Hands up in Okinawa dance

The Rainbow Festival last just a few hours. The Okinawan dancers are a hunky highlight.

Okinawa dance and music at Tokyo Pride Parade

This Okinawa dance and music group is a regular participant at Tokyo pride events. They performed at the stage during Tokyo Pride Parade and the following day at the Shinjuku ni-chome festival or omatsuri (more on that soon).

I caught some photos of their rehearsing prior to the performance, a video of the performance, and their getting out of costume afterwards.

Pokemon butt at beer vendor in Tokyo Pride Parade

I had a fantastic time at the Tokyo Pride Parade on Saturday. Despite the August heat and humidity, the atmosphere, costumes, and Okinawan music were joyous. The hubb and two good friends joined me and about 10,000 people in Yoyogi and then marching through Shibuya and Meiji Jingu Mae.

I don’t have time to sort through all the photos (and several videos), but I want to post my favorite photo today. There were about eight middle-aged Pokemon wearing furry but revealing outfits.

I hope that these adult Pokemon prompted some awkward child-parent questions during the parade! Here they are lined up for canned beer.

If you’re in Tokyo, you can check out the “gay matsuri” festival from 4 pm to 7 pm on Sunday in Ni-chome. It’s a street fair organized by the bar owners, with promises of a portable shrine carried by lesbians, music and performances.

Is Hatoyama now Hillary’s bitch?

After a campaign promising an “equal relationship” with the US and then nearly a year of delays, Japan’s prime minister Hatoyama announced he will now adhere to an old agreement to relocate the US Marine base within Okinawa. There’s a lot of excuses about the dangers of North Korea, but in the end, it seems clear that Hatoyama is simply Hilary’s bitch.

The husband thinks this expression “Hillary’s bitch” is too redolent of prison sex. But I am just calling it like I see it. Poor occupied Japan and its spineless leaders. At least it’s nice to think that the tyrant top is mistress Hillary.

“Obama visiting Japan as relations stiffen”

Relations stiffen? My morning coffee nearly flew out of my mouth reading the title of this New York Times online article about Obama’s visit to Japan. Normally this blog stays glued to what some might consider the frivolous topic of male vanity in its many many manifestations.

But I could not resist the topic of Japan’s new-found independence in foreign policy after reading this title, with its hautiness and resentment mixed with a “stiffening” attraction. It seems to suggest, “I hate you, and you’re turning me on.”

Apparently the US felt extremely comfortable with the LDP’s nearly 50 years rule and are chafing under new policies brought by current Prime Minister Hatoyama, whose DP won in a landslide last August. Renegotiating what the US calls “the Alliance” may mean Japan no longer accepts military occupation and the assumption that Japan will join each and every US war.

Despite Hatoyama’s clear campaign calls for a more independent Japan, the US government and foreign policy experts claim that the new Japanese government is “inexperienced,” unsure of what it wants, and perhaps not serious about its campaign promises. In fact, I think the US is flipping over Japan’s re-opening Okinawa base discussions, ending the refueling mission in support of the permanent US war effort in Afghanistan, and new overtures to Asia that do not include the US.

There have even been ominous reports of arriving late to a state dinner (the Hatoyamas in Pittsburgh) and skipping a welcome dinner at the Japan Defense Ministry (Robert Gates, US military chief).

It is sad how little change Obama has created. Not so different from Bush’s economic team and his military policies that insist on servile allies and endless foreign wars. But maybe the “stiffening relations” can in the long run reduce some tensions.

On second thought I am not sure this post strayed too far from male vanity. What do you think?

Yes, Japan has girls too!

You might not realize from reading my blog, but, yes, Japan has girls, too. I certainly appreciate female fashion, but it takes some extra originality and flair for me to strike up a conversation and snap a photo. These girls were dressed in super 80s neon to attend a concert by Okinawa alt rock band Orange Range. I am sorry I didn’t capture their pink sequined sneakers.

In true fan girl fashion, and being loyal to the theme of this blog, I can’t help but include a photo of the 5 band members!