Looks like Tokyo’s finally going to have a flash mob. This appeared in my Inbox last night:
There have been gatherings of strangers doing weird things in public in Tokyo and around Japan, like the Matrix events in June, and a group of people posing like comics covers. These are called “off” (presumably for off-line), but as far as I’ve been able to tell, there hasn’t been anything called a flash mob here.
The idea of a flash mob, in case this Summer 2003 fad passed you by, is that someone sets a date, time and location for participants to gather (the “mob” bit) and do something silly for a very brief time, then disperse (the “flash” bit).
There’s a bit of mystery, too, as the exact instructions aren’t given out until minutes before the mob starts. People meet at published staging areas and get the final details there.
It’s sort of performance art by strangers. Sounds like fun. Will I see you there? Details are forthcoming, the English website is http://www.geocities.com/alien_coruscater/mob.html