cultural madness

day 38

yoyogi park is where harajuku ends, and the true madness begins. on sundays, you can find most of tokyo hanging out in the park. it's like a circus, without the audience. every nook and cranny has been seized by performance.

for some reason, i only have pictures of musical things. which means i'm missing pictures of capoeira, kiting, judo, frisbee, aikido, soccer, marbles, fencing, knot-tying, and cult worship. but we saw all these, and more too. i didn't notice any archery, which is strange, because for the last few weeks there have been people all over tokyo carrying around 7' long bows, carefully wrapped in expensive cloth. i have no idea why.

we start with the rockabilly line dancers.








there were so many bands lined up on the sidewalk, they had to take turns performing because they were only 10' apart. sometimes, they'd all fire up at once which was challenging.

this one was into soft metal - which you can tell by the hat.











some of the bands were really good. we sat and watched for an hour or more.






there was a large drum contingent, which was mesmerizing.











and with drums, dancing.











this guy - not so good. which is probably why he's here. the same reason, more or less, they're all here - there's nowhere else to go.