On May 29, 2010, the new Forever 21 store in the Shinjuku held its grand opening. The night before, just before the “official opening”, the store hosted a special “Pre-Opening Party” event where fans of the brand were invited – along with Japanese celebrities – to do a bit of early shopping. Plenty of Tokyo girls showed up ready to become the first buyer. Smiling shoppers clutching the famous yellow Forever 21 shopping bags could be seen flooding out of the store and into the streets of Shinjuku.

The new Forever 21 Shinjuku store is located on the corner of Meiji Dori. The store occupies floors 1-3 plus one basement floor. The location is centrally located between the various Marui department stores and Isetan on the East side of Shinjuku Station. Therefore, its location becomes an instant presence in one of the most visited shopping areas of Tokyo – if not one of the most visited shopping areas on the planet!

No matter when, the shortcomings of political leaders have been a depressing litany: corruption in office, sex scandals, verbal gaffes and the like. However, it is such an interesting thing that a politician falls out with fashion sense. Yukio Hatoyama, who is the Japanese Prime Minister, has become one of the politicians.

It is true that the beleaguered leader was already struggling in the polls, but his popularity has taken a nose dive since his appearance in public wearing a shirt that one US blog describes as "an item last seen shown up on the Arsenio Hall show."

Hatoyama wore the multicolored monstrosity to a recent barbecue with voters. voter. His approval raing has dropped 9 points since.

Japanese fashion critic Don Konishi told CNN that the fashion misfire shows that Hatoyama is way out of touch with the lives of everyday citizens. (Konishi also notes this isn't Hatoyama's first fashion offense — he once wore a pink blazer over a shirt emblazoned with hearts. While it's rare for a leader like Hatoyama to catch serious heat over an outfit, it certainly isn't unprecedented. In fact, several leading American politicians have also suffered fallout in the ever-delicate matter of dressing to impress the voting public. We've rounded up some of the more notable cases (and couldn't resist adding Kim Jong-il); the background on the missteps is below.