Tokyo Standouts

Every country has its rebellious youth who want to break free of the chains society puts on them.  It's not that uncommon to see teens and college kids with bright pink hair and gauged ears where I live, but they don't go to much further because, well, it's expensive.  If you wear clothes that most people shy away from then you have to go to specialty shops that can't afford to have low prices.

I knew before even coming here, though, that the counter-culture movement in Japan is truly dedicated.  When the girls here dress up they go all out with parasols, long gloves, old fashioned corsets, hoop skirts, amazing wigs, full make up, and every accessory you can think of.  And they just walk down the street like that.  Maybe they're just showing off to see what kind of attention they can get or maybe they're actually going to some kind of meeting, I certainly don't know, but man did they put a lot of effort and money into make a statement while they're walking.

While these girls are amazing to me, I did at least expect them.  What I didn't expect is the middle-aged people who also are looking to make a statement on the street (usually after working hours though.)  On more than one occasion I have walked past the most obvious cross dressers imaginable.  I'm talking about hairy dudes with big bellies wearing bright purple wigs,  ill-fitting dresses, cheap heals, too much lipstick, and far too much eyeshadow.  Maybe I've lived a sheltered life, but it's hard for me to imagine that just a an hour before these same men were one of the thousands of generic salarymen wearing standard business suits.  They probably think the same thing "during the day I'm just a run of the mill businessman, but at night I'm something so much better: me."

I'm not sure if that's what the 60 year old lady was thinking when I passed by her in broad day-light.  She looked a little tired, not matter-of-fact and stoic like the guys.  I don't know where she was coming from but her wig was curly blond and half way off her head, she was wearing a mini-skirt and fishnets, and didn't seem to have much make-up on at all.  From that description I could draw all kinds of conclusions, but honestly it's not my place.  The realities of life here seem to be rather harsh.