Samurai Chop
Yoyogi Park is one of the larger and probably the most active parks in Tokyo. It borders the biggest fashion districts, Harajuku and Shibuya. If you have seen any photos of "crazy," over the top style Japanese style, it comes from one of those two neighborhoods. On Sudays if you walk through the park you'll see a lot of cool things. You'll probably see the Tokyo Rockabilly Society, who are aging punks dancing in a circle showing off their massive pompadours. You'll see people walking miniature dogs with clothes on that actually look cool, as opposed to the dog clothing I've seen in the US. You'll also see plenty of takoyaki, or octopus ball stands, which if you have not tried, you are missing out.
You will also see an average of five to eight bands playing the street. Most are young, hopeful up and comers, some are older, established bands with a limited appeal.
Last weekend I went with a few Aussies, who were themselves in a band on tour and are now long gone back to Oz. We took a walk through and saw a pretty good slice of modern Japanese pop music. A Visual Kei band (image based goth), a girl punk/metal band, a boy punk/metal band, some older, established guys playing in a mid-sized jazz ensemble, some teens playing indie-like rock, etc.. We also saw a band that rocked harder than any band I have seen in my entire life: Samurai Chop. Just look at the picture.
With a shaved bowl cut, a pink guitar and thick rimmed glasses the lead singer's look alone was enough to know they meant business. This is not even to mention the wind chimes attached to a rotating stand for easy kicking access.
I can see how one might think that people watch because he's nerdy and funny, and that an audience would form out of mocking and pity. That is not how it is. You really just have to see it. Yes, it was nerdy, but it was also pure rock and roll passion. They gave out free CDs but I haven't been able to upload songs to ezarchive since I got to Japan. So here is the Myspace.
posted by DJ at 2:54 AM
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