Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Shine Harajuku

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Shine, originally uploaded by Giant Ginkgo.

Shine Harajuku

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

Harajuku Girls - Doll

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Harajuku Girls - Doll, originally uploaded by animefx.

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Harajuku cosplay 1

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Harajuku cosplay 1, originally uploaded by jeremiah.

a really nice picture, all the colors seem to match, the hair, the shirt, the jacket ... oh that reminds me of something .. have you ever seen male harajuku cosplayers ? sometimes its difficult to point out whether they're male or female

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Hello Kitty Cosplay Girl harajuku tokyo

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This photo was taken outside Harajuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. This was a sunny saturday afternoon while the cosplay gang was out and about. This girl's hello kitty outfit was amazing.

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What have you done with your eye?

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Harajuku Girl With Eye Makeup

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harajuku sweetie

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harajuku sweetie, originally uploaded by skootie.

Harajuku, Tokyo- Japan

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Harajuku Girls Tokyo Singing Group

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Harajuku is a place in Tokyo where, on Sundays, Japanese youth will gather to strut their stuff wearing all sorts of odd clothing combinations. Additionally, there are sometimes informal music performances, and these girls pictured above were part of a singing group (that in truth wasn't very good).

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Golden Hair Harajuku Girls

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Harajuku Moments, originally uploaded by beatdrifter.

Japanese subculture in Harajuku

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For general fashion and subculture in Harajuku, Japan

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メイド, originally uploaded by don.lee.

"Harajuku Girls" is also the title of 7th track of Gwen Stefani's 2004 album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
"Harajuku girl" redirects here. For general fashion and subculture in Harajuku, Japan, see Harajuku.
The Harajuku Girls performing on the Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005
The Harajuku Girls performing on the Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005

The Harajuku Girls are four young women who were hired in 2004 as backup dancers for American singer Gwen Stefani's Love. Angel. Music. Baby. album. The "Harajuku Girls" have continued to appear alongside Stefani, and are featured in the music videos for "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", "Hollaback Girl", "Luxurious", "Crash", "Wind It Up", "The Sweet Escape", and "Now That You Got It". They have also toured with Stefani. Coincidentally, both Love and Music have worked with Namie Amuro at some time, Music as a member of the group Super Monkeys and Love as Amuro's dancer for a period.

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harajuku in the rain

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harajuku in the rain, originally uploaded by don.lee.

Umbrella Girl in the rain

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Harajuku

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Harajuku, originally uploaded by Nachosan.

a girl gets ready in Harajuku, just south of Yoyogi-koen park

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harajuku boys Harajuku Station in Tokyo.

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harajuku boys (tokyo), originally uploaded by xthylacine.

A couple of guys in their Sunday's finest pose for pictures near Harajuku Station in Tokyo. Many teenagers and young adults congregate around the station and its adjoining park on Sundays to show off their sometimes rather extravagant costumes. This is is a way to rebel, in a small way, against the enforced conformity of Japanese society. Ironically, many dress up in groups of similarly-clad friends.

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Goth-Loli Fashion Harajuku

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Harajuku I, originally uploaded by little-wings.

I visited Harajuku today, not my first time there by far but my first time on a Sunday (when all the Japanese kids dress up and promonade on the bridge by the Meiji Shrine). It wasn't actually as crowded as I thought it might be, but I'd gotten a late start, and I think some people had already gone home.

Generally, there are several styles of Japanese cosplay: A lot of the youth on the bridge were dressed in what is sometimes known as the "Goth-Loli Fashion" (short for "gothic” and “Lolita"). This essentially involves increably fancy goth-style babydoll outfits. For examples, you can check out the links below.

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Harajuku Girls kids and teenagers dressed like this

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Harajuku Girls, originally uploaded by markokon.

"Harajuku Girls" yes... this is what some of them look like. Basically every Sunday if you go to Harajuku station just outside of the famous area called Harajuku you'll find kids and teenagers dressed like this and in other fun and outrageous costumes. This place is a hot bed for creative expression and overall a great public space for performance artists and musicians. And yes... they all love to be photographed.

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Harajuku Girls 13

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Harajuku Girls 13, originally uploaded by animefx.

Another one of my favorites from my Harajuku Girls series of photos. This will probably be my last from this series until I'm able to go back to Japan. I hope you liked them.

