Doing your hobby

I have been in Japan for nearly 4 years and arguably I've come to know daily Japanese life fairly well. Last weekend, I was cycling along a road on my way to watch boat racing on a nearby river when I happened across the man in this picture. I pulled over and watched him for a minute before riding by and snapping the picture. Besides the fact that the guy had the musculature of Bruce Lee, that he was wearing a headband reminiscent of Karate Kid and that he had been sustaining this gymnastic feat for seemingly quite some time, besides all that it brought to mind the thought that whatever your hobby is in Japan, no, I should say no matter how extravagant your hobby is, so long as you are devoted to it and display that devotion openly and proudly then it is quite acceptable to pursue such extravagance in public space without anyone batting an eyelid. What I would like to know, becasue here I have encountered personal doubt on the matter, but what I'd like to know is whether anyone reading this has had the same thought about hobbies in other countries. If so then feel free to use the comment link to write about your stories. Perhaps you even practice an extravagant hobby yourself? In any case I would love to hear about them.