Seijin no Hi Finale: Legs Spread Wide

Alas, dear readers, this is my final Seijin no Hi photo. Perhaps the culmination of all the other photos. For reasons not made clear to this foreigner, the joyous 20 year olds are posing with one of them in the air with his legs spread wide. A particularly fetching boy seems to be reaching his hand towards legs-spread-wide’s groin.

I can only imagine how much more fun happened after they got drunker. There’s something practically Muslim about how almost all Japanese socializing is same sex. I love it!

Yankii group excitement

Soon there was a horde of hot young 20 year olds combining traditional dress with big fried hair and excess testosterone. It didn’t take long for them to start falling all over each other, lit cigarettes in hand. I hope that they needed to pose for me, as much as I enjoyed their antics. I especially like how you can see inside the fallen boy’s skirt, I mean, “hakama” (袴).

Second in multi-post series on hot Nakano yankii men!

This photo series is indebted to the chubby guy with the pink kimono who noticed my not subtle lurking and photographing. He called his friends for a huge yankii group pose on this important day that celebrates youths’ new ability to drink, smoke, get married, and other fun stuff.

Check out Danny Choo’s website for professional photos and more attention on the ladies. I focused strictly on the urban yankii male. It’s easy to be sex-specific in Japan because so many adults and teens socialize almost entirely with members of the same sex.

My first observation is that only the most bad-ass men are wearing kimonos, hakama, and haori. Many of their peers are wearing cheap suits, and spending all their vanity on their glorious hair: dyed, permed, back-combed, gelled, sprayed, and sculpted. Basically a junior salaryman look with extra attention on hair and eyebrows.

The next posts will focus more on rough-housing, misplaced energy, and male intimacy.

Back to more cheerful public vistas

I apologize to my readers for so many sad and fugly pots. It’s time to turn your attention back to the Japanese islands, and images of hope, freedom and male vanity. On Monday’s Coming of Age (成人の日, Seijin no hi) holiday, I hit the Nakano  yankii jackpot.

The location is the plaza and musical clock in front of Nakano Sun Plaza, the same site where this blog’s header image was taken three years ago. Despite the dwilndling numbers of young Japanese, these boys were very excited to pose and rough-house for the “gaijin.” I was quickly joined in the photo pool by three hot yankii 20 year old girls.

I’ll post more images over the next few days . .

For seijin no hi, Coming of Age Day, peacock alert!!

Today is Seijin no hi, Coming of Age Day, on which Japan celebrates those who have turned 20 this past year. Lots of super garish kimonos for the girls, and more sober kimonos for the gyaruo peacocks who mix tradition with huge fried hair.

The image above is courtesy of Julie in Japan, one of my favorite foreign bloggers in Japan. Why are Canadians so cool?! Julie is the perfect blogger: original, prolific, fun, and incredibly sweet disposition.

Last year my post did not include any original images or even found ones of young male fashion outlaws. I’ll be trolling Nakano today hoping to find some good snaps with the new camera.

Dear readers, please send me or link to any good images you create or find!!

Happy Coming of Age Day! 成人の日

Happy Coming of Age Day (成人の日, Seijin no hi)! There are many strange official holidays in Japan: kids day (formerly boys day), sports and health day, for example. But Coming of Age Day is special– not only is all official business closed, but there’s the opportunity to see 20 year old’s dressed in their gaudy finest.

For girls just turning 20 years old, it’s an opportunity to look like a slightly late Christmas tree: teased hair piled high, with plastic flower ornaments, pink and neon kimonos, faux white fur stoles with glitter, fancy nails. For boys, there’s the classy kimono look and the more popular host look: shiny suit, and big permed hair.

Some of the activity should take place in a temple or shrine. However, I saw dozens strolling in Nakano Broadway, take sticker photos, and showing off hair do’s. The best guy hair-dos I saw include blue-grey hair and one red-and-yellow mix.

I wasn’t sure what to say. Congratulations?! Now you can legally drink? You’re old enough to have carnal relations with adults? Could that hair be any bigger? The husband suggested I say nothing, and I obeyed.

I did have a fantasy of spotting in the crowds Mickey Rourke, with his bloated plastic surgery face, dressed up as a coming-of-age 20 year old. Are there other ojisan and obasan who take advantage of the holiday to pretend they are coming of age? I guess I have a few more years to plan my holiday outfit.