Piggy rolls out empty wheelchair at Imperial Palace

The empty police wheelchair, vast expanse of pavement, the many varieties of unnecessary police trucks in the background. Somehow this image captures the grandeur and emptiness of opening the Imperial Palace to the public two days per year.

If only I had good posture and the ability to coordinate

I love this lady’s posture and super-coordinated outfit. Her pink umbrella matches her barrette. If only I could look so dignified in public.

Pyschedlic senior ladies dance in public

Occasionally, I feel bad knowing how interested some of my readers are in Tokyo ladies, and how little I offer these readers. At this Nakano festivity, I was mesmerized by the psychedelic swirl of these dancing seniors.

Matsuri ass is always nonchalant

If you’re interested in male ass on display in public during daylight, I highly recommend summer festivals in Japan. Somehow, seeing this total freedom, I feel transported to a more spiritual place.

The Emperor in love. Is that why they’re rarely seen in the media?

In spite of their being public figures, the Emperor and Empress look very much in love in this island nation. I never understand why the Japanese royal family is not promoted more heavily for tourism, diplomacy, and the sheer entertainment value for their subjects. That’s the case in Europe, isn’t it?

Goodbye Xmas

After the weeks of muzak build-up, Japan retires Xmas with merciful speed. On the night of the 25th, the last Xmas cakes are discounted and forgotten. I kind of miss the US tradition of witnessing the first Xmas tree junked on the curb. The closer to the 25th the public abandonment, somehow the more worthy of attention. In Tokyo, I guess I can safely forget about the close association between Jesus’ birth and the by-reservation only consuming of fast food fried chicken. If any aficionados are reading this blog, please let me know how Mos and KFC and others compare.

Thumbs up says the world hot dog eating champion

Fashion, fetish, sport, or what? I love how world hot dog eating champ Kobayashi Takeru so gamely shows off his oral talents, his middrif, and his perversely cheerful spirit with the thumb up. As Matt says, this is a guy who makes very public his lack of gag reflex.

Is Japan sufficiently proud of this gamine ambassador of carnality?!

Are no pants days really over for this year?

My interest in Shinto practice continues to deepen. I love a religion that brings the rice harvest to the city, and instructs men to go pants-less in public. Certainly there are many particularities I am still unfamiliar with.  The repetitive flute and metal percussion music puts me in a trance, and opens me to the possibility that these gods inhabit my neighborhood and are responsible for my daily meals. But ideas and concepts would be nothing without the flagrant masochism and exhibitionism central to the rituals.

It’s like the Catholic Easter passion, but better because of its multiplicity. There is more than one suffering man, and more than one god. If this is pagan, I am unable to resist. I will ask the gods this year to decontaminate the rice harvest.

Rentokil provides violent imagery while urinating

I have been urinating in public restrooms in Tokyo for several years, when I just noticed the brand of the automatic flusher, Calmic Rentokil Initial. Three collections of letters that add up to one misplaced word, and several conflicting feelings. Should I feel calm? Should I be killing? Or is renting best? The kite fluttering in the wind adds more incongruity to this strange brand image. This company seems to provide the flushing for most Tokyo public toilets.

Fuck art, let’s kill

Tokyo easily lulls you into a sense of safety in public, unlike any other city in the world. This is a country where even the mob puts on a friendly face to foreigners. That’s why it’s all the more absurd and arresting to see violent imagery. On a date with a girl dressed as an anime princess, this fairly ordinary guy’s t-shirt reads, “Fuck art, let’s kill.” I hope the princess doesn’t understand English.