34 - North Shere News — Sunday, December 12, 1999

Tokyc

Alison Appelhe
Contributing Writer

TOKYO’S teenage girls are giving
the boot to the ddy image and per-
fect behaviour of their mothers.
Witness girl power-Japanese style.

Omote-sando is a lovely tree-lined boule-
vard that runs through the Harajuku dis-
trict. It’s lined with bar-like benches, about
a foot off the ground, on which agile young
bodies can sit for hours — and do.

SHINJUKU-In-your-face shopping heave:

A popular hangout is the Laforet depart-
ment store (not far from the Harajekw rail-
“way station). On a Sunday morning, hun-
dreds of girls wait for the doors to open.
£ach holds a bright yellow paper fan (tradi-
tions linger) promoting the sale-slash-event.
The scene is a sea of luscious colours. The
girls chatter and og!e each other.
. Takeshita-dori, around the corner from

_.., Omote-sando, is a theroughfare devotcd

entirely to the kitschy fashions and fetishist
style the Japanese adore. Girls amble along
at 2 pace that suggests they'll spend the
entire day here. .

Admittedly, many wear no-nonsense
items of clothing as a foundation for their
wardrobe. ‘Thea they embellish.

They add a handbag that looks much like
a labourer’s lunchbucket, an oddball hat, or

Protos Alison Appelbe
n. trict-you’re dwarfed by

four-inch platform shoes (even run
shoe-style).

Many wear an overlong or miniscule
skirt. Some have bleached their hair blonde
or dyed it fiery orange, and arranged it in
spigor-like pigtails.

Finally they pile on the accessories:
flashy, translucent, colourful bows, bar-
rettes, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, stock-
ings and other items of no practicality. An
Anne Shirley look-alike wears boldly striped
knee-socks pierced with large pins intended
for a Scottish kilt.

Near the train station,
at the entrance to
Yoyogi-koen Park (and
the spectacular Meiji-
jingu shinto shrine), the
mast exhibitionist of
twenty-something
females assemble every
weekend.

Several are boldly
made up and dre
perhaps, Queen Eliz
{ or Marie Antoinette.
They pose for pho-
tographs, deliberately
severe and unsmiling.

Two very — drunk
American youths burl ver-
bal abuse at young Goths
attired in black. Alarmed,
the girls back off to dis-
cuss their aggressors, then
flutter off like a flock of
crows.

Two stops aorth of
Harajuku on the
Yamanote railway line
stands (literally)
Shinjuku, a city in its
own right,

Two million people
pass through Shinjuku
station daily. The Lonely
Planet guide to Tokyo
warns that its under-
ground tunnels = may
reduce you to a gibber-
ing wreck.

But whatever exit you,

take-westward to a com-
plex of buildings that
houses the Tokvo metro-
politan government, or
eastward to the
Kabukicho zed-light dis-

towering facades covered
with in-your-face neon advertising.

The sidewalks swarm with people. One of
the busiest is lined with neatly organized
bins of cellphones. Whose buying? Teenage
girls, who then attach to their phone a
colourful beaded cord that dangles from
their pocket or handbag.

A cluster of stores in a department store
atop Shinjuku station is aimed at these
young females. Young men holding mega-
phones stand at every entrance, blaring the
day’s bargains. The din is unbelievable.

In contrast, witness Tokyo Station in the
Ginza business district on a weekday morn-
ing. Hundreds of blandly dressed adults ride
a bank of a dozen upward-moving escala-
tors. Everyone stands so still that if it
weren’t for the moving stairways they'd
appear frozen in time. The hall seems silent.

jazzed up with Yuletide snesi¢ ard entertainment. Rediscover
the traditions of “it’s a small world” holiday, glorious
decorations, seasonal foods and Characters in their holiday best!
See your travel agent for details.

“Your chake of Magic Moming Breakfast, Welcome to Disneyland Tour or A Wolk In Wolt’s Footsteps four. Slockout dates December 18,

s Strut the

it st

Ten reasons to like (and visit) Tokyo:

@ Trains. In a city were most signs are in
Japanese characters, you can purchase a ticket
at the cheapest fare, and when you arrive at
your destination a “fare adjustment” machine
will calculate the balance.

& People watching. Most Japanese train trav-
ellers, sitting or standing, appear to sleep
while they travel then awak Cas the train
pulls into their station. Amazing.

@ Flea markets. One of the best is the Togo
Shrine flea market that runs along a lovely
treed ravine. Pathways are lined with racks of
kimonos, and tables of old wooden tools,
books, prints and art objects.

® Tokyo National Museum. This large collec-
tion of sculpture, swords, lacquerware, callig-
raphy and scroll paintings ind serenity.
Next door is the fabulous Gallery of Horyu-ji
Treasures. :

@ Cycling. Many Japanese ride a black utili-

See Noise page 3

TEENS dress un in their cutrageous
te shop at Laforet, on Gmote-sando.

Hey Canada, get the very best of Disneylande Park
and Southern California when you. purchase a 5-Day Disneytande
Flex Passport for the price of a 3-Day Disneylande Flex
Passport. includes Early Admission into the Park and Magic
Feature.* ‘Tis the season to come to the Merriest Place
on Earth, and new this year New Orleans Square is alt

1999 thsu Jon, 2, 2000, Atiroctions ond entertainment subject to chenge. Some restrictions apply. Eorly Admission dows nat uperote doily.

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