Fashion

Today, in class we had a recent graph that showed what Japanese young people liked to do on their days off. The top 5 were from greatest to least:

1. Hanging out with friends
2. Hanging out at home watching TV etc.
3. Shopping
4. Just walking around without a specific purpose
5. Read/Listen to music

In contrast, U.S. young people ranked the following:

1. Hanging out with friends
2. Hanging out at home watching TV etc.
3. Going to watch sports matches/movies/etc.
4. Spending time with family
5. Spending time with boyfriend/girlfriend

For some reason or other, we ended up all talking about Japanese fashion. Like, why is Japan the only one with shopping as one of the top things they do on their day off? In Japan, fashion seems to be really important. Everyone dresses nice. All the time. In college in the US, you see people in sweats, tshirts and shorts (even in the winter) all the time. You would never see it at Keio. Perhaps the reason is Keio is a pretty prestigious school and there are students that have been enrolled in the Keio escalator program since pre-school, meaning they belong to super rich families. I really don't know what to think about the girls that wear beautiful coats with fur lining, sleek tights, and bow trimmed heels to school...

Apparently, fashion is so important that some girls get part time jobs just so that they can buy clothes. Well, I guess I do that in my game, but who knew it was true in real life? Fashion is HUGE. And expensive. There are also tons of fashion magazines and make-up books available here. Going out of the house without make up, even if you're running late, especially in the professional realm, is unthinkable. Some girls on their days off just practice make-up techniques. I don't know if girls in the U.S. do that...

Guys in Japan are also super fashionable. It's kind of gross to the extent that some of them style their hair. Sometimes I wonder how long it takes everyday... Guys sometimes even accessorize as much as girls. On the train the other day, I saw this really sparkly guy. He had a dangling earring from one ear, stylized and gelled hair, a jewel studded belt, a leather bracelet with a shiny stone. and a wallet chain hanging from his front jeans pocket to his back pocket. He was pretty rather than handsome. Just captivatingly sparkly.

Also, it's not unusual to see guys carrying bags around Japan. In America, it's weird. If a guy has a bag, it's called a man purse and looked upon as girly or metrosexual. The extent of a bag that a guy is allowed to have is either a backpack or a briefcase. Otherwise, guys carry everything in their pockets. In Japan, I've seen guys