People spotting in Tokyo

Blue List....

Too cool for school

Tokyo. Peculiarity and eccentricity walk the streets with the cute, the weird, the freaky and the funny. The perfect place for people watching.... #1: Skinny guy in a fur hat wanders down street in 33 degree heat. He fans himself concertedly.

One sheep short of a flock
#2: Nishi-Kokubunji station. Voluptuous teenage girl with bleached blonde hair in bunches, knee-high striped socks, and red and white polka-dot bo-peep dress, strides purposefully towards the exit.

Someone's grandfather
Harajuku on Sundays is THE place for a glimpse of the 'freaky or uniquey'. #3: A short, elderly man approaches. He wears a blue dress and upon his head is sat a traffic cone. A window is cut in it side through which he grins. It is adorned with shelves that each support an array of strange objects including a bowl of live gold fish.

One for the road
#4: Drunken, grey-suited salary man sleeps with forehead head resting against door of train. The trains approaches the station and the doors open. He falls flat onto his face. He then picks himself up, and gets back onto the train and assumes the same position.

School uniform
#5: Chubby, nine year old school boy grins a gappy smile. Brown satchel on his back. Short shorts, tight fitting short-sleeved shirt and white sailor hat; the string that holds it on grips a little too snugly round his chin.

Reality TV
#5: Friday night. Outside Tachikawa station an old homeless woman has set up camp. She has blankets and cushions to sit on, a radio playing and a delightful selection of MacDonalds is spread before her. She watches the world go by; as it pretends to ignore her.

Private joke
#6: Young man laughs hysterically and walks back and forth down the train. He stands by the window and looks out at the night and bursts into laughter. Everyone tries not to look. What is his story? I would rather be misunderstood and happy, than 'sane' and depressed.....

He's alive!!! Alive I say!
#7: A group of leather-clad, immaculately be-quiffed Elvis impersonators, have gathered at the entrance of the park. A crackly amplifier blares out the King. They spin their combs and run them through their hair, then spontaneously dance; legs flailing, hips twisting.

Mistaken identity
#8: A couple of school girls hang outside a local station, cell phones in hand, giggling. They wear short, flared, tartan skirts, and knee-high 'play boy' socks. However, a second glance in their direction, reveals that they are actually men.

Ko Gyaru
#9: Groups of girls hang on street corners in Shibuya sporting mini skirts and sparkling high-heels. They drip with jangling accessories and cell phones and have bleached hair that is either ginger, yellow or grey. What really makes them stand out though is their fake orange tan. I sometimes see the odd one passed-out outside pachinko parlours.