Japan: A World of Contrast

I’ll spare you all the detailed novelties of Japan, as this isn’t really the place to talk about hi-tech toilets, high quality convenience stores and shinkansen sushi bars. However, I can attest that all of these were highly entertaining!

Instead, there will be musings on Japanese fashion. I’ve been to 3 different cities, but honestly, the fashion styles varied vary little in between. I’d probably say Tokyo would have more subvarieties, but overall the fashion statements are the same. And forgive me if I don’t have any personal photos, many stores didn’t allow us to take pictures.

Converse Nation

For hip young 18yr old girls to cool-laid back 30 yr old men, the pair to have at the moment is the Converse. 1 out of every 10 young person I came across had on one of the ubiquitous pair in all shades and colors. American fashion has spawned a following of simplicity: jeans, tshirt, dress shirt…you know, what you see every day in North America. Compared to Japanese fashion, American fashion is deceptively simple and fuss-free. And for the moment, whatever’s American is pretty cool for the younger generation. They even opened American themed stores in Harajuku.

Playboy dominates school girl sock industry

Another general staple of Japan are the gangs of school girls in plaid miniskirts and sailor tops. What’s also peculiar are their love for knee high socks bearing small embroidered logos. A popular one is none other than the Playboy bunny logo cutely embroidered in shades of light pink on navy blues. I have a Korean friend who used to own a pair, she said even in Korea Playboy logo-ed socks were the norm.

But I mean…do they even know what Playboy is??

A side note: There is a certain type of fondness for nonsense English proverbs, and that to many Japanese hold no particular meaning when sporting what North Americans would think offensive.

A prime example is the Spread Beaver tshirt below. The Engrish.com website explains it quite well.

T-shirt reads: “Spread Beaver: Showing The Vaginal Area”

50yr old business men bearing cutesy cellphone straps

A fine business suit (most likely Armani) is required for any well-respected corporate office worker. Having seen thousands of them in the daily train commutes, I hadn’t noticed anything special about them until one man whipped out his cellphone with a few dangling phone straps. Now, in North America, men here have a tendency to be pretty alpha male, and you’d never find a business man with a cellphone strap of any kind much less one with bells and whistles. But for Asians, it’s normal to own something like a Hello Kitty phone strap. Such a small detail, but makes a world of difference.

Shibuya 109 – Hipper than thou

Walking into this 9 story building is like walking into a nest of swans, while you and your significant other are the ugly (very ugly) ducklings. The latest rage in Tokyo happens here, where it feels like hoards of rainbow bombs devastated each store. It seems like each brand have uncracked the color coordination mystery and have assembled the wackiest shades together yet work fabulously with one another. I have never felt so out of style as I walked in with my pocket tube dress and skinny jeans.

There were myriads of styles ranging from urban rock, with zippers and belts dangling all over the place, to lacey knitted baby doll dresses. Sales girl look like they have popped out of teen fashion magazines with their makeup perfectly in place, their hair teased and coiffed just right, with mile high stilettos and short shorts galore.

The Men’s section was colorful but restrained from the pastel colors and opted for more blacks, reds and navy blues. Stylish 20-something guys here wore 80′s skinny ties, slim fitted leather studded jackets, short sleeved hoodies and graffiti tshirts. My old goth rock self drooled over the numerous wallet chains, and uniquely designed biker rings, while the 30-something metal head salesman with long hair stood politely nearby with hands behind his back.

My biggest and only clothing purchase was a sleeveless hoodie in military green with lots of zippers (but with faux pockets) that I got at Heaven & Earth. One peculiar thing happened. The jacket was a one size fit all in either long or short waisted style. So if you were a bigger girl and couldn’t fit…tough luck, it’s indirectly saying that you’re too fat for this outfit. If you were too tall or too small, well tough luck, there aren’t any other sizes. Bizarre, to say the least.

That’s it for today, tomorrow we’ll have a look in shopping in the high end luxury maven called the Ginza district in Tokyo. I’ll also talk about my observations upon visiting the Chanel store, Mikimoto, as well as having a first hand look at a first class grocery store (which isn’t really fashion, but it’s luxury nonetheless).

Image credits: mcwstar, engrish.com, gizmodo uk, playboy