I couldn't visit Tokyo without checking out Harajuku and the Harajuku girls. They're pretty daring chicks who get totally decked out and hang out on a bridge on Sundays, waiting to be photographed. These girls are workin' it and they know it, and now they're actually trying to get people to PAY THEM if they want to snap photos. I wasn't really about to give in to this pseudo prostitution of street style snaps, so all I got was this:
You should google these ladies.
It's unfortunate that I have no pics for you because the Harajuku girls were wearing some really fabulous get-ups. Common themes are goth, dolly girls, deconstruction... Seeing them in person was cool, and it brought to mind some designers who use(d) these girls as inspiration. L.A.M.B., Anna Sui, Betsey Johnson, Vivienne Westwood, and even Galliano sometimes have a little Harajuku thing going on. Pretty cool.
I also noticed a lot of girls in... denim underwear?! Okay, I guess that they were denim shorts just cut at a high bias, therefore covering no part of the leg. These were then paired with knee socks and stripper heels. They were literally, like, 13-year old looking girls wearing these outfits, and I'm was just like, "Whaaaaaa?!". And then I found out that the Japanese consider the back of the neck to be sexy/erotic/whatevs, but not the legs. In fact, they only have one word for the entire lower half of the body and therefore don't even refer to legs individually. Anyway, I found that really interesting.
Okay, so some more shots of the Harajuku area:
The night before, my friend Sophie and I hit the Tokyo streets. We started off at a convenient store, which is apparently the popular thing to do. You can buy canned cocktails. And yes, I did, and yes, they were actually pretty good. Then we headed to a cool club called La Fabrique. They played video clips that synchronized to the techno beats. I dug it.
And they had this light thing installed that sort of gave the illusion of a camera flashing, so it made you feel all famous and glam. Then there were also plenty of people taking party pics and fashion pics. You guys should check out the site TokyoDandy.com for Tokyo party pics, music, fashion, etc.
And hey, look, after searching high and low I found a cherry blossom tree! Unfortunately I found it at nite.
And then I found this hotel that I liked, I don't know why.
Okay, hope you like! I'm gonna go for a walk in Hong Kong. I still haven't really taken any pics here. I'm in a lazy mood.
