Leitrim is much cooler than anyone ever knew.

So I’m a bit pissed (not too bad) and I’m on my bike cycling hands free over the river to the Bridge club for a hip hop night. Apparently the DJs are great – here for one night only before they go to Hiroshima to perform tomorrow. The gaijin are out in force – most of them dressed in their ghetto finery – one guy sporting a very tasteful medallion – its chunky, its gold, it’s a plastic dollar sign.

We’re wandering over there – past the primped and dyed uber-styled Japanese girls (put your tongue back in gaijin boy – poor Japan attracts some of the sleaziest westerners going – but you knew that). We wander past the uber-pretty, uber-styled Japanese boys. The drinking while driving in Japan is completely prohibited in Japan – zero-tolerance – if you’ve had a sip you’re over the limit. So I’m just thinking – there’s an awful lot of cars here when I realise what kind of cars they are.

Not many people reading this are from my village – but Emma if you’re out there – you know Francey Mac’s car? Think that but pimped by Pimp my Ride for Xhibit. Lots of really old, expensive, classic American cars ridiculously pimped. Then beyond the cosmetics is the hydrolics. Cars suspended three quarters of the way off the ground. Holy shit – maybe this happens in Leitrim but I’m not cool enough to know about it. As a gaijin in Japan I’m not very cool either but that’s cause I’m white – I have black friends though which seems to pass on some kind of associated cool. They are really into rap culture here. (Of course there is the other side of the story whereby any of the black JETs get subjected to some quite offensive personal comments and scrutiny which we’ve been assured is just as rude in Japan as it would be anywhere else).

So we go inside – the warm up acts are dodgy at best but still crazy dancing ensues. Just before the main act we all get called outside – a battle is about to begin – yes the cars are trying to out bounce each other. It’s the red one verses the black one – too late I remember my phones video capability and so I have an unclear video of them pulling away. It was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve had here so far I still reel when I think about it. I know that the yakuza drag race along the main road in front of my house at night and that there are some seriously pimped out cars around the city but actually watching them try to out-bounce each other really threw me. And it was the really Japanese way that they did it too – someone was there with a video camera and the red car crew practiced the little hand signal chant thing they were going to do for the video before it was switched on and the battle began. Fun times.