Rocking Out at Yoyogi

Everytime I have gone to Yoyogi there has always been random street performances, often of the music variety, jamming out for the pain/pleasure of the local ongoers. There's usually a greater ratio of untalented to talented but nevertheless there always proves to be some type of entertainment.


The band playing wasn't entirely awful. Given that I didn't understand a word of their music I could be terribly wrong, but their performance by far drew the largest crowd in the surrounding area. Although looking back on it now the majority of the spectators were adolescent females. I suppose that shouldn't be out of the blue since the band was composed of all flamboyantly colourful guys.


There was synchronized headbanging, jumping, arm flailing, and random Japanese yelling throughout the performances. Quite interesting to witness up close and in person; unfortunately a video feed would be more suitable to explain the moment.


Shooting with a 50mm makes everything much more fun. The range and focus gets a bit tricky to handle but the images often are worth the extra effort. Also I haven't really used my 50mm much since picking it up back in Toronto so maybe it's time to kick it up a notch.

Earth/Hemp Festival

Yesterday afternoon there was an environmental friendly expo/gala supporting a cleaner planet Earth. For whatever reason this resulted in the promotion of hemp products in an open marketplace outside of Yoyogi Park.


Organic grown fruits and vegetables were on display and were obtainable for a hefty price (as usual). Japan unfortunately doesn't have enough real estate to create an excessive amount of farm land so many fruits and vegetables are grown and harvested with the use of chemicals.


I have no idea what this means. Your guess is as good as mine. Cleaning makes us smile? Smiles make us clean? Go Engrish go!


Hemp balls were created and attached to one another to create somewhat of a noisemaker effect. I'm sure there's a proper name for them but since I'm not a hemp specialist I'll just refer to them as hemp balls. I belive the top two rows of the hemp balls are advertising Jamaican colours. Probably just a coincidence... right?


Hemp panchos, shirts, pants, shoes, and hats were all on sale but for an outrageous price. Some of the hats I looked at cost up to ¥14,000 ($140). While I'm still in the market for a cool looking hat I think puff puff passing on the hemp ones was a good idea.


This dude was masterfully melting and molding glass into ornaments, accessories, and tiny key chains. I thought his open flame was dangerously close to his hemp sheets behind him but he appeared to be indifferent. Also, he was sporting a pair of Ray Ban's instead of protective goggles. Wicked cool.

Yoyogi Park Performers

Just outside of Yoyogi Park a rock band entertained the crowd. The drummer was kick ass but the girl on the tenor saxophone was disappointing.

Yoyogi is pretty large-- it has like four different entrance gates, a garden, a cycling centre, a track and field area, a bird sanctuary, and continuous water fountains in the ponds. Strolling through here there were many people walking through the trails and also others riding their bikes. There was also a group of maybe 10 girls with pom poms practicing cheerleading or some kind of organized dance. Kyle convinced me not to take any pictures since it may have implied I was a perv. Now that I look back on it, good call Kyle.