6th January 2002, Tokyo

There I was just taking a quiet walk to the Meiji Shrine (Tokyo's most important Shinto holy place) when I started to feel that I wasn't the only one who stood out from the crowd...

Harajuku on a Sunday morning is a magnet for all those who love to dress up and parade around in bizarre costumes (the current theme seems to be black!). Anyone wishing to pass through the huge main gates to enter the shrine grounds must cross this one bridge where the dressings rooms are situated.

There are a few exceptions, but punk is the popular theme currently. Sabotaged lacy school uniforms were also quite common, and naturally there was the token camera crew and amateur pop group fighting the background drone of traffic.

Of course dressing up is not unusual - but this is something special being completely un-organised (it just "happens"), and of course because it is situated at the gates of such a holy place. It's a well known spot for silent performers from all over Tokyo - watch out for me in my fluffy white bunny-rabbit costume next week.