Ahhh you guys are the BEST. I won ~50% of the vote for Best Pop Culture Blog at the Canadian Weblog Awards! Thank you to everyone who voted, and for your continued support — I couldn’t do any of this without you.

We Pirates are having a pillagin’ wild time in Tokyo with the Norway TV shoot. We’ll have Halloween Japan coverage coming up for you (if Tropical Storm Chaba doesn’t sink our ship.) You can keep wind of our updates on my Twitter.

Til then, ready for more Osaka Gothic Lolita Punk store photos? We’ll start with the pretty-in-pink Loli brand: Angelic Pretty. Pastel toys and poofy skirts in the window — the boutique looks like a giant doll’s house.

“Sugar, ahh, Honey, honey. You are my candy girl, And you got me wanting you.”

I was charmed by the 1950s-style dresses at Emily Temple Cute and Milk shop.

My friend bought these gold Dr. Martens boots in London.

The Shinsaibashi district of Osaka is filled with little indie shops. Honey Comb has boned corsets and ballerina poof skirts.

Shocker sounded like a promising place to shop…

… but it turned out to be shockingly bad. I hit my head on the birdcage as I went up the stairs. Inside, there was nothing but casualwear and t-shirts. Now that’s a Shocker.

I’ll soon compile all my Osaka shopping photos and maps in a single guide. Til then, you can check out my Tokyo Goth alt rock guide here.

Another month, another edition of my Global Gothic column for Lip Service. A reader asked me: “Do you know if there is a Goth scene in Seoul? Where can I go for alternative fashion and shopping?”

Indeed, there is a small Goth community, mainly in Seoul and Busan. As you can see above, the fashions are quite influenced by Gothic Lolita. For the full scoop on Korean Gothic, come read my Lip Service article.

Has anyone experienced Korea’s Goth and Lolita scene? Out of the Osaka stores in this post, which aligns most closely to your personal style?

Japanese Word of the Day: Jisaboke = Jet lag
Song of the Day: G-Schmitt – LSD (Japanese punk with a twist.)