La Carmina has established herself as an authority when it comes to alternative subcultures and eccentric adventures. She launched her travel and fashion blog La Carmina in 2007, making her one of the pioneers of blogging, particularly in the goth space. Over the course of nearly 20 years, she’s worked on amazing projects and earned many accolades.
Carmina is not only a blogger, but also an award-winning author and journalist. She’s written for major publications, including Travel + Leisure print magazine, The New York Times, National Geographic, CNN, BBC, and Time Magazine, just to name a few. La Carmina blog was named Best Blog of the Year by Auxiliary Magazine, a subculture fashion and lifestyle publication. She also has three books under her belt with her most recent work titled The Little Book of Satanism. In it, she dives into Satanic history and culture. Plus, she’s appeared on a variety of travel TV shows, from Bizarre Foods to Oddities.
When she’s not traveling across the globe, she splits her time between Canada and Japan. She interweaves her Japanese ancestry and heritage into her work and has given audiences an intimate look into the Japanese goth scene. It’s how I discovered her blog a few years ago. I was taken in by how she highlights the flourishing goth community in Japan.
I was elated to interview La Carmina for Vamp Jenn’s Corner. Besides being such an accomplished individual, she creates unique content that exposes audiences to new and under the radar experiences. She goes against the grain and embraces the unconventional. In the following Q&A, we discuss the goth subculture, Satanism, her travels, and more!
Q: A major cornerstone of your blog and content creation is alternative subcultures, and you’ve covered the goth subculture quite a bit. What first drew you to goth and the gothic aesthetic?
A: Even as a child, I was drawn to “the dark side” of life – I loved Halloween, horror movies and was fascinated by all things macabre. I started traveling to Japan during my childhood with my family, as we often went back to Asia during school breaks to visit family. I was especially piqued by the Japanese Goth subculture and aesthetics that I saw in Harajuku in the 1990s, such as frilly Gothic Lolita dresses and Visual Kei glam-metal styling. I started experimenting with Japan Goth fashion in my teen years and attending alt events like concerts, and started my La Carmina Blog soon after to share my adventures with friends in the Tokyo Gothic subculture.
Q: There was a time when there wasn’t a lot of diverse representation in the goth scene. What has been your experience in the goth community as an Asian woman and person of color? Did you ever feel that you were overlooked or treated differently?
A: Since I’ve mainly been part of the Japan Goth scene, I’ve had a different experience: here, the participants are mostly Japanese. I’ve also explored many Goth communities worldwide, and love seeing how locals incorporate elements of their culture – such as dark cheongsam dresses and Buddhist Hell imagery in Hong Kong, or Day of the Dead skulls and Santa Muerte in Mexico. In the West, I’ve mostly attended Goth events in diverse cities (Vancouver, LA, San Francisco, NYC) so there’s been a wide mix of attendees. I’ve found all these subcultures to be welcoming to newcomers as long as you’re genuine (and not simply there to gawk), even if you aren’t able to communicate in the same language.
Q: You published The Little Book of Satanism a few years ago to give insight into this misunderstood religion. How were you initially introduced to Satanism, and what do you appreciate most about it?
A: Japan has a tiny but fascinating Satanic culture, which sparked my interest in the subject and led to my book with Simon and Schuster, which you can find here. Only around 1% of Japan’s population claims Christian affiliation, so residents generally perceive the imagery of the Devil as an ‘edgy’ aesthetic rather than a form of blasphemy. I love the earnestness and passion that Japanese Satanists bring to the religion, adding a unique cultural perspective to the ideas of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. You can read more about my musings on Satanism in Japan here on La Carmina Blog.
Q: You’ve traveled extensively, reporting on so many amazing places. I’m curious to know what your most memorable travel experience has been.
A: Thanks to blogging, I’ve had the opportunity to travel widely for my work in travel journalism, blog and content creation, and TV. I’ve been to well over seventy countries to date, and there’s so much of the globe I’d still love to experience. I’m especially keen to report on lesser-trodden destinations these days, as I’ve been miffed by the overtourism in Japan’s major cities and other current travel hotspots. One of my most memorable moments was exploring Easter Island: I’ve been mesmerized by the moai (stone heads) since I was a kid, and it was a dream to see them in person on what felt like an alien planet.
Q: The blogging world is changing, and I feel it’s important now more than ever to keep our blogs alive. You’ve been blogging for nearly 20 years. How do you feel your blog has enriched your life? What are your hopes for the future of blogging?
A: I started blogging about my love of Gothic subculture and style on a whim, and as it turned out, this changed the trajectory of my life. My La Carmina Blog connected me with inspiring, nonconforming people around the world that I would have otherwise never met. Starting a Goth blog led to opportunities I never dreamed of: writing several books, freelancing for publications like The New York Times, and traveling to over 70 countries. Blogging led to my meaningful work in showcasing misunderstood groups around the world such as drag queens in the Middle East, hijra (third gender) in India, and Buddhist punks in Myanmar. It’s a lottt to keep up with constant content over all these years, but I love what I do and am delighted when readers reach out to say they gained a new perspective from something offbeat that I shared.
Unfortunately, I’m not optimistic about the future of blogging – but that’s tied to The Collapse in general (the irreversible, unavoidable breakdown of modern capitalist civilization due to the omnicrisis of climate change, economic/political instability, and more). Starting around 10 years ago, bloggers have felt the impact of decimating search engine and social media algorithm changes, and now the omnipresence of AI – all of which are factors out of the individual’s control. I recently did a 2016 throwback, and it was disheartening to see how much had changed since that era (I traveled widely that year, and did travel TV shows and blogging projects worldwide).
I’m determined to keep blogging as I want to maintain my corner of the Internet that is completely self-owned and not at the whim of billionaires (unlike social media pages, which are their property). I’m delighted to see blogs like yours kicking it old-school! However, in terms of work opportunities, I think the heyday for bloggers has passed, which is why I’ve had to pivot to traditional writing for magazines and newspapers, and social media creation.
Q: What’s in store for La Carmina? Any teasers you’d like to drop about upcoming projects or anything else you may have going on?
A: I talk a lot about “lying flat” these days, as it doesn’t make sense to exhaust myself with hustle culture in this era of global crises and constant upheaval. Certain formats, such as unscripted travel television, have also gone by the wayside… a lot has changed in the entertainment industries post-Covid. That being said, I do have some potential exciting new opportunities in the works (but we’ll see what pans out. For example, an upcoming Middle East journey had to be indefinitely postponed for obvious reasons).
But for now, I’ll keep up my La Carmina Blog and socials @lacarmina as I still have so many creative, alt Goth subculture stories to share from Japan and around the world. Please feel free to reach out and connect with me there, as I always love to get to know new like-minded “creatures of the night!” And if you dig my style, you can check out my Goth fashion for sale on Poshmark (Canada) and Depop (USA / international). I’d be delighted to send you a package of dark delights!
Vamp Jenn's Corner 
Thanks for the feature, honored and glad to meet you! La Carmina, http://www.lacarmina.com
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You’re very welcome! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to interview you 🙂
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