A place to reflect, ramble, and rofl at adventures from my study abroad in Nihon...
Honestly, there could be shenanigans.

13.5.10

Intermezzo: Omote-sandou (From Harajuku Sta. to Shibuya)

Harajuku Sta.
 
Intriguing smoke design
 
Surreptitious fashion-watching
 
A Japanese gas station

Harajuku Lover

 The path out of Meiji Jinguu pretty much opens out right next to the bridge to Harajuku Station, where a lot of the youngsters who dress up like to hang out. This was pretty much the highlight of my day: I've wanted to visit Harajuku ever since I'd heard about it and collected photos of strangely dressed teenagers and college students. Going to stick with the term "strangely dressed", because there's no one particular style they all wear. Some are , some are Lolita, and some are Goth-Loli; others are apart of the cosplay crowd (which is considered a type of performance art, by the way); there's visual kei and decora; and then there's styles that I'm not sure have a name or categorization. Needless to say, it's a fashion hot-spot, albeit a strange one.
Deco, probably. Maybe cosplay?
A Loli specimen (actually two, there's one sitting on the ground to her left as well), easily identified by their poisonously pastel frills, their natural defense mechanism. She's pretty cute though.
 
I...I don't know. I really don't.
It's very important to take pictures. Otherwise, how can you prove anything?
Goth or visual kei, maybe a bit of both


And then there were the "Free Hugs" kids lined up on the other side of the bridge, a trend that has also carried over into anime conventions in the U.S. Although the couple of Free Hug girls I remember seeing at Animazement seemed to be keeping count and competing.


Guillaume hugged them all, right down the line.