Though summer is officially over, it’s still painfully hot and sweaty, and for some Japanese women it’s still the days of Jane Austen. Yes, the elegant ladies of Tokyo are walking round with parasols (though they often look like normal umbrellas) and gloves so long they almost reach their armpits. All to preserve the whiteness of their skin.

At the same time though, the not so elegant gyaru (gals) of Shibuya are walking round almost black from Enoshima beach, tanning salons and fake tan (if you told them they looked black they’d be delighted- they all want to be Beyonce). Add using marker pens for make up and they look like some kind of post-apocalyptic tribe (although their only weapons are their piercing, screeching laughs).

Is it onlyin Japan where you can go into the past and into the future in just one day?