Shibuya
Mr. Kakuta knows. Better known as “Jimmy,” he has stood on Shibuya’s main street every day for the last nine years. He shows photos of celebrities from albums tied to his waist with strings. He gives out Band-Aids. He passes out candy.
Though Jimmy, 49, has a paunch and a balding head that he has chosen to shave, and no particular profession, he can usually be seen surrounded by a flock of teenage girls.
Exactly what Jimmy does is not easy to define. He began by picking up garbage around his street corner. Since he became a fixture in Shibuya, he has appeared on television shows and at clubs and has written columns in a sports newspaper, earning enough to support himself. Companies marketing new products have sometimes paid him to pass items to girls: mints, removable tattoos, toys, a can opener for girls with long nails.
[The New York Times, “A Flashy Teenage Trend Capital, and Its Dark Side”]
Quite a career.
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They have a can opener for girls with long nails? Duuuuuuuuude I totally wouldn’t buy it but it still sounds cool :P
Posted by Becca at September 16, 2003 3:01 PM :: Link