Yoyogi Park, Tokyo - The Park Of Awesomeness

It was a nice sunny day last Sunday so we headed out to Yoyogi Park. I've been to Meiji Jingū twice and also seen the uniquely dressed people at Harajuku, but I'd never ventured into Yoyogi Park before.

We first came across the Rockabilly groups. These guys and gals were all dressed up and dancing away. It was great fun to watch.

The first group didn't do much more than a lot of leg jiggling, so we moved on to the Elvis group who had a few surprise moves to show off.

We then entered the park area, the sun was warm but the wind was very strong and blowing dust all up in my face. There were a couple of groups acting and dancing and after rubbing the dirt from my eyes I looked up to see a guy swinging nunchaku around! What a legend!

Close by was a group practicing sword fighting. Very cool. They'd practice their moves slowly first and then do them quicker and quicker until it looked amazing. Maybe they were practicing to take on the nunchaku guy later ^^

After that we took a walk around the park and came across this bunch of interesting masked men.

We also saw some people playing guitar, trumpet, saxophone and ... didgeridoo! The didgeridoo guy then brought out a whip and started cracking it above his head. My battery had died by that point tho!

feitclub said on Thu 2009/02/12 01:34 JST:

Yeah, Yoyogi is really nice. I went there for the first time in the fall and, despite seeing no dancers at all, thought it was a wonderful place to relax. If I lived in Tokyo I think I'd go there almost every weekend.

Japan Information said on Thu 2009/02/12 01:37 JST:

That's awesome. I especially liked the Elvises. (Or should I pluralize that at Elvi?)

GoddessCarlie said on Thu 2009/02/12 01:55 JST:

Bwah hahaha! That is the most awesome thing I have heard! Elvi!

GoddessCarlie said on Thu 2009/02/12 01:58 JST:

I enjoyed your videos, looking forward to the next ones :) The nanchaku guy was freaking awesome!!

Deas said on Thu 2009/02/12 05:10 JST:

Soc'd!

yonasu said on Thu 2009/02/12 06:05 JST:

Love the Rockabilly's in the second video! Really enjoyed the videos Chris :)

Neil Duckett said on Thu 2009/02/12 13:44 JST:

I live about 10 minutes walk from the park .... it's a great place to find some topics and take some photos.

Chris Gaunt said on Thu 2009/02/12 13:54 JST:

Thanks for the Soc!

freedomwv said on Thu 2009/02/12 20:43 JST:

Gotta love the greasers in Yoyogi. They are actually cool guys if you can match their toughness. They will try to treat you like shit at first, but if you show them you are not scared they mellow out real quick.

MJG said on Thu 2009/02/12 22:20 JST:

Elvii, with two i's, I'd imagine. Like Hippopotamii, or Walrii.

Sharon Steeples said on Fri 2009/02/13 03:07 JST:

Thanks for the vidz. *sigh* I really miss Japan now.

Mike said on Fri 2009/02/13 03:50 JST:

Love the nun chuck dude!

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TPC said on Wed 2009/02/18 16:20 JST:

Yoyogi Park is awesome, but the police suddenly decided to stop much of the Sunday fun there - bands and street performers around the park are now banned - in November.

cockbadger said on Thu 2009/02/19 21:30 JST:

I first filmed teh Elvi on super8 at Yayogi about 15 years ago. On a subsequent trip i got told that the fad had passed. Good to see them back. Even though these guys look tough - most are about 5 ft high. Hmm. Classic.

Shichi said on Sat 2009/02/21 22:43 JST:

What? Really?

RayBan Sunglasses said on Mon 2009/05/25 06:19 JST:

Wow, these videos are great and make me wish i could have a trip like this as well.