The Japanese people are homogenous- 99% of the population of this island are racially Japanese. They share one culture, one language, and one history of isolationism. That has led to a culture of conformity, a culture expressed in phrases like- `the nail that stands out gets hammered down`. It has also led to rebellion. That rebellion though is a little weird, and uniquely Japanese.
Cosplay as an exhibitionist hobby originated here, along with ideas such as `otaku cool` (nerd cool), yomamba fashion, and goth-lolita style. Add to that the Heaven Artists, maid cafes, dancing elvises, and oddballs, and you`ve got a nice streak of weird through your 99% majority.
Ikebukuro`s Catman
|
Kimono 2016-ers |
|
|
 |
| Worse than a monkey on the loose in Shibuya station is Catman on the loose with his bag of cats. Catman wanders the station’s underground aisles dropping kittens on various statues wherever he goes. | Every year on the playground of a primary school in Nihombashi hordes of kimono-wearing ladies gather for a kimono festival photo-shoot, bunching up tight and staring up to the sky with a fist raised in the classic ‘ganbarimasu!’ |
Kasai Rinkai Power Kiters
|
Shibuya Walkers |
|
|
 |
| At the edge of Kasai Rinkai park off Tokyo Bay there’s a narrow sliver of sand-bar land perfect for kiting. Stunt kites soar and rip through the air like carbon-fibre assassins. | Hachiko Crossing in Shibuya is the Times Square of Tokyo- big streets intersecting, hordes milling and meeting and crossing, massive LCD screens flanking the sidewalk and up and down the nearby buildings. |
Yoyogi Poodlers |
Ryogoku Sumo |
 |
 |
| Yoyogi Park is the consummate Japanese melting pot- perhaps the most varied and vivid spot in the whole country. On any given weekend you’ll find Cosplayers and Rockabillies near the entrancehttp://www.michaeljohngrist.com. | Sumo is the traditional Japanese sport, beloved of retirees and tourists alike. On any tournament day at the Kokugikan in Ryogoku you can see them lining up for tickets at the single ticket box. |
Barry Eisler (author of John Rain) |
Shimoda Beachites |
|
|
 |
| Barry Eisler is the author of the world-wide bestselling John Rain hit-man series, now 6 books in total, translated into 20 languages, winner of multiple awards and plaudits. | Shimoda has some of the most beautiful and pristine yellow-sand blue-ocean beaches in all of Japan. Commodore Perry certainly picked a choice spot to roll up at in his black ships |
Hiratsuka Beach Skimboarders |
Kugenuma Beach Hole-Diggers |
 |
 |
| Skimboarding is a lesser-known cousin to surfing, though quite different in the approach. Where surfers go from the sea to the beach under the sea’s power, skimmers go from the beach to the sea under their own power. | I’m something of a life-long addict when it comes to digging holes at the beach. I’ve been digging holes since I was a kid alongside my Dad, fending off the sea, arming sea-shell soldiers along a sand-fort battlement, willing the walls to hold and the moat to stay fast. |
Meiji Jingu Newly-Weds |
Showa Kinen Disc Golfers |
 |
 |
| Last month my buddy Canadian Mike had his wedding ceremony. It was held in Meiji Jingu- the huge central shrine in Harajuku right next to Yoyogi Park- and I went along to check it out. Here are some of the highlights. | Hidden away in the massive bulk of Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa lies the best dosc golf course in all of Japan; 18 holes of longish straightaways, doglegs round hills and trees, paths cut through bamboo forests, and leaps over water. |
Namie Amuro, Double |
Shimbashi Ice-Walkers |
 |
|
| In mid 2008 Namie Amuro and Double got together to shoot a music video- Black Diamond, and I was one of the extras on the shoot. I didn’t get to meet them, nor take a photo with them, this is the story of my experience on the shoot. The photo is me with one of the other extras. | Two suited older foreigners, a guy and a woman, were unloading big blocks of ice from white polystyrene crates outside the JR exit, then tying them up with string. I figured it was some kind of art thing. |
Star Wars cosplayers at M. Messe |
Kei the DIY cosplayer |
 |
|
| Makuhari Messe is one heck of a ginormous exposition facility, big enough to accomodate the Millennium Falcon, Jabba the Hutt, numerous Darth Vaders AND Han Solo’s ego all at once. | Kei is a funky if kind of mad old guy I met one night on a random photo-walk through Shinjuku’s skyscraper district (West). I was on the bridge shooting pretty city lights and so was he. |
Anime cosplayers at Big Sight |
Akihabara Maids |
 |
 |
| Once a year Anime fans from all over the world descend on Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba for the huge Tokyo International Anime Fair, filled out with cosplayers garbed as their favourite cartoon characters. | In Akihabara electric town, a district a bit north of Tokyo and jam-packed with a riot of tech-shops selling all manner of computer gear and accessories, the Akihabara maids roam. |
Yoyogi Rockabillies |
Harajuku Cosplayers |
 |
 |
| Sunglasses, pomade, gravity-defying quiffs, leather jackets, black gloves, check. 50’s music, party atmosphere, gyrating hips and waggling bent knees, chicks in preppy floral dresses, crowding camera-toting tourists. | At the meeting point of the painfully fashionable Omotesando street, the city-looping Yamanote train line, and the giant red tori gate at the entrance to the 88 year old Meiji Jingu shrine, you`ll find the Harajuku cosplayers. |
Ojarus – Heaven Artists |
FourLegsMAN – Heaven Artist |
|
|
 |
| Ojarus are a couple of tea-cosy aficionados gone mad- either that or they’ve got some outlandish head-shapes. I caught up with them in Ueno just as they were finishing their bit of Heaven Artistry, and so I really don’t know what they did for their act. | FourLegsMAN is the creation of Heaven Artist Chikurino, a delightful fusion of creepy black-clad stalker, entrancing four-legged mime and hilariously shocking legs akimbo flasher. |
Masahiro Tatematsu – Heaven Artist |
Yukinko Akira – Heaven Artist |
 |
 |
| Masahiro Tatematsu is another heaven artist like Yukinko Akira, regularly putting out a unique and innovative street-entertainment product that had to pass multiple auditions to get through. He is a self-styled bicycle percussionist. | Yukinko Akira is a funky beats-master artist, skinny and frantic and one heck of a showman. He performs regularly at the fountains in Yoyogi Park, his own unique brand of frenetic dance moves, dance beat remixes, and exhilarating yawps. |
MJG`s top 10 Japanese ruins, covering ghost towns, abandoned theme parks, and ruins of the sex industry.
It was nearing high-tide on the Sheckledown Sea when Celibate Jayne finally bashed his way out of the belly of the whale.
The TV show LOST is all about ruins. The island itself is a living museum, a reliquary for cultures throughout the ages.
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| By N2H | ||||||||
on All the Demolished Haikyo
Copyright © 2010 · michael john grist · Designed by New Dirt
Celibate Jayne the Hammerhand
