Tales from Tokyo part 2: Rockin' Erostika

Finding anything in Tokyo is almost impossible unless you know exactly where it is. Well, you will stumble on the obvious things (Shinjuku crossing, Akihabara electronics shops, Kiddyland in Harajuku) but to go deep, you need help. The most interesting places are invariably hidden away in a basement (like Secret Base), or several floors up in an unmarked residential building (like Akasaka Cinematheque), or many train stops off the regular tourist haunts (like Nakano Broadaway). This is where alternative guides like Tokyo Underground and Cruising the Anime City are invaluable, because no matter how many times you visit the city, there will be places you never heard of.

Of all the new shops I visited this time the best one was Erostika, which can be found in a basement in Harajuku, and is the official shop of artist Rockin' Jelly Bean. The mysterious wrestling-masked avenger and part-time musician, with shops in Los Angeles and Tokyo, designs posters and T-shirts that are a delirious blend of rock'n'roll, sex, horror and exploitation - like the best grindhouse movies never made! I was led to the shop by film expert Marc Walkow, who was in town for a festival, but it also appeared in the Tokyo Underground guide. The Erostika operators had not seen the book so they were more than happy to pose with my copy!

I bought 5 signed limited-edition posters, a Sukeban (Japanese girl-gang) T-shirt, and a bunch of stickers. I'll post images of those later, but here are a few interiors...