Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Hey, Im not complainin'

      First off,  I learned first hand this weekend after several awkward field work attempts, that there is nothing simple about a middle class white man sparking up a conversation with a host club employee busy on the nightly grind.  Is it because I'm a guy, or because it's clear I have no money to give them...either way, smart men, I like these guys.
      So what I decided to write about instead is something that anyone who takes a second to look around the streets of Japan sees daily, Japanese women and their keen sense of fashion.  Fortunatley for the sake of field work I have a lady friend, Ai, who is, of course, part of the Japanese  fashion culture who was available for some questioning, and Misato, who does not mind being photographed and put on the web.  Cool.

Try texting on your Iphone with these bad boys.

   In my three or so months here in Japan,  I have noticed something about the Japanese female fashion.  Although the seasons and temperatures have changed over time, well, the fashion hasnt changed a bit.  I really began to notice this when  a somewhat cold day came by, Japanese girls are the first ones to let you know how samui they are.  "Samui! Samui!"  So this led to a simple question for Ai, why not wear more clothing?  It only seems natural.  She was very straightforawrd with her answer; "For many of us, it is more important to look good, then to be warm and comfortable."  To each his own I guess.  I can't complain.

Nice earrings, fashionable hat, Pretty Japanese
girl rockin a Red Sox hoodie, I like it.


      The fashion can also, at time, be an example or the younger generation of Japanese people having a certain interest in the Western world.  The day I took these pictures of Misato, when I told her it was so I could write about Japanese fasion she made it very clear to me that none of her clothes were manufactured in Japan.  We then talked about how it may not neccesarily the clothes themselves that represent the fasion but the way in which they are assembled together.  They have the skill to take a series of simple outfits and turn them into one extravagant get-up.  Perhaps its the Western girls that could learn a thing or two.
      In closing, I think it is important to also say that its not just the females in Japan that exhibit these strong traits, but also the men.  Perhaps some of the fashion statements wouldnt go over to well in other countries but I think that Japanese pull it off quite well.

1 comment:

  1. Lots of potential for visual anthropology in Japanese fashion. I like it when Body/Comm meets Visual Anthro.

    But I would have liked to see some photos of your attempted fieldwork with host boys...

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