During a lazy stroll in Yoyogi Park I came across something that I thought I would never see in my lifetime. A group of 20+ Japanese rockabillies decked out in black leather with grease in their hair dancing away the day at the parks entrance.
After a few shakes of the head I found out that these were members of the Tokyo Rockabilly Club during their Sunday ritual that has been going on for decades now. They congragate at the park’s entrance, blast rockabilly music, dance/socialize over the day with the help of loud music, leather and greasy combs so they can keep the hairdo right just like the Fonz.
Even though their numbers have gone down over the past years (Sundays during summertime is when most of them show up) they still show up in numbers every Sunday , rain or shine.
So after a few minutes of feeling totally out of place, I started to walk up to them and see if it was OK for me to take some portraits. Being that Japanese is only a hobby of mine made for some interesting communication between me and the guys and I’m sure they understood me about as much as I them. The photos in the gallery are of 8 memebers of the club that for some reason gave me the thumbs up OK to take their portraits.
And if you feel like seeing them in action and the airlines are just charging way to much for flights to Tokyo, check out what a few keywords get you on Youtube.
Matthias Arni reporting from Tokyo, Japan.
[…] Source Punk Rock News […]