I am legally obligated not to elaborate upon what's happening in this photo.
今日の言葉は英語だけで御免下さい！
There were more tears than beers flowing last night at Bar Babylon as they closed for the last time. My chums and I made one final stumble down the stairs of Amemura’s Mittera building to pay our repects. A cast of subculture pioneers were on hand to wish well Bonzin and his crew including Lukas Zpira, his wife Satomi, Territory’s Taiki, Desperado’s Hori-Tsuna, and a whole mess of friends and supporters too numerous to name.
It is difficult to describe to the uninitiated the uniqueness that Babylon brought to the Osaka Minami area. They distinguished themselves from among Osaka’s other shot bars in numerous ways – the venue iteself was a veritable panacea for the cultural boredom plaguing America-mura in recent years. Where else could you watch Mexican autopsy videos, body suspension performances, Kubrick films, showa-era ero-guro anime, or body modifications while nursing your absinthe? Babylon was chock full of cultural curiosities and various oddities including a vast library of art books, videos, DVDs, cages of various reptiles, and of course Bonzin’s portfolio of body-modification experiments. (Not to mention the assortment of H.R.Giger dildos, the plastic baby parts in jars, the Ayanami Rei cardboard standup which I endlessly coveted….)
I met Bonzin only a few weeks before he and I both did some body-suspension a few years ago. He introduced me to his space after the event – the black leather couches became a refuge for me when waters were rough and I frequented it on an almost weekly basis. If you met Bonzin before than you know he’s a super affable guy and his smile is always a welcoming site at the end of a hard day (before the start of an even harder night!) I met a lot of friends and clients at his place as it was a staple for tattoo, piercing, and body-mod aficionados, both Japanese and foreign alike.
If it weren’t for his implant studded body tattoos, I might not have recognized Bonzin last night though. In a traditional Japanese gesture, he had ceremoniously sliced off his signature dreadlocks. (Seriously, these things could make the Predator blush!) It was surreal seeing him standing there, still grinning, minus his waist-length mane. Bonzin saw my face and just smiled back and held up a mobile phone. Dangling from the plastic character mascot army was a long thick black rope – almost like a leather whip. “Don’t worry Ben-chan – I made each one into a keitai strap for everyone who came down tonight!” Now that’s a true Japanese mutant!
In 2008 we saw the demise of galleries like Subterraneans, venues like Pipe69, and an almost complete disappearance of graffiti in the Minami area in the last year. It’s too bad Babylon had to be chalked up to one more cultural pioneer lost in the line of duty.
But Bonzin isn’t giving up – he’s moving on to start something new… and we’ll all no doubt hear about it in the coming months. (sorry I can’t tell you about it here!)
Whenever and wherever it happens, I’m sure I’ll see you there!
RIP Babylon – you’ll be missed and never forgotten!
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