Maid in Japan..

Strolling through Yoyogi park on Sunday afternoon, and admiring kanzakura trees (thanks Neil) I spied a young lass decked out in full maid gear, stepping on someone's head! After a little further observation I surmised that it was probably some kind of satsuekai, where a group of young enthusiastic photographers get their click on with a young model. It wasn't all head stepping though for this young maiden, as the small group soon took up residence in front of the early blooming trees for a bit more straight up clickery..

Come out and (cos)play!

The cold Tokyo winter afternoons are no deterrent for these guys, then again the humid summer ones aren't either. One thing I can never understand though, is the way some of cosplayers hide in the darker corners of the famous Harajuku bridge and shy away from the cameras. Okay, so they're probably in need of some downtime but jeez.. they put loads of money and time into dressing up like all manner of monsters and freaks, then go out into a crowded public place in one of the most populated cities in the world just to get all coy when a lense is pointed at them?

Still, there are enough extroverts happy enough to strike a pose to make this place easily one of the more interesting spots to visit on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Tokyo..

Gotham city..

Okay, so this aspect of Tokyo is pretty played out I know, but the Goths of Harajuku always make for an interesting photo or two. Gotham city (Bat girl) here in particular has post-worthy written all over her, the others, maybe not so much..

Cosplay Hotels

Cosplay is well documented as being a Japanese institution, it permeates into the decor of society so naturally that you eventually start to not even notice it. At the more famous end of the scale of course is the manga or gothic orientated style, which is usually well represented in places like Harajuku or Akihabara, but it goes further than that. Certain love hotels offer cosplay rental as a way to spice up the experience, of course the schoolgirl uniform is used as the advertising default, closely followed by the nurse, race queen and maid outfits, and I'm pretty sure it gets a lot spicier than that..