TAKENOKOZOKU

Noriko Shibuya
TAKENOKOZOKU

Photographs: Noriko Shibuya

Publisher: AREA BOOKS

116 pages

Year: 2024

Price: 48 €

Comments: Hardcover with dust jacket, 17 x 24 cm. Texts by Noriko Shibuya and Daido Moriyama. Colors photographs. Limited edition of 350 copies.

TAKENOKOZOKU -Sunday Heroes-

Every weekend from 1979 until 1982 I photographed the takenokozoku dancing around the pedestrian zone that opened on Sundays in Harajuku.
They were a group of young people wearing brightly coloured outfits who would dance on Olympic Road in Harajuku, playing disco music and YMO’s ‘Rydeen’ turned all the way up on their cassette decks. A newspaper article from the peak period in 1981 claimed “There are 4000 people and 100 groups of takenokozoku, 3000 rock’n’rollers dancing next to them, and a daily audience of 100,000.”
It all begun when young people dressed in clothes like the ‘harem suits’ that were sold in Takeshita Street’s ‘Boutique Takenoko’ started dancing. Tapered at the ankle, they were clothes that were easy to move around in. These young people began doing things on their own terms and coming up with their own choreography to the dances, trying their utmost to express themselves and be the centre of attention, standing out from the others. It turned into a tourist attraction, with spectators visiting from across the country and even coverage from overseas.

Through the enthusiasm of the takenokozoku, the rock’n’rollers, and their audience, the whole area was filled with a kind of energy. From then on the number of groups decreased and there were fewer people involved, but performances continued on the streets of Harajuku until 1989.

With this photobook I hope to convey something of Japan’s sparkling youth during the 1980s.

Text by Noriko Shibuya