Harajuku Extreme

If you were to put good-looking girls, hundreds of clothes shops, unique fashion and bad hair-cuts in a magical bucket, stir it around and dump it somewhere between Shibuya and Yoyogi, you'd have Harajuku.

Only a 20 minute walk from where we are, Harajuku on a Sunday represents the relesase that Japanese youths crave through a stressful week at school or uni. For those wild enough to participate, dressing up as a popular fictional character is a common move on the part of crazed fans who deem Sundays a day to get their freak on.

Yesterday, I kitted up to go check it out. At first, I had trouble determining where the heart of the action was. So, as a last resort, I picked out the craziest dressed chick I could find, and followed her for a bit. She had white hair, bizarre make-up and clothes from another planet, but for a while I was confident that she would lead me where I wanted to go. After about 10 minutes of solid recon work, she pulled out into a coffee shop where her similarly dressed girlfriends waited with a cup of Jo. I hung my head in shame. But as I came up for a breath, I looked to my left where I had spotted a conjugation of people. I went to go check it out. This is what I saw.

If any one in Japan had an ego, it was these guys...

After I was all boogied-out, I continued down a pathway leading into a park area. The area was further out from the centre of Harajuku, but it was apparent that it was the show-grounds.

These guys made cleaning cool!

There was also some girls handing out 'Free Hugs', but I wasn't mad about a hug from these girls... I think one was a man...