Observation 1 / London
Spit and polish
They’ve flexed their finger muscles and got their cloths ready: the best shoe-shiners in the business prepare to go toe to toe.
The three competitors couldn’t be more different. All eyes are on the dashing 30-something from Tokyo at the front of the room, who has paired a navy suit with a Colgate-white smile. Beside him, a gentleman from Falun, Sweden, wears an unbuttoned shirt and a quiet confidence. Then there’s the dark horse: a portly dad from Kettering, outside London, who moonlights as a rock singer and is dressed in black.
The contest is about to begin but first it’s time for showboating. “Have you been training?” the Japanese finalist, Yuya Hasegawa, asks the others…
