INITIAL PERCEPTION OF HARAJUKU 

IN THE FIRST INSTANCE DUE TO ME BEING A WEEK LATE TO THE START OF UNIVERSITY IT MEANT THAT I WASNT PRESENT FOR THE INITIAL INTRODUCTION INTO THE CONCEPT OF ZINES AND THE DISCUSSION AROUND WHICH SUB-CULTURE WE COULD PICK. HOWEVER AFTER CAREFUL DEBATE AND DISCUSSION WITH MY GROUP WE ALL DECIDED TO STICK WITH A SUB-CULTURE UNDER THE NAME OF HARAJUKU. THIS FOREIGN AND UNKOWN SUB-CULTURE TO MYSELF AT FIRST MADE ME QUITE SCEPTICLE AS TO WHETHER I WOULD BE ABLE TO FIND INTEREST AND RELATION TO A SUB-CULTURE COMPLETELY OUT OF MY KNOWLEDGE. UPON FIRST RESEARCH EFFORTS ABOUT THE SUB-CULTURE I WAS QUITE UNFORFILLED WITH THE DECISION AS I BELIEVED THAT THIS SUB-CULTURE MEBODIED A SENSE OF VIBRANT COLOURS AND IN ALL HONESTY FEMALE ORIENTATED STYLES WITH SUCH LOOKS AS THE ‘CUTE GIRL’ AESTHETIC MUCH LIKE THE IMAGES BELOW:

HOWEVER. AFTER TAKING MYSELF TO THE GRANDE PARADE LIBRARY AND FINDING FURTHER STUDIES AND MAGAZINES ON THE SUB-CULTURE, I REALISED HOW NAIVE I WAS BEING. IT OPENED MY KNOWLEDGE OF THE FACT THAT HARAJUKU WAS NOT JUST ONE SINGLE LOOK BUT INSTEAD A PLETHERA OF DIFFERENT STYLES AND SUB-CULTURES ALL UNDER THE UNBRELLA NAME ‘HARAJUKU’ (ACTUALLY A DISTRICT IN THE HEART OF JAPAN, TOKYO. I REALISED THAT THIS SMALL BUT POWERFUL AREA WAS ACTUALLY AN ECOSYSTEM FOR THE EXPRESSION OF MANY DIFFERENT YOUTHFUL SUBCULTURE SUCH AS, PUNK, ROCK, SKATER, GOTH, GLAM AND MCUH MORE. I ACTUALLY FOUND THAT IT IS HARD TO CATERGORIZE MOST OF THE LOOKS AS THEY ALL ENCOMPASS DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF MANY DIFFERENT STYLES ALL MIZED IN ONE. AS SEEN IN THE PHOTOS I FOUND BELOW;

THESE WIDE RANGE OF STYLED MADE ME REALISE HOW IMPORTANT FASHION IS WITHIN THIS DISTRICT TO EXPRESS IDENTITY FOR THOSE WHO WERE BEING PHOTOGRAPHED AND JSUT NORMALLY WALKING DOWN THE STREET. THIS SPARKED AN INTEREST IN ME TO STUDY MORE ABOUT THE NUMEROUS INFLUENCES AND INSPIRATIONAL MOVEMENTS THAT SPURRED THIS CREATION/REBIRTH OF MANY PAST YOUTH MOVEMENTS. IT ALSO HAS MADE ME MORE INTERESTED IN THE MAGAZINES THAT ARE BEING PUBLISHED SUCH AS TUNES AND FRESH FRUITS THAT DOCUMENT THE DIFFERENT TRANDS AND FAHSIONABLE CREATIONS THAT ARE EXPLODING ONTO THESE DISTRICTS STREETS. AFTER FINDING NUMEROUS BOOKS ON TOKYO STREET STYLE AND MAKEUP WITHIN THE LIBRARY I REALISED THAT I HAD ONLY JSUT SCRATHCHED THE SURFACE OF THIS FOREIGN SUBCULTURE.