though very impressive, the cherry blossoms weren't the only thing we saw in Tokyo, nor yet the most visually stunning. For that we had to go to Harajuku. just outside the large and famous Meiji Jingu (Shrine) in this Westside neighborhood is a fairly small pedestrian area that becomes clogged on the weekends with tourists watching the now-famous Harajuku Girls.
Jill with a vanguard member of the Harajuku welcoming committee, who seemed to be doing quite well on his quest for emotional growth. our friend below, on the other hand, had engaged in some serious mission creep and was reaping the lonely consequences...
thought to be girls who don't fit in and are bullied at school, the Harajuku Girls come from all over, leaving their parents each weekend to come and escape into a very public double life. they bring their costumes with them and change back into regular clothes before returning home, so nobody but the thousands of anonymous tourists who show up every Saturday and Sunday would ever know about their hobby. as you can see, there are several different styles, and some of the girls would be hard to recognize even if you did know them:
some of our favorite Harajuku Girls, including the one in full bondage gear at the top left and the strange facial contraption at top right. they pretty much stand around and pose for tourists all day.
a few of the girls are not really so friendly looking, but they all turned out to be very amenable to having their picture taken. that's pretty much all there is for them to do, other than chatting amongst themselves, because the area is literally crawling with camera-toting foreigners--it can be hard to even move around the areas where some of the more exotically dressed girls have stationed themselves.
probably the most impressive total outfit we saw, who didn't look too friendly until Jill plucked up the courage to ask for a picture. i'm not sure, but i think the costume is at least manga (Japanese graphic novel, comic or cartoon) inspired, if not lifted wholesale from a character.
there were also several professional photographers who were dedicated to taking cutesy pictures of the girls which were printed right away and placed into albums many of them had; i guess some of them come in different costumes and want to keep a record. or maybe they're hiring these guys to make a portfolio of themselves for work purposes, though i doubt it--there is just something of a national obsession with cuteness and getting dressed up in costume. remember Little World?
watching the watchers: above, an HG-free view of some of the many folks who came to see the the more worldly side of the Meiji Shrine, and below, these watchers went in front of the lens for some proof we were really there.
it's not hard to see why tourists flock here. the Harajuku Girls provide a spectacle that's hard to find anywhere else--at least in one place. Japan is known, and rightly so, for having some pretty wild fashions, but coming to Meiji-Jingumae is like finding a microcosm of Japan in many ways: a lot of alienated people trying to escape from their reality and portray themselves as that which they are not.
Jill with a vanguard member of the Harajuku welcoming committee, who seemed to be doing quite well on his quest for emotional growth. our friend below, on the other hand, had engaged in some serious mission creep and was reaping the lonely consequences...
thought to be girls who don't fit in and are bullied at school, the Harajuku Girls come from all over, leaving their parents each weekend to come and escape into a very public double life. they bring their costumes with them and change back into regular clothes before returning home, so nobody but the thousands of anonymous tourists who show up every Saturday and Sunday would ever know about their hobby. as you can see, there are several different styles, and some of the girls would be hard to recognize even if you did know them:
some of our favorite Harajuku Girls, including the one in full bondage gear at the top left and the strange facial contraption at top right. they pretty much stand around and pose for tourists all day.
a few of the girls are not really so friendly looking, but they all turned out to be very amenable to having their picture taken. that's pretty much all there is for them to do, other than chatting amongst themselves, because the area is literally crawling with camera-toting foreigners--it can be hard to even move around the areas where some of the more exotically dressed girls have stationed themselves.
probably the most impressive total outfit we saw, who didn't look too friendly until Jill plucked up the courage to ask for a picture. i'm not sure, but i think the costume is at least manga (Japanese graphic novel, comic or cartoon) inspired, if not lifted wholesale from a character.
there were also several professional photographers who were dedicated to taking cutesy pictures of the girls which were printed right away and placed into albums many of them had; i guess some of them come in different costumes and want to keep a record. or maybe they're hiring these guys to make a portfolio of themselves for work purposes, though i doubt it--there is just something of a national obsession with cuteness and getting dressed up in costume. remember Little World?
watching the watchers: above, an HG-free view of some of the many folks who came to see the the more worldly side of the Meiji Shrine, and below, these watchers went in front of the lens for some proof we were really there.
it's not hard to see why tourists flock here. the Harajuku Girls provide a spectacle that's hard to find anywhere else--at least in one place. Japan is known, and rightly so, for having some pretty wild fashions, but coming to Meiji-Jingumae is like finding a microcosm of Japan in many ways: a lot of alienated people trying to escape from their reality and portray themselves as that which they are not.
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