The beauty of the Tokyo area is that there's always something going on at any given time. Today Kyle and I decided to head out with really no concrete plan beforehand. As we wandered the streets of Shinjuku we heard loud drumming and stumbled upon a dance competition being held in a downtown square.
This group was the last to perform and I thought they were also the most impressive. They were a little older than the other groups so they had the age/experience factor going for them. Kyle also claims since they had an African American member on the team they were destined to win. See if you can spot him in the picture...
At this point I wondered if any of these kids were forced to be a part of these teams. There's always a ton of pressure and expectations put onto Japanese students by their parents so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the dancers here today had no choice in being part of the team.
Each team busted out onto the scene with a huge explosion of energy! I was waiting for a team to play the Mortal Kombat theme song, but sadly it didn't happen. Maybe next time.
Striking a pose! You can almost see the charka flowing freely around them... haha.
The little girl off to the side holding the sign seemed to have that as her sole responsibility. If I ever joined a dance team I think I would also fill that role. And I'd totally be the best sign holder ever.
In Kokubunji we went to check out a live band (Blazing Cranes) perform at Rubber Soul. The crowd was pretty much entirely composed of ECC affiliates, although Kyle doesn't really socialize with them on a regular basis.
Shot of the drummer dude. He was pretty good I thought and maybe the only one who spoke any Japanese.
CD's were on sale for 500 each but with a heavy heart I am sad to say that not a single copy sold. The cover I thought was a bit inapporpriate as well.
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