/////\ ..::::::..

The Tokyo avoiDANCE … For the past couple of months I’ve been trying to figure out a way to graphically translate the feeling of walking around Tokyo alone. This animated sketch is my first attempt to describe street-level social interactions (or lack thereof), which are distinctly different than in New York. There, whether they are checking you out or shooting a dirty look, at least people acknowledge your existence!

As I’ve noted on previous visits, here I get the sense that people are looking straight through me. And after a few weeks of solitude I noticed non-tourist gaijin actively avoiding each other as well, though less discretely. I was really bothered by this until a moment of clarity on the evening of November 26th in Roppongi, when I finally realized I could easily do the same. It was strangely liberating. That said, these norms go out the [train] window on a Friday night, when everyone is wasted … hmm, I think this calls for another animation

WATCH avoiDANCE!