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Friday, March 07, 2008

Harajuku Phose

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Harajuku Phose Cosplay


A collection of Harajuku inspired crisp, preppy separates has an easy feel. Fine seersucker blouses and cropped boxy blazers appear in multi coloured ticking stripes. Capes and oversize cardigans are layered over clean cut gingham shell-blouses and skinny and carrot leg jeans. 1970’s style blue jeans, slouchy shorts and ra-ra skirts work with cute logo Ts in young, primary colours while 50s’ style summer dresses add sophistication. A palette of red, blue and white dominates, highlighted with degrade citrus lemon and orange. Brightly coloured t-bar flats, doctor and bowling bags complete the story.
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Monday, February 18, 2008

Harajuku : Cosplay Venues

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Cosplay can be seen at public events such as video game shows, as well as at dedicated cosplay parties at nightclubs or amusement parks. It is not unusual for Japanese teenagers to gather with like-minded friends in places like Tokyo's Harajuku district to engage in cosplay. Since 1998, Tokyo's Akihabara district has contained a large number of cosplay cafés, catering to devoted anime and cosplay fans. The waitresses at such cafés dress as game or anime characters; maid (or meido) costumes are particularly popular.

Possibly the single largest and most famous event attended by cosplayers is the semiannual doujinshi market, Comiket. This event, held in summer and winter, attracts hundreds of thousands of manga otaku and many thousands of cosplayers who congregate on the roof of the exhibition center, often in unbearably hot or cold conditions.

Cosplayers in Japan refer to themselves as reyazu; pronounced layers (by writing the word cosplayers in katakana, it is possible to shorten it in this way). Those who photograph players are called cameko, short for "Camera Kozo" or "Camera Boy". The cameko give prints of their photos to the players as gifts. Tensions between players and cameko have increased due to perceived stalker-like behaviour among some obsessive males who push female cosplayers to exchange personal email addresses or do private photo sessions. One result of this has been a tightening of restrictions on photography at events such as Comiket.

While Cosplay arguably originated in Japan, one should not be confused with the idea that Cosplay is considered typical behavior in Japan. While some do attend Cosplay functions that are held in districts such as Akihabara, most Japanese people find Cosplay to be rather silly. In addition, because Cosplay in Japan has adapted such a negative sexual connotation, many Japanese have come to feel that Cosplay is reprehensible. In addition, North Americans who Cosplay typically refer to themselves as "otaku", which is essentially the Japanese word for "geek", but wrongfully use this word in an attempt to embody themselves in a sociological group that they can be proud of. To contrast, in Japan actual otaku refuse to admit that they are otaku because the idea of otaku it is not looked at as a group of people who are engaging in activity that may seem "just a little different". In fact, being an otaku in Japan entails standing on one of the bottom rungs of the Japanese social ladder.
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Gundam Costume

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This Gundam Strike Freedom Cosplay is awesome.



So what is Cosplay anyway?
Cosplay, short for "costume play", is a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu, and video games, and, less commonly, Japanese live action television shows, fantasy movies, Japanese pop music bands, Visual Kei, fantasy music stories (such as stories by the band Sound Horizon), and novels. However, in some circles, "cosplay" has been expanded to mean simply wearing a costume.

In Japan, "cosplay" as a hobby is usually an end unto itself. Like-minded people gather to see others' costumes, show off their own elaborate handmade creations, take lots of pictures, and possibly participate in best costume contests.

The most specific anecdote about the origin of the word "cosplay" was that Nov Takahashi (from a Japanese studio called Studio Hard) coined the term "cosplay" as a contraction of the English-language words "costume play" while she was attending the 1984 Los Angeles Science Fiction Worldcon. He was so impressed by the hall and masquerade costuming there that he reported about it frequently in Japanese science fiction magazines. This point is debatable, however, as the word fits in with a common Japanese method of abbreviation: combining the first two syllables of one word with the first two syllables of a second word (or, more precisely, the first two moras of each). Other examples of this include Pokémon and puroresu.
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Saturday, February 09, 2008

Latest costume-play offerings in Japan.

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School boy cafes, maid casinos as the latest costume-play offerings in Japan.

School girls have a well-documented following, but what about the boys? It turns out that school boys are building up a following of their own: since opening last fall, the school boy themed café, Edelstein, has been filled to capacity every weekend and has seen repeat customers visit upwards of 40 times in just a few short months.

[link]

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Sunday, December 09, 2007

Harajuku Vampire Bunny?

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Vampire Bunny?, originally uploaded by Extra Medium.

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