The Pink Power Ranger

My very first apartment in the Land of the Rising Sun was affectionately known as “Funky Town”. When I first arrived in Japan my company had allocated me a modest monthly allowance to cover property rental and furniture. I was excited to get out there and get my pad sorted, but before heading off on a spending spree I fired off a question to my manager to get the low-down on what expenses the accommodation budget would cover. The response was that I could spend the amount on anything that I wanted, and as a demonstration of the broadness of the scope, by way of example my manager said that if I wanted to I could spend the whole amount on prostitutes each month and sleep in the gutter just as long as I got receipts from the prostitutes.

Armed with this directive, and being a single guy, I rented an unfurnished apato in a cool part of town. The only furniture that I bought was a one-seater leather recliner, a big arse TV. Oh, and a bed. I used the remaining amount of the budget on essentials like black lights, strobe lights and lava lamps. For the complete effect, I plastered my ceiling with a constellation of those tacky glow-in-the-dark self-adhesive stars and planets. Thus, “Funky Town” was born. A bachelor stronghold and popular party pad.

When it came time to tie one on in celebration (or is that commiseration?) of a buddy’s pending nuptials, “Funky Town” was nominated as the starting point for the festivities of the evening. We decided to kick-start the night with a few looseners at “Funky Town” before moving onto further debauchery in what was being touted as a surrogate bachelor party (or stag, buck or bull party depending where you are from). Given that the number one rule at a bachelor party is to humiliate the bachelor, our man Nick was requested to be attired in a Pink Power Ranger outfit for the duration of the evening. Like a champ, Nick, without argument, donned the garb and everyone queued for a photo with Mr Pink.

This is Hara-san (aka’d as Hara-san Ford). Feeling like he has conquered The Pink Power Ranger, he flashes the famed Japanese V sign.

Hara-san and The Pink Power Ranger

The Pink Power Ranger, in a somewhat defensive stance, does the little known martial art move called The Wiener Deflector.

Ken and The Pink Power Ranger

Millsy was just really excited to see The Pink Power Ranger.

Millsy and The Pink Power Ranger

We charged up on a few bevvies and the lure of the karaoke room got stronger with each beer. So we pulled stumps at “Funky Town” and headed to the local karaoke shop to belt out a few tunes.

reesan and Hara-san

Hara-san ordering the beers

Ken was first up for a tune. We told him to grab a mic and it seems that he grabbed two.

Ken with both microphones

I was up next and as everyone knows I take this stuff seriously. This next photo is me pumping out Barbie Girl by Aqua.

Ummm, singing Barbie Girl by Aqua?

Still on a high from nailing Barbie Girl (um, figuratively) it was time for a quick piccie with Yamaguchi-san.

Yamaguchi-san and reesan

And then a piccie with The Pink Power Ranger.

reesan and The Pink Power Ranger

The night wore on. And with all good karaoke nights the singing got better with every beer. The Pink Power Ranger broke rules and reverted to civilian attire and that’s when Millsy grabbed the pink gimp mask and started to impose himself on other unsuspecting, neighbouring karaoke rooms. He became so much of a hit that other rooms began to knock on our door and ask if Millsy could do guest appearances in their room.

Millsy, The Pink Gimp

Our time in the karaoke room had expired after multiple extensions of time. The party then progressed to the much adored red-light district of Tokyo, Kabuki-cho. And that part of the night is another story for another time.

This article is a submission for the Japan Blog Matsuri hosted by Haikugirl over at Haikugirl’s Japan with the theme “Faces of Japan”.