Since so many tourists were attracted to the Harajuku bridge, it has become more and more difficult to spot young Japanese people dressed following the style of Tokyo urban tribes. Some years ago if you went on a Sunday to Harajuku it was very easy to see lolitas walking around and showing off. Nowadays it is much more difficult but if you are lucky you can still spot some small groups dressing as if they had came out of a fantasy animation movie set in an alternative Victorian era.
Fundoshi (褌) is the most well-known Japanese traditional undergarment for men. With the arrival of Western underwear after World War II it felt out of use. Nowadays they are only used in traditional festivals (“matsuri”) and as traditional swimming suits.
Photo by Rocket news
The Japan Fundoshi Association has launched a Manga Fundoshi Kickstarter. The funding period ends at the end of this month so you still have some hours left to collaborate with the project and get your favorite manga fundoshi
In the website of the association you can find an explanation of how to put on a fundoshi step by step:
One of the latest weird trends in Japan consists on using artificial fangs so that they stick out a little bit and give you a vampirish look. The Japanese term for the new trend is “yaeba”, which means something like “an extra/added layer to the tooth”.
Tomomi Itano, one of the AKB48 members, is one of the “movement” leaders. This is how Tomomi Itano looks, her fang is natural:
I don’t really understand the technique to create the vampirish effect, but there’s even dentists specialized in adding “yaeba” to girls. According to what I have read the main reasons for Japanese girls to change their fangs so that they stick out are:
And that’s about it, a trend to have an imperfection in your face… and you pay for it! What do you think? Cute or not cute?
If you want to see more pictures there’s a blog dedicated only to “yaeba”.