About

Harajuku is an area in Tokyo synonymous with cutting-edge teenage fashion and in recent years has become regarded as a major influence in popular culture in the West thanks to artists such as Gwen Stefani, who cites this vibrant area as being a major influence on her own personal style. The recent BBC ‘Japanorama’ series, presented by Jonathan Ross also featured a section on the various groups or tribes of teenagers that frequent the area.

Harajuku became famous in the 1980s due largely to it’s vibrant “Hokoten band scene”; a place where rockabilly dancers and street punks would hang out and listen to raucous live music every Sunday, sadly live music has been banned from the area, but the area beside the Harajuku train station and nearby Yoyogi park is still a popular hang-out for teenagers obsessed with dressing up in outlandish costumes and styles that often astounds the many tourists venturing into the tranquil setting of nearby Yoyogi park.

The variety of fashion on display defies categorisation initially, but on closer inspection themes do emerge out of the multi-coloured gathering. The various characters who engage in ‘cosplay’ ( costume play ), often mimic manga or anime characters and members of colourful Japanese rock bands. Other groups of teens have adopted a ‘gothic lolita’ style, which combines dresses moelled on 19^th Century France, parasols and accessories to portray a look of coy innocence. Girls cluster together in tight-knit groups, posing for photographs and chatting happily with each other. Contact between them and the various tourist and magazine photographers is kept to a minmum. For the foreign photographer who asks politely or tilts their camera to indicate that they’d like to take a photograph, the real surprise is that many of these teenagers are highly adept at posing for a photograph. It’s easy to imagine hours of practice in front of bedroom mirrors. It’s possible to categorise these Japanese teenagers into convenient pockets of fashion, but that would gloss over the individuals who stray outside the group dynamics that are often at play in the area. These teenagers prefer to sit alone, barely engaging with their fellow Harajuku associates, simply waiting for their next photo opportunity.

In a society where it’s all too easy to lose yourself amongst the millions of people who call Tokyo ‘home’, Harajuku gives Japanese teenagers an opportunity to express themselves and in doing so, rise above the ‘norm.
Keep an eye out for the Harajuku Jam book, which is nearing completion.