Kamagasaki

March 2, 2004 11:29 AM

The Kamagasaki Gallery. Background to and photographs of a Japanese slum.
posted by plep (10 comments total)

Excellent post.
posted by four panels at 11:32 AM on March 2, 2004

Your Asian-fetish weirdness flat out gives me the creeps ;-)
posted by jonson at 11:47 AM on March 2, 2004

Your Asian-fetish weirdness flat out gives me the creeps ;-)

*roflol*

First as tragedy, then as farce, right?? :)
posted by plep at 11:54 AM on March 2, 2004

Great Post! Like comfort women during WWII it's a side of Japan rarely seen or talked about.
posted by humbe at 12:23 PM on March 2, 2004

it's a side of Japan rarely seen or talked about.

Except, you know, here, last year.
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:58 PM on March 2, 2004

hama7 has out-asianed plep.
posted by the fire you left me at 2:15 PM on March 2, 2004

Sounds like it is time for an Asian-fetish caged death match!
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 9:30 PM on March 2, 2004

(just kidding! As always, excellent plep.)
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 9:31 PM on March 2, 2004

hama7 has out-asianed plep.

plep merely dabbles compared to hama7.

(I did a search and could not find the page... possibly should not have included the '.index.html' when doing so!)
posted by plep at 11:34 PM on March 2, 2004

The day that I first met my bearded friend (to the left), he walked up to me, and shook my hand. Then in perfect Queens English and with a sharp eye told me "Don't underestimate me, I may be dressed in rags, but my mind is still sharp, and I haven't lost my dignity. Now, close your gapping mouth and take a photo of me and my friend". He was found dead on the street on a cold winter day, a few months after this photo was taken.

Fascinating stuff, plep. This particular one reminds me of a homeless fellow I knew from an Ohio coffeeshop. He ended up dead, too, when local hospital workers refused to believe he had pneumonia and instead restrained him in a psych ward.

That may be off-topic, but it just reminds me how rich in personalities and characters street culture really is, and how common an occurrence sudden, needless, often unexplained death is among them.

Re: hama7
He is an artist living in Korea, no? Gives him, if not an edge, then perhaps a certain propensity towards Asian posts?

We all know that plep's blog is great. hama's is very good too, now that I finally check it out; I'll have to stop in more often.
posted by Shane at 12:00 PM on March 3, 2004