This is a photo project done by me, Zorica Petkoska, and Lilika Strezoska. Skopje, Macedonia and Tokyo, Japan are so far apart, they might easily be on different planets. Yet, they’ve been linked all this time.

What links modernist architecture in Skopje to Japan is that the city master plan has been created by a the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange and his team after the devastating earthquake in Skopje in 1963. Sadly, the master plan was never fully implemented and the architecture from this period is largely neglected. So what rekindles the link with Japan is the subcultures who are fans of Japanese pop-culture. The girls and guys in these photos are all J-fans sporting Harajuku street fashion and they did a Harajuku-event in Skopje organized by Olivera Mladenovska.

So there you have it, the ‘brut’ and the ‘cute’. A little bit of concrete and a little bit of color go a long way to build bridges.

More info: Instagram

At UKIM (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University)

Fairy Kei at UKIM University

Fairy Kei at UKIM University

Shironuri at student dormitory “Goce Delchev”

Visual Kei + Host Kei at a train station

Kodona at Central Post Office

Mori Kei at Museum of Contemporary Art

Mori Kei at Museum of Contemporary Art

Mori Kei at Museum of Contemporary Art

Oshare Kei at National Bank

Kodona at Central Post Office

Oshare Kei at National Bank

Shironuri at student dormitory “Goce Delchev”

Gyaru at “City Wall”

Gyaru at “City Wall”

Ko-Gal at high school “Nikola Karev”

Visual Kei + Host Kei at a train station

Hime Lolita at highschool student dormitory

Ouji at the Weather Prediction Center

Decora at highschool student dormitory

Cult Party Kei at a high school “Nikola Karev”

Gothic Lolita at the Weather Prediction Center

Ko-Gal at high school “Nikola Karev”

Neo Street Fashion at UKIM university

Gothic Lolita at the Weather Prediction Center

Neo Street Fashion at UKIM university

Goth Loli and Ouji at the Weather Prediction Center

At highschool “Nikola Karev”

At highschool “Nikola Karev”

At highschool “Nikola Karev”