Dancers: BodyCarnival, Location: Kawasaki, Japan, Year: 2025, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Approximately a 6-minute read.

Outline

First Encounters

Coordination, Constraints, and Cultural Context

Getting Lost in Tokyo

Adaptation, Recovery, and Improvisation

The Shoot: Movement, Personality, and Environment

Reflection and Future Work

First Encounters

One of the most memorable aspects of my first trip to Japan was meeting and photographing the internationally celebrated, award-winning breakdancing crew BodyCarnival for a project that I will announce in the future.

BodyCarnival is from Kyoto, Japan, and the crew is known for their precision, creativity, and deep roots in Japanese and global hip-hop and breakdancing culture.

Our collaboration took place in the Greater Tokyo Area, while their identity understandably remains deeply rooted in Kyoto, Japan’s original capital, which I visited the week before, and which is rich with historical and cultural significance.

Working with them represented an intersection of documentary photography, hip-hop culture, and international collaboration that aligns directly with the broader direction of my work.

From the outset, the intention was to create portraits that reflect their athleticism, timing, and individuality, while also capturing the Japanese context of our photo shoot.

Even before meeting them in person, I understood that this would be a collaboration shaped as much by environment and constraints as by creative direction.

Coordination, Constraints, and Cultural Context

The shoot was coordinated through a Zoom call with BodyCarnival’s Rie “Narumi” Fukushima, and I joined from my hotel in Akasaka, Tokyo, immediately following another photo shoot in Shibuya.

During our call, we agreed to shoot at a temple in Tokyo, aligning the location with both aesthetic intention and cultural context, and I was looking forward to it.

However, the timing was tight, as BodyCarnival would have only about 1 hour available due to their participation in a breakdancing competition.

We agreed to meet on Monday, July 21, 2025, at 1:00 PM JST.

Japan operates on a level of punctuality and precision that is foreign and, quite often, impossible in countries like Canada, which often views punctuality as optional, at least implicitly.

Culturally, whether it be a photo shoot or a business meeting in Japan, there is very little room for error when it comes to timing, particularly in professional contexts.

Location: Kawasaki, Japan, Year: 2025, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Getting Lost in Tokyo

Despite how efficient travelling throughout Tokyo and other parts of Japan can be, despite my use of Google Maps, and despite asking strangers for directions, I ended up getting lost on my way to meet BodyCarnival, which was both frustrating and demoralizing, especially considering I barely got lost in Japan.

There appeared to be a miscommunication regarding the temple’s location or name during our meeting, and I somehow ended up approximately 90 minutes away from the crew.

This happened in nearly 40-degree Celsius summer heat, which in Japan feels significantly more intense than comparable temperatures in places like California or the Middle East.

By the time I realized the extent of the error, I was exhausted and covered in sweat.

Given my tendency to be punctual or early, especially in environments where that is culturally expected, the situation felt particularly unacceptable; I apologized profusely, which I rarely feel compelled to do anywhere.

Telling Narumi that I was lost, in that context, felt like a breach of professionalism, even though the circumstances were not entirely within my control.

Adaptation, Recovery, and Improvisation

Once it became clear that I could not realistically arrive by 1:30 PM JST, Narumi adapted quickly and proposed an alternative plan.

She recommended that I meet her and the rest of BodyCarnival outside Club Citta in Kawasaki, one of the cities that represent the Greater Tokyo Area, where the Battle of the Year (BOTY) 2025 Japan event was taking place, after it concluded.

I arrived approximately an hour early for the revised meeting time, still physically drained but determined to execute the shoot.

At one point, I sat down outside a building near the venue to rest, and several people stared at me strangely, which initially confused me.

After a few minutes, I realized I had unintentionally violated a social norm by sitting in a space not designated for sitting.

It was a small moment, but it reinforced how different cultural expectations are in Japan compared to North America or Europe, where that behaviour, and where I was specifically sitting, would go completely unnoticed; nonetheless, I was in Japan, not in North America or Europe, so adaptation to Japanese social norms was and still is key.

The Shoot: Movement, Personality, and Environment

Before reconnecting with BodyCarnival, I shot a brief, impromptu portrait session with another dance crew whose name I do not know.

Shortly after, BodyCarnival emerged from Club Citta, energized, smiling, and interacting with other dancers.

Although I had missed the event itself, the energy outside the venue still carried the momentum of what had taken place inside.

Considering the delays leading up to our shoot, we immediately began scouting nearby alternative locations.

We decided to shoot in a nearby garage, with Narumi coordinating access through a local business owner.

The environment was clean, yet raw and unpolished, at least by most of Tokyo’s standards, which complemented the authenticity and physicality of the crew’s movement and presence.

Reflection and Future Work

We also shot portraits in front of a nearby 7-11, which, while simple, felt culturally specific and visually appropriate within the Japanese urban landscape; I would have been disappointed had I left Japan without any portraits featuring a 7-11.

Despite the logistical challenges, I appreciated the fun, spontaneity, personality, and athleticism that BodyCarnival brought to the shoot.

The constraints forced a level of adaptability that ultimately shaped the final images in a way that felt honest and grounded.

Being late for our shoot and experiencing how smoothly it ultimately played out reminded me that documentary work, particularly in unfamiliar environments, requires as much flexibility as preparation; plus, since I was a child, some of my most fruitful photo shoots were completed under incredibly tight time constraints, sometimes in less than fifteen minutes.

Our shoot also reminded me that meaningful collaborations are often defined by how both parties respond to unexpected setbacks.

I have a great deal of respect for BodyCarnival’s discipline and contribution to hip-hop culture, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with them.

When I return to Japan soon, I intend to document them again, ideally realizing the original vision of shooting at a temple, ideally in Kyoto, their home city, under more controlled conditions.

Since our shoot, BodyCarnival celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sunday, January 25, 2026, at Kyoto Prefectural Hall ALTI, a major accomplishment; coincidentally, BodyCarnival’s career is as long as mine.

The crew has also gone on to win the prestigious Street Flava 2026 competition in Japan (in February 2026), solidifying their position as one of the most elite breakdancing crews in the country (and on a global scale).

I congratulate them on all of their recent achievements and on 20 years of solidarity, dedication, and mastery, and I look forward to documenting more culturally relevant individuals, organizations, and institutions in Japan that understand the long-term value of hip-hop culture at a high level, with intention, precision, and global relevance

Kyoto’s BodyCarnival: Precision Under Pressure