day 15 is a sunday, and sunday means "yoyogi park"-time! or, in other words: seeing japanese youth culture live-performing all around in the park. at least that's what we expected to find at yoyogi park, as i had told nina all about my last visit to this park. but times change, and there was no cosplay folk at the spot where they used to hang out. but there was also some other festivities right next to the bridge, so we thought the cosplay people are kind of shy or fled that much people. too sad. so we went on. but the rockabilly crew[006-023,085-086] was still there. same place, and even almost all the same people. they performed their show and had loads of fun. besides that i missed all those bands. there were only about three of them scattered all over the park. again, too sad. maybe they also did not come because of the other festivity? but at least one band[024-029] was having fun and did quite a good gig. then we noticed a huge crowd and loud music nearby. we went there and found a hip-hop festival with breakdance battles[030,036-037], and live music[033-035]. the battles were special fun, as they really were mimicking and teasing each other. but all the teams had really much fun, and some of them were really really good - impressive show (almost like in LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" video - so you get an impression. oh, but without robo-man - sorry to disappoint you. yeah, i know, i was sad too. *sniff*). but then came something new, and shiny, and total cool. we saw a sign saying "2nd performance". so we sat down, and waited. then the artist started to draw. and he chose to draw me[041-043,065]. once that was done, he modelled my head in clay[044-056], sprayed it with something[057], and provided the head with a black hat and coat[058-062]. awesome. also this crazy artist and his performance were really jolly, fun and kawaii - and i think he had fun too, especially with my bearded face. when his work was done, i gave him a voluntary fee for this really enjoyable show and in return (and i think he did not expect that much from me), he gave me the drawing - yippieh, what a cool souvenir from japan. after exchanging loads of expressions of thanks, we moved on and took a stroll through the rest of this really huge park. we saw some more groups, like a drummer group[066], a little girl with her own group of devoted fans[080], a dance group[080-084], and other performers[067-069]. i think yoyogi park must look breathtaking in autumn, when all the trees change colours. near the exit/entrance there was still the rockabilly group. i really like their name "lebels", btw. yet their wildest act of lebellion was throwing opened beer cans and catching them, drinking them all bottoms up, and then throwing the can away. but not too far away, so some other guy of the group can pick it up and put it in the bag with all the other empty cans. rebelism interlaced with highest decency. so cute, so japan. and while we thought yoyogi park was done, as we already were near the shopping streets right next to one of the park exits, we got another great performance of a guy with an instrument he called "the chopstick piano"[089-093]. it was obviously selfmade (respect for that) and was made of guitar pickups, steel strings, planks of wood, and ... of course chopsticks for the piano keys. astonishing appliance, that made a mystical, wonderful, and addictive sound. to get an impression, feel free to feed the search engine of your choice with the keywords "bazl whammy". there's a video of him and his chopstick piano online. nina bought his CD to support him and enjoy the music at home. after that long walk we decided it's time for a hotto cohi and a little snack for nina. we found the "sad cafe"[096-097], which was full of little figurines from series and movies from the '80s, like the terminator, gremlins, rocky, all kind of superheroes, robocop, neo and wolverine (yop, not so strictly 80s), star wars and trek characters, aaaaaaaaaaand a cute little alien[097], yippieh. and then we entered nina's paradise, the takeshita dori[098-109] in the harajuku district. this district, and especially takeshita street offer endless shops for young people, providing all kinds of styles, from punk to goth to hipster and all the shades in between. also they had loads of shops there providing cool dresses. nina was like someone had cast a spell on her. shopping spree deluxe. hehe. especially one shop[107] had a clearance sale (or so we thought) and was full of little japanese girls trying to get their (cosplay) dress, wigs, and/or accessory. nice to watch. also the dresses nina bought really look totally awesome (what else?), and where pretty cheap - at least according to nina. so girls, if you ever get to the harajuku district be prepared for great, exclusive, and good value stuff and buys. when we got home we were already looking forward to the private onsen. we had booked it at the reception in the morning. it is a small bath with an in-ground bath tub from special stones to keep the heat, and a glass window with a view to a small garden. the hot water and the atmosphere really made us relaxed and weary. so all that was left for us to do after the 30 minute bath was to go to bed. what a great day.