"Kimo-kawaii," a trendy woman says next to me. "Kimoi" as in "creepy," and "kawaii" as in "cute." Combined, it's a popular buzz word. Several cosplayers are plopped right in the middle of the street, which has been closed for Nipponbashi Festival in Den-Den Town. Photographers swarm, and I can hear the digital shutters snap.

A guy in a grey sweater and ridiculous, white sunglasses is on her arm. They just kinda stand there in their designer dudes, gawking. "Kimo-kawaii, ne?" ("Creepy cute, huh?") she asks Sunglasses, who nods.

Japanese nerds have traditionally been classified somewhere between dilettantes and serial killers. Since last year's Densha Otoko craze, otaku are suddenly cool. The book/movie/TV show featured a beautiful woman that fell for an otaku. Not real otaku, but a handsome actor wearing dork-face and flannel. The mainstream has reassessed the stereotype and is ready to get its geek on, see what this otaku thing is.

The entire street is filled with cosplayers. Men with died eyebrows and girls in knee-highs dot the landscape. Very-single men scurry around and take pictures of maids. I turn to Sunglasses and Trendy, still standing there like tourists. He says something about being hungry, and they are swept up in a crowd.

A man in a balloon hat making balloon animals. Gundam. Spiderman standing next to a capsule toy dispenser, shooting the shit. Vending machines selling oden. Cat ears everywhere. A business man in a wrestling mask. More Gundam.

In front of a police box, a woman wearing a uniform stands.

"Are you a cop?" I ask.
"Event staff," she tells me.
Several other staff "cops" walk beats nearby, holding bull-horns and directly foot traffic.

Sunglasses appears, eating something on a stick. He finishes, and Trendy pitches the stick. They scan the crowd and wade in. I follow. Gobs of maids pass out fliers. Sunglasses takes one from each and hands them to Trendy, who folds and puts them into her purse. Souvenirs.

A troop of women appear from a building somewhere. All of them could be arrested for what they are wearing. Police escort them to the center of the street. Bees on honey, and within nanoseconds a sizable crowd has assembled. "Incredible!" a guy exclaims as he darts by, readying his digicam. Sunglasses and Trendy stalk over.

The girls mug for everyone's cameras, including Sunglasses'. Excited, he circles and moves in for the kill. He shows the pics to his companion. She ho-hums them and sends him out to get better shoots. Once again, he circles and moves in for the kill. Takes a few more, which he takes to Trendy for approval. She nods, he puts away the camera and they head down the crowded street.

Kimo-kawaii ne.

Den-Den Town [Official Site]

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