Dances From Within
Essay 5 of 5
They dance.
The leather trousers are soaked with sweat and get clinged to their legs.
The summer of Tokyo is humid. The asphalt, hit by the sun, gets hot and sends up steam. Maybe it is a mirage.
A shopper, a tourist, a spectator, an idler, a groupie, a performer, the scout man of the music industry, a resident.
Somebody stops to watch it, somebody does not have interest at all and moves on.
They keep on dancing, without resting.
The most stylish neighborhood in Japan, Harajuku.
Harajuku has a completely different face on the weekends.
A driveway becomes a pedestrian's 'paradise,' with many performers expressing themselves on the street.
The whole neighborhood is a stage and everybody is a player and an artist.
There is neither criticism nor shame.
Only freedom and a dream.
A fortunate person may move up to the true stage from here.
He merely leaves the body to his favorite music, and keeps on dancing.
On Sunday morning, a man opens a window and checks the weather before anything else.
It is a fine day today.
He has a simple breakfast, just bread and milk, and starts preparations to go out.
He takes out leather trousers and Western boots from the inner part of a closet, which mainly has business suits and dirty underwear.
He spends twice as much time as usual to set his hair with pomade.
He passes through a quiet residential street and shows up in the train for Harajuku. When the train gets closer to the center of Tokyo, people who put on unique outfits get on the train.
No one minds anyone else.
They just think about what they do, where to go, and who to meet today.
A man begins to walk toward the usual place where his friend awaits.
My music can be heard.
My dream world..
A man completely becomes another person and begins to dance in accordance with music.New York City, June, 2002.
This essay (c) 2002 Masae. All rights reserved. It may not be reproduced in any way without permission by the author. Printed with permission.
Essay 5 of 5