.
PPPS: Got any Steampunk literature recommendations? Joe R. Lansdale’s steampunk pulp short, “The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down,” is the most tilt-a-whirl tale I’ve read in ages. Dark humor, spike torture, spaghetti western heroes, time traveling vampires and a giant steam man. Very well written and action-packed. It’s in the Steampunk anthology of short stories.
Japanese Word of the Day: Gaikotsu = Skeleton
Song of the Day: Abney Park – Dear Ophelia (Now it’s time to dress up a la Steampunk!)
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