Safe As Kittens: May 2015

At the time I was writing my BJD post a while back I was watching the anime series 'Another'. The series features a creepy doll shop where one of the characters lives. The doll shop popped into my head again a few days ago and I wondered if there were any real ones like the one in Another.

I started by Googling doll shops in Tokyo but not surprisingly, they're far from creepy:

The Asakusabashi area of Tokyo is the place to go if you're looking for traditional Japanese dolls but these shops are mostly modern-styled:

(Japan Visitor Blog)

(Asakusabashi Walking Guide)

Not a doll shop, but worth a look is the Hakata Folk Museum featured on the twilightzone518.blogspot:

I'm sure that if a shop like the one in Another actually existed someone would have photographed it and posted it online. However, creepy doll shops do exist but they're not in Japan; they're in Italy. I've found two, one in Rome and the other in Naples:

Rome:
l’Ospedale delle Bambole
http://www.raoul-kieffer.net/Ospedale-delle-Bambole

Check this excellent website for more photos:

http://www.raoul-kieffer.net/Ospedale-delle-Bambole

Naples:
l’Ospedale delle Bambole
www.ospedaledellebambole.it

While I was searching for material I came across a few other noteworthy (if not that creepy) shops from around the world:

Storefront of an old doll shop, Galerie Véro Dodat, Paris:

Doll shop in Sapa, Vietnam:

Little Faces Doll Shop Gadsden, Alabama (closing in June this year):

In a similar vein you can find info on haunted dolls at this site:

http://ghostsnghouls.com/tag/haunted-doll-store/

Well. I didn't find the shop from Another but I did find plenty of weird stuff. Have you ever visited a real-life creepy doll shop or know where one exists? If you have, please leave a comment below!

Catch you later!