CRAZY, WACKY THEME RESTAURANTS: Tokyo!
written and photographed by La Carmina
Mark Batty Publisher - to be released July 2009
>> Click to PREORDER on AMAZON.COM!
Hello, may I take your order... and handcuff you to your cell? Theme restaurants are big in Japan, and no experience is complete without monster attacks, sneaky ninja waiters, or French maids that fall to their knees and offer to clean your ears.
La Carmina takes you on a tour of Tokyo's most outrageous dining establishments, with jaw-dropping photos of the costumes and interiors. Her adventures include a haunted jail, Dracula's lair, Wonderland, Little Hong Kong, and cafes where women are served by waiters dressed as schoolboys. Her advice: stay away from the "God-made-humberger" at the Jesus-themed cafe...
The full-color hardcover will be in bookstores October 2009. Click to preorder it now!
La Carmina, mistress of the hugely popular Gothic Lolita website, has traveled all over Tokyo to document insanely themed eateries. Traditional dishes like sushi, rice balls and curry get tricked out thanks to theme restaurants inspired by everything from religions to animals. Waitresses dressed as maids slap you when you lose a food version of Russian roulette that concludes with a mouthful of wasabi; a drunken Buddhist monk imparts wisdom; boy-toys dote on female customers; ninjas deliver menus and throw food. With stories as quirky and singular as the restaurants she visits, illustrated with photographs of the food, menus, interiors and waiters, Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo reveals an astonishing and utterly fascinating niche of dining in one of the world’s most vibrant cities.
I’m so proud of this book, and ecstatic that my friends were able to take part in it. For the Vampire Cafe chapter, Count de Sang bared his fangs in front of a shattered mirror.
This is a La Carmina book, through and throughout. For our field trip to the Alice in Wonderland cafe,Yukiro Dravarious transformed into the Cheshire Cat. Each chapter has a lively writeup about our adventures.
The Wizard of the Opera theme restaurant was fun to shoot (you can see more of it in this video).
Dying to see more cute maids, schoolboys, ninjas, monsters, and bartenders in frog suits? Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants comes out this JULY… but you can pre-order it from Amazon right now. Thanks for your support, darkings – I promise to keep sharing my love of J-pop madness with you!
MORE INFORMATION
+ BLOG: La Carmina's writings on wild Tokyo theme cafes
+ VIDEO: Peek inside the Wizard of the Opera theme restaurant.
+ PREORDER NOW on AMAZON.COM!