Bagelheads Transcript

Author: Vahid Zamani

00:00

Tokio - the world's most populous metropolis and the toughest place to be unique.

The pioneers in body modification live in this City. The Bagelhead is the latest trend.

00:14

Photographer and journalist Keroppy Maeda heads to a photo shooting - he's in the scene for decades.

00:23

In a piercing studio his friend Asami is awaiting him impatiently.

00:37

Immediately Asami starts the preparation for today's special treatment.

00:44

In using his Friends as examples, Keroppy now shows us the extreme side of japanese body modification. Thong splitting, cuttings, brandings, implants, and even nipple removals became common.

To stand out, you have to come up with something new, like Elfears

01:01

Keroppy Maeda:

"This ear pointing take off a bit, and sewing and we can make a pointing. We have an example. Show me. His ear, they make a pointing."

01:17

On partys, they decorate their skin with needles. A beautiful pain in their opinion.

01:37

Silicon implants look massive but they are flexible and surely find everyone's attention.

01:50

To get them, people accept pain and scars.

02:03

Another special gimmick - magnet implants

02:12

Next Keroppy shows us metal implants in the head, they are preserved for the hard boiled. The procedure is a bloody mess.

02:44

Keroppy Maeda:

"Of course I cooperate with the piercer Asami"

02:48

hooking is an often shown fetish on their events.

02:56

Lust and pain are very close.

03:03

But it can get even more extreme.

03:08

Keroppy Maeda:

"And one stage she is sewing the girls face and on stage like this but indeed the more real sewing like this. And you know now, that Tokyo is the most extreme city I think in the World."

03:25

Now Keroppy reveals tonights plan to his friends - The bagelhead. And they can't await

03:35

To make a bagelhead Asami applies a saline infusion into the forehead.

03:54

Keroppy Maeda:

"Of course the forehead, still we start pump up. And of course the both, the sides of the face. That making bagelhead we need maybe one and a half and two hours pump up for the face. He will be perfect freaks."

04:15

The girl will pump up parts of her right arm. But why is she doing this to her body, what's her plan for the night?

04:24

Midori:

"Party. I'm going to party tonight."

04:29

Keroppy Maeda:

"Party is very good for this kind of thing because, you know, the audience more enjoy to see the, you know, more transformation. The human to freaks."

04:33

The parties Keroppy is talking about are really freaky - even for Tokyo, but they find an increasing audience.

05:02

Beside the drag queen show a Bagelhead stage is placed.

Being freaky and sexy, that's what these shows are about.

05:39

Back in Asamis studio things are getting difficult.

05:43

Keroppy Maeda:

"We worry about he can not open the eyes. Not good for...little bit now we arrangement. A bit slow down"

05:55

Aki:

"Although it's not painful, I feel the liquid coming to the cheek bones under the eyes.

I feel nothing in the forehead, nothing special"

06:06

But how much saline solution can a human forehead handle?

06:10

Keroppy Maeda:

"We don't know. We don't know exactly how much. Maybe about 500 milliliters, that maybe maximum."

06:20

The procedure comes to it's end. Now it's time to see the results.

06:48

To get the final bagelhead, Asami has to press his thumb hard into the saline bubble.

And there it is, the bagelhead . The models are ready for the shoot.

07:05

After Keroppys female model got undressed, her experience with body modification gets really obvious.

07:15

Midori:

"This silicone, silicone implants, cutting, cutting ink rubbing, all tatoo..."

07:32

Keroppy Maeda:

"After that, don't worry about it. Maybe that one night freaks, within twelve hours body absorbs all saline solution. People can go back normal"

07:50

Now the other friends get to see the result. Not many Japanese would do such extreme things.

07:57

Friend:

"I'll never do that!"

08:02

Bagelheads are amusing, disgusting and fascinating. He can't resist touching this soft, warm and pretty strange thing.

08:17

Back in his office, Keroppy is checking the results and explains his purpose with body modification.

08:24

Keroppy Maeda:

"Maby in the future we can put in something, electric device or something more high technologie stuff we can put in the forehead. Maybe I believe in the future, the first cyborg man maybe from Japan. That is my future plan."