The World of Harajuku

Posted in Feature, Japan on November 11th, 2009 by jesslee

Harajuku – one of the most visited places in Tokyo. The place where you can see the most extreme (weirdest and cutest) teenage fashion styles. The styles include punk, goth, lolita, ganguro, and others. Also, cosplays happen here every weekend, mostly on Sundays.

Below are some of the photos I took two years ago.
Note: I used to over-process photos when I was starting photography. ^_^

Photography by Jesslee Cuizon

Photography by Jesslee Cuizon

Photography by Jesslee Cuizon

Photography by Jesslee Cuizon

Photography by Jesslee Cuizon

Photography by Jesslee Cuizon

Photography by Jesslee Cuizon

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Halloween in Japan: Kawaii or Kowai?

Posted in Festival, Japan on November 4th, 2009 by jesslee

The annual Kawasaki Halloween Parade this year was held on October 31st. It is said to be one of the biggest Halloween parades in Japan. It was my second time to see the parade and I’m still quite impressed with the participants. Their costumes were amazing. They can described as either ‘kawaii’ or ‘kowai’.

In Japan, ‘kawaii’ means ‘cute’, and ‘kowai’ is ’scary’. (Be careful when you try to use them. You don’t want to get yourself embarrassed after mistakenly saying ‘kowai’ to a cute little Japanese kid, instead of saying ‘kawaii’).

The Mario Family. Kawaii ne~!
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Screams. Uwa~, kowai~!
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HEAD, HEad, head Yeah, it looks kowai, but it has some kawaii-ness. :p
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The mummy is belong to us! The baby is so kawaii~~ ^_^
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Zoombie chick. I’m gonna cut your head off if you say she’s kawaii.
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Sweet Butterfly. Hands off, humanz. She’s mine. Kawaii ne!
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Tanabata Festival

Posted in Festival, Japan, Photography, Photowalk on July 6th, 2009 by jesslee

Tanabata was originally about a Chinese love story of a princess and a cowherd being separated by the king.  Traditionally in present-day Japan, people celebrate Tanabata by writing their wishes on colorful, small strips of paper called tanzaku…

Tanabata Festival by Jesslee Cuizon

…and hang them on bamboo branches…

Tanabata Festival by Jesslee Cuizon

The streets are decorated with huge colorful  hanging lanterns which kids enjoy watching…

Tanabata Festival by Jesslee Cuizon

…especially at nights when these lanterns are being lighted.

Tanabata Festival by Jesslee Cuizon

This was during the Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa. This is the biggest Tanabata festival held in the Kanto Area. The most famous one is held in Sendai.

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Early Saturday Morning in Shibuya

Posted in Japan, Photography, Photowalk on July 3rd, 2009 by jesslee

This is the second part of the Midnight Shooting: Roppongi to Shibuya blog entry.

We started our walk around 1:00AM from Roppongi, and reached Shibuya at nearly 3:00AM. Below are images that you will likely be seeing in an early Saturday morning in Shibuya.

This guy welcome us right at the foot of the pedestrian bridge near the south entrance of Shibuya Station.

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Outside the station, you can see a lot of people sleeping. Either they lay down on the pavement..

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… or simply just sit down…

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They sure had fun last night, eh?

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Obviously, these people are waiting for the station to open, and catch the first train.

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And finally, the gate has opened. Ohayou, Shibuya!

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The next post will be about homeless people staying near Shibuya station.

Thanks for watching. :-)

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Midnight Shooting: Roppongi to Shibuya [Part 1]

Posted in Japan, Photography, Photowalk on June 30th, 2009 by jesslee

Last Friday (06/26), I went to SuperDeluxe in Roppongi to see the Naked Tokyo Photo Exhibition organized by some of my Flickr friends. I can say it was a great event showing some artistic naked photos. I would like to join next year. :-)

After stopping by the exhibition, I, with my friends Mika and Kyoko, went for a photowalk from the streets of Roppongi down to Shibuya. It was a fun walk.

I tell you. There are a lot of things to shoot in the middle of the night.

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Some trash dumped right next to a phone booth.

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The lights and shadows are just amazing.

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You can see stores closing.

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It took us almost two hours to reach Shibuya station.

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This is just the first part of this photo walk.  I will post the photos I took around Shibuya later this week.

I would like to thank Mika and Kyoko for joining me that night. We will definitely do it again. :-)

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