TOKYO INNOCENCE

This photo book collection, “TOKYO INNOCENCE,” consists of many of this talented photographer’s work, showing the “Edge of Tokyo” and “Extremes of Tokyo.” Tokyo is particularly unique in terms of its mixture of cultures where new “hybrid” creations are continuously arising one after another, like a chain reaction. One representative example is Cos-Play (dressing-up like anime characters) and Visual-kei (a style of disguising oneself using varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes). Both originated in Tokyo and have been developed, or rather, been mutated to become another level of “Otaku” culture (people with obsessive interests, commonly involved in anime and manga fandom). Today, they are no longer “underground” but have been developed and accepted by and large in society via TV and Internet as they are strongly connected to TV stars and pop culture. If there is a word to describe them, “Innocent Playfulness” might be the one of the representative characteristics of Tokyo culture.