During my recent six week stint in Japan, I was exposed to a healthy variety of weird and wonderful new experiences. From vending machines that sell mobile phones and underwear, to seeing people dress-up like their favourite anime characters when clubbing, and eating food so fresh it is still alive (and moving); Japan took my boxed western mind and blew it wide open.

One of many memorable moments was discovering the wild musical antics of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu during a session of karaoke; in particular, her songs PonPonPon and Candy Candy… both of which I cannot get enough of!

PonPonPon is the very first music video from 19 year old Harajuku fashion blogger, model and recording artist Kiriko Takemura. Although her official stage name is Caroline Charonplop Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (きゃろらいんちゃろんぷろっぷきゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ) she often just goes by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.

The song PonPonPon is, surprisingly, extremely catchy and had me shamelessly humming the tune by the second chorus. The video, as seen above, is a psychedelic tribute to kawaisa (cute) and Decora
(unique to Harajuku) culture, hence it is delightfully surreal and trippy in that “what is this… I don’t even…but I like it” confused frame of mind.

Insane, playful, colourful, ridonkulous and surreal; each of Kyary’s videos epitomises everything that Harajuku is, or aims to be. Kudos to this blogger, turned model, turned recording artist, turned fashion icon with her own published biography, for continuing to remind us that Japan is most certainly one of the most unique and interesting countries in the world.

Kyary’s debut EP recording “Moshi Moshi Harajuku” was released on 17th August 2011 and her first fully fledged studio album entitled “Pamyu Pamyu Revolution” was released on 23 May 2012. Both albums are available for purchase through iTunes.

[Sources: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s Official Blog, KPP’s Official Twitter, iTunes, Wikipedia]

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Owner, founder and editor-in-chief at Vamers, Hans has a vested interest in geek culture and the interactive entertainment industry. With a Masters degree in Communications and Ludology, he is well read and versed in matters relating to video games and communication media, among many other topics of interest.