Hanami 2009: Yoyogi Park..

Yoyogi is always one of my favorite places to hit for hanami, and this year's (first) Saturday session was just as fun as ever. While many were killing time waiting for the Parklife party to get going, the bulk of the people that filled the more flowery parts of the park enjoyed their afternoon drinking to excess and letting it all hang out..

Dancing bloke: busted by the park patrol..

Dancing bloke was having a fantastic time at the park last weekend, grooving away to his favorite 80's hits and entertaining the masses as they walked through the gates, that was until the park patrol came and put an end to the fun. Seems sadly that the park-wide ban on entertainment is still in full force. It will be interesting to see what will happen this weekend as hanami parties get into full swing..

The Amazing Kippon..

It's not unusual to go to the park and be entertained or amused, but to be completely blown away like I was last weekend is something of a rarity. Kippon plays Beatle songs on acoustic and electric guitars, and way he runs and jumps and gets the audience clapping along with him is nothing short of incredible. Oh yeah, did I mention he's only five years old!

If you are lucky enough to catch a Kippon performance, you would do well to make sure that you: sing the right words (he'll stop and correct you); don't speak while he's singing (he'll stop and tell you to listen); and try not to request something he's already played (he'll know you weren't listening, and let you know he knows)..

Unbelievable..

Shonen Knife live @ Super Deluxe..

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the sublime cuteness that is Shonen Knife opened for The Wedding Present last Saturday night. While I'd known about this band for many years I'd never actually seen them, so to have been able to get up this close and personal was pretty darn cool. While the set consisted mainly of super-safe punk-pop tunes, and the lyrics seemed to be all about sweets (or other eating related experiences, one song was about food poisoning) the girls played super-tight, and their harmonies were glorious..

People of the night.. 04

Rainbow-haired tout dude is a regular fixture of the Shibuya night, most often seen as we wind our way past Wendy's while on our way out. His job is to talk passersby into eating at the Izakaya he works for, and gets a percentage of their total bill as his wage. He once told me that he can make up to 1,000,000 yen a month just by helping people choose where they eat, I was thinking to earn that kind of scratch he'd wanna be pretty convincing..

St Patrick's Day Parade '09..

The parade is always a bunch of fun, and this year was certainly no exception. I really only managed to catch the tail end of it because there was so much happening in the park, but by the time I arrived the merriment was in full swing. The annual 'party on the street' usually lasts a bit over an hour, and then moves on to the various English themed pubs around the place. It's always been a little surreal to me, seeing so many Japanese people dressed in green and getting involved in a celebration of the famous St. Pat, but just goes to show that this town certainly knows how to put on a good party..

The Wedding Present live @ Super Deluxe

Indi-rock icons The Wedding Present rocked the hell out of Super Deluxe last night, it was the final show for the Japan leg of their tour, and it was a real treat to see them in such an intimate setting. I must admit to not having listened to them much before yesterday, but it only took me half a song to become a convert. Shonen Knife opened, pictures of them to come..

AU promotion at 109..

There's almost always something going on in front of the 109 building in Shibuya, and last weekend it was some kind of promotion for one of the big three mobile phone companies, AU. I couldn't tell you what they were promoting, as more interesting to me were the crowds of guys with their digital cameras hanging on every word that the head promotion girl was saying. I'm not sure they were there to find out about the new phone either, but it did remind me that idol worship is alive and well here in Japan..

The aliens have landed..

It's not at all uncommon to be strolling down centregai and run into some completely bizarre people, but sometimes you just have to wonder. This one is admittedly from the vaults, evidence being in the panda faces in the back, and those 'oh so' short shorts of summers past..

Trains going by..

Shinjuku station on Saturday night, there's a long train a comin..









And the rock version..