06/15 - Emotions, or something, on your sleeve

To wear how you feel

turning yourself inside out

bearing which you hold

Today Japan kicked off their World Cup for real. I had planned to get up at 6 to watch the Italy-England game at home, then head to Ikebukuro to watch the Japan game at 10 with my buddy Masa and other friends. Unfortunately, Masa went to Ikebukuro before the Italy-England game and all the pubs were already full. Everywhere you could possibly watch the game was packed, including baseball and soccer stadiums where they sold tickets for viewing parties. I ended up just watching both games at home on Japanese television, which was pretty entertaining nonetheless. The first game was great to watch, since England lost. I'm not a big fan of the Italian team, but I had to cheer for them on the day. It was funny seeing the score at the top of the screen with both team's names written in Katakana. It was also funny seeing infographics, like the one pictured below featuring famous firework conductor Mario Balotelli, showing familiar faces but Japanese writing.

Aykut came over for the second game and I donned my Japanese soccer jersey for the first time. Japan got off to a great start and got a goal courtesy of Keisuke Honda, warranting his place on almost every billboard and TV commercial in the country. Unfortunately, they ended up losing after Cote d'Ivoire snatched two goals in rapid succession. The Japanese team looked really tired in the second half. Perhaps the trip to Brazil on the Pokémon Jet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Jet) was not as relaxing as it could have been.

After a much needed nap I headed out to walk around Shibuya, in order to see the throngs of people out for the game and out because it was a nice and sunny Sunday afternoon. It did not disappoint, as it was definitely busy. It was like being in a crowded venue that stretched across a whole large neighbourhood. A ton of people were wearing their Japan jerseys, it seemed like almost half of the millions of people that were out. Even the famous Hachiko Statue, of a famous dog named Hachiko, was wearing a Japan soccer scarf. For the most part the people looked sad or as though they were trying to remain happy despite their disappointing loss. I know how they feel, since I often want to take off my favourite team's shirt after they lose, not because I don't still support them, I am very far from a fair-weather fan, but because it is really hard to stop thinking about the loss while you're draped in your team's colours.

Apart from the jerseys I also noticed some other very interesting sartorial choices. It is well-known that there are many hilariously worded English t-shirts and clothing articles here, ranging from the incorrect to the absurd. Today I saw a woman with a bag that said "cline up bitches" with the c at the start crossed out. She looked quite proper, so I'm pretty sure she had no idea what it meant. Then I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said "MAKE SENSE". Which is what more of these shirts should try to do, so I think it was a pretty good shirt. But then, taking the cake, I saw a man in Shibuya wearing a trucker hat that said "CUNT" across the front in large letters. Who even sells that?!

I walked from Shibuya through Yoyogi Park and then to Harajuku. In Yoyogi park I got to appreciate the Greaser area, where people are always standing dressed like extreme 1950s greasers, a favourite spot of mine, and a new thrill. A large group of people dressed as some kind of green fish monster things. They looked like Power Ranger bad guys and some of them were trying to make a human pyramid. Harajuku was as cuckoo as always. But after some of the fashion I'd seen today, crazy colourful dropcrotch pants and people dressed as cartoon sailors didn't seem so odd. In the window of a shop I also saw a familiar sight, an old Raptors Vince Carter jersey.

On the train home, I saw another familiar but much more surprising clothing choice, as a Japanese man sitting across from me was sporting a Saskatchewan Roughriders t-shirt. Not sure how he ended up with the T, but it brought a smile to my face.