May 2, 2015
Image 4 for ABOVE THE SKIN (ROME)
TO GO WITH STORY Japan-culture-costumes,FEATURE by Harumi Ozawa
This picture taken on January 25, 2014 shows members of Tokyo Zentai Club walking on a street in Tokyo. Some meet through Internet forums and through gatherings like the Tokyo Zentai Club, whose ten members get together every other month, just like any other group, to hold barbecues or parties. Unlike any other group, they are covered head-to-toe in skintight Lycra.They are part of a small subset in Japan with a fetish for wearing outfits called “zentai” — an abbreviation of “zenshintaitsu”, which means “full body suit” — who say they are seeking liberation through the complete sublimation of the physical self. AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNOYOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images