This is what public transportation looks like in San Francisco

(Photo: Marc Heustis, via SFist.com)

It’s certainly not the Tokyo Metro. Here at the 16th Street BART station, a naked man stretches beneath a huge pile of hair. Reportedly he was also peeing and sexually harassing women. Around the same time, between 5 and 6 pm, two people started walking on the tracks between stations. Needless to say, the station and the system shut down. I guess when all the high-paid people take corporate shuttles in a separate and unequal transit system, there’s very little incentive to maintain the bare minimum for the public version. What’s next, an Israeli-style separation barrier between the posh and the poor?

Sumo wrestlers getting their hair done

Photo by Paolo Patrizi.

Winter costume, artifice, health, and hair

In Tokyo, it’s always mask season. I remember how “shocked” the international media was after the Fukushima nuke disaster, to see the multitudes in Tokyo all wearing masks. Nothing special in the facial mask technology for radiation, or at least not yet.

Since the winds started blowing on March 1, everyone’s talking about the start of spring hay fever season. I wonder if the mask adds a certain mystery and allure for the wearer? Seduction through withholding? Could the facial mask be the Japanese unisex niqab? As much as I dislike winter, perhaps there’s something to be appreciated in the layers of costume, artifice, health, and hair.

Thanks to Al for lending me his camera.

Adorable dreads and headband at Hanazono shrine’s festival

How did I neglect to post this dreaded hottie last year? I saw him at Hanazono shrine’s Torinoichi festival, and you can see the lucky rake behind him. Love the hair!

Anti-Christ spotted in Koenji with SanTanuki

Underneath a “Wild Layers” wig, in “bitter cinnamon blend” color, a person claiming to be the Anti-Christ was spotted in Koenji. It was Friday, Dec 21, 2012, and the world might have ended that very day according to Mayan prophecy. Instead, he shared a fish sausage with SanTanuki and a sad smile with a restaurant worker after a delicious bowl of Vietnamese soup.

How can I concentrate on dinner when seated next to a table of yankiis?

I was extremely distracted by these eyebrow-less men with nice hair.

 

Billboards offer dozens of male hosts, exotic yet commodified

That hair and make-up cannot come cheap.

Does my barrette match this phone? Or my mask?

Is the barrette the Japanese male equivalent of the pony tail? Like, I was in a rush to get out of the house and go cellphone shopping, so I just grabbed my mask and pulled my hair back with this barrette? I guess there’s never enough time in a day!

Classy girlish looks at Jesuit school’s fall festival

Compared to the blonde yankii undressed on the pavement, these autumn looks at Tokyo’s finest Jesuit university are both girlish and classy. Drop pants, check. Luxury label, check. Overcoat with baseball cap, check. Tongue out of mouth, check. Expensive and complicated lady’s hair, check, check, check.

Why is public eating so sexual?

I think the McDonalds fries help this guy’s hair stay so blonde. I love taking photos of people eating outdoors. Because they’re focused on eating, they seem more carefree and easier to document.