Friday, March 19: There's an explosion of noise and color in the heart of the Ten-jin district in Fukuoka City and the locals don't know what has hit them.
Honey, Tomo and Kei are Thee 50's High Teens.
Models dance down a runway through a clothes-shop complex called Oshareyoko-cho and straight into the street outside as groovy '60s psychedelic and Group Sounds music blares behind them; a chanteuse sings some Showa ballads. But three girls steal the show, gliding down the runway in vivid orange, red and yellow kimono.
This trinity of exploding stars -- Tomo, Honey and Kei -- are the reason I've traveled halfway across Japan to be here. The street outside was empty when the show started, but by the end it is packed. Passersby snap away with their camera keitai. Motorists honk their horns in a bid to get by.
Why all the fuss? Because, as far as fashion goes, Fukuoka appears to have about as much going for it as a mountain village inhabited by a farmer, his wife and a bunch of goats. On the surface, that is. If you've got inside knowledge, it's another story. And thanks to Thee 50's High Teens (that's Tomo, Honey and Kei), this is that other story.