Tag Archives: kazuhiro kokubo

Wow, talk about a case of overreaction. We can’t help but feel a little bad for Japanese Olympic snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo. Like many of his youthful brethren, he’s currently sporting dreads and a nose ring (both popular fads in Japan right now), and his style is pretty true of most snowboarders: saggy pants, loose clothes … you know the look. Anyhoo, when Kazuhiro showed up in Vancouver wearing his national uniform with his own twist — he untucked the shirt, pushed his pants down low on his hips, and loosened his tie — he caused serious outrage among his home country’s parliament and the Japan Ski Association, who banned him from attending the Olympic opening ceremony. No, seriously, people are mad. In fact, it’s a huge source of debate over there right now. While the elders are calling him a total embarrassment, the youth are saying he has a right to rock his mad style. We say yikers, what do they think of our Rodarte-wearing and fur-clad Johnny Weir? And compared to Michael Phelps‘ infamous weed disaster, this seems so tame and harmless. [CNN] Keep reading »