Variations on a theme

nite stall

azabu pup

kimonos & micro minis

ladies & little fishes

octopus balls

circle-line dance at roppongi hills

There was a big summer festival in our neighborhood this weekend. Last year apparently 400,000 people visited over 3 days, I don't know the sums this year, but I reckon it could be the same. Our quiet, posh little streets where transformed into a sweltering ruckus market. Smoke poured from stalls, selling every kind of food, roast corn, fried noodles and octopus balls. There were also plenty of drinks stalls, who would have guessed tequila shots are all the rage ? Couples strolled hand in hand in their summer yukatas, and later noticeably less composed, finished off their beers and noodles on the curb. There were still some traditional vestiges to the festival to be found, but they proved very difficult to photograph. At one children's play park, to the beat of huge drum, we found people dancing in a sort shuffling circle following the moves of kimono clad elders at the center. At one point a few of the elders, I can think of no other word for them, wandered off behind a tent to have a few beers, and the crowd was lost with out their lead. (I included a photo from Roppongi Hills, the shopping center up the way which joined in the festivities with a similar but much less authentic feeling version of the dance) In fact the festival was so crowded it was all pretty hard to photograph. And O & I never stayed long. We would take a deep breath dive in, skim along the sidelines and then instinctively find the quickest route out. I would have needed hours to shoot it properly and O would have needed many many beers to accompany me.