Shake Your Tail Feather

It’s been a good few days… Clear sky, Full moon and plenty of this

I met Oli and Tom at Mac’s place. I may have talked about Mac before. He is my hero/idol. Through salvaged hard rubbish he has created an utterly amazing living space and bar in Nakameguro. He told us that he’s moving back to Australia at the end of September. Bummer. I wanted some of his genius to rub off on me. I would really like to get some good shots of his place before he goes, it’s just too good.

Mac, Oli, Tom…

Last night we hit the Awa-Odori in Shimokitazawa. It was legit. Tom’s That Tall. 

Yoko, Oli, Kengo.

It was such a good atmosphere. There were something like 20-30 groups consisting of dancers, lantern carriers, and percussionists. Generally it went – lantern, a pack of kids dancing, cymbal players/flutes, drummers and more dancers bringing up the rear. The drums and cymbals bouncing off the walls of the tight little streets was awesome.

It was an all ages event, in the truest sense. With a real sense of community and happiness present throughout. This little girl was loving it.

Akira feeling the vibe.

The groups outfits/costumes were gorgeous. Beautiful colours and dyeing techniques. These guys were a bit nu-rave, but there was a crew with simple magenta get ups that looked brilliant.

Those girls were doing the whole thing like this… the Japanese love any chance to get into some masochistic shit.

Mac is not only a DIY-home-reno savant, but as Oli says ‘He’s more Japanese than most Japanese people’. Mac has ridden the entirety of Japan, worked in a ramen shop, been a puffy-pants labourer and a salary man. This guy has done it all, including counting Geisha as friends and having Yak put the beer tap in his bar for free. For real.

Just waiting for a train…

I saw this while we were walking around too…

We all but missed a big fixie matsuri in Shibuya put on by Pedal Mafia. By the time we got there it was about 100 people on the street outside the venue. It was fun catching up with dudes quickly, then we bailed and hit Yoyogi to watch the after-party jam. Kota was blasting out shit, as per usual and there were a shitload of gaijin I’ve never seen before. Needless to say I bounced fairly quickly.