Yoyogi Koen Sunday

It's been over two years since I last visited Yoyogi Park. A Brazil Festival was being held in one section of the park, but it was so intensely packed with people that I immediately became claustrophobic, and I hightailed it out of the crowd and onto the (still quite populated) field.

That's one thing I don't understand: in a city as large as Tokyo, why do people always seem to congregate in the same areas (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Yoyogi Park, Tokyo Disneyland, so on). In most cases, you won't find anything there that you can't find anywhere else in Tokyo. Why spend your precious downtime surrounded by sweaty strangers?

 

Practicing tightrope walking in parks seems to be an international trend. These guys were not very good at it, though.

These brats were attempting to tear the branch off.

Dance class.

Bubble-making seemed to quite popular at the park.

A huge one just drifting by.

One-stop entertainment: a drummer / baton twirler. The baton is affixed to his head.

Yoga practice near the flower garden.

This flower was called "white swan grass".

Artichoke flowers, which looked like huge thistles. Artichokes are not common in Japan, so I doubt many people can identify this plant.

A cocker spaniel with its ears tied in place. It must have been hot!

Man Candy at Papabubble

Halfway between Yoyogikoen and Shibuya is Papabubble, a recently-opened artisanal candy store. Originating from Barcelona, the company has stores in nine other countries, including two in Japan: Shibuya and Nakano.

The minute you step inside, you get an incredible sugar rush. With brightly colored, beautifully made candies of all shapes and sizes all around you, you can see how it would be a hit with Japanese customers in particular.

The best thing about the store (aside from that they are very liberal with their candy samples) is their workspace, which has been made the focal point of the (fairly small) shop. The employees are engaged in a never-ending cycle of rolling warm sheets of candy, stretching it out to make sticks, and chopping them up to make individual candies.

The whole process had everyone in the shop and all the passers-by transfixed. (This photo was taken from the outside window.) It truly is a smart way of doing business: everyone likes candy, but few people today know how it's made. This way, they can not only draw attention to the traditional techniques of making candy, but also turn it into a performance, creating further interest for customers.

A bonus: the store is completely ok with photography and video. The employees seemed to be freely capitalizing on their attractiveness to entice even more people into the store. As my friend remarked, "What they're doing as a whole isn't amazingly remarkable, but they sure go about it in a savvy way."

The final result from that huge roll: a sweet strawberry-patterned candy.

The Rockabilly Dancers of Yoyogi Koen

The rockabilly dancers of Yoyogi Koen are the stuff of Tokyo lore, but quite curiously, it's virtually impossible to find recent information on them (from a respected source). The basic facts: there is a group of aging greasers and slightly younger women who, every Sunday, dress up like extras in a Japanese remake of Rebel Without a Cause, gather near the Harajuku entrance of Yoyogi Koen, and dance/pose their way through old rockabilly records.

A New York Times article from 1988 describes the situation thusly: "Spectators head toward Yoyogi Park at the end of Omote-Sando, where young Japanese enact a weekly ritual. They bring rock music and costumes -1950's bouffant skirts, denim jackets - and dance in disciplined, well-rehearsed routines, for a bemused crowd." All you have to do is substitute "young" for "middle-aged"; they've grown up in the last 25 years.

This isn't an inclusive group; I've heard that they frown upon tourists and regular folk who try to join in on the dancing. (Photo-taking and videotaping are thankfully tolerated.) But many bring their wives, girlfriends, and even their kids.

I love the coordinated leopard print of these two siblings. When your family Sunday consists of your norm-ignoring dad greasing his hair back to go off and dance in public and you wearing a leopard-print poodle skirt with saddle shoes to join him, your teenage rebellion would probably mean dressing like a bore and staying in all weekend. 

I'll bet all the kids in this boy's class are scared of him.

I got to see a rare group meeting, led by the boss seen in the second photo. One of the items on the agenda was an announcement that one of their own had gotten married. On cue, a couple of kids came out, small bouquets in hand.
 

They don't make biker boots like they used to, so you just have to keep taping up the old ones.

The ecstatic photographer on the right was just as colorful as the dancers.

A straight-laced schnauzer wearing a backpack stands, transfixed.

This woman was so in character as a greaser's moll. Even her face was made up like an old-school actress'.

I'd like to believe this man simply wanted to write "Levels", not "Rebels". Talk about ruining the effect.

Lazy Sunday in Yoyogi Koen

 

(A juggling team practices in Yoyogi Koen.)

Yoyogi Koen (Yoyogi Park) may be the fourth biggest park in Tokyo, but it's the biggest in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. It's Japan's Central Park, and in true Japanese fashion, it is tiny for what it is -- one-sixth the size of Central Park.

(An old man meditates in the sun.)

Like all great Tokyo parks on a good day, it's crowded as hell and a great source for people-watching. You can see happy babies in strollers, students drinking in large groups, couples on dates, and old people having a quiet stroll.  

Even nicer are the various groups partaking in their hobbies, like these drummers. Despite being a fairly small band, the beats they made could be heard halfway across the park.

This old man parked his Great Dane near the pond and waited for the fascinated to gingerly make their way to him. Large dogs are a rarity in Japan, so seeing this extra-large dog made people's day. When the dog let out a bark, everyone in the vicinity jumped.

A Dalmatian/Great Dane?

 

A Dalmatian/Great Dane?

One drawback of Yoyogi Koen is the crows. They are a little bit too big and a little bit too plentiful for comfort. Here, they were trying to eat up all the tadpoles in the lake.

Not a tadpole, not yet a frog: the tail is still very much visible.

I hope they grow up to be cute green frogs.

 

Like all Japanese gatherings, there is a slight freakshow component. Like the Papillon owners at Showa Kinen Park, last Sunday was take-your-pet-rabbit-to-Yoyogi-Koen Day. A rabbit! In a jacket! In a stroller! With Peter Rabbit for a stuffed animal!

 

Rabbit owners, hangers-on, and fans. The strollers and boxes all contain rabbits.

 

Awwww. One rabbit was actually hopping around without a leash, not 200 meters from the Doberman by the pond. I was a bit scared for the rabbit's sake.

It was almost anticlimactic to see a woman walking her pet turtle.

But it was just ambling along at its own pace, oblivious to the staring bystanders.

This is It

(A cafe in Tomigaya.)

The steady trickle of cafes and shops closing down has yet to abate. This cafe would always write welcome messages and menus on their windows and on the sidewalk. As a farewell, they've written "This is it!" on the front window.

Moss Muffins

(A ceramics shop in Yoyogikoen.)

How to do this at home: all you need is a white ceramic cup, a hand shovel, and access to someone's yard. But if DIY doesn't appeal, they can be yours for 1050 yen each.

Recycling/Decorating

(A restaurant in Tomigaya.)

Though the empty bottles lined up in the side window are a perpetual feature, depending on the day, the wine bottles on the barrel and under the front window of this restaurant are nowhere to be seen. Could that be recycling day?

Our Fallen Comrade

A group of young men eat lunch outside the am/pm combini in Yoyogikoen while an old men is passed out/ takes a nap right next to them. He had a digital camera clenched in his hand.

Outdone

A rainbow begins to appear over Yoyogi Park, but is no match for ampm's technicolor sign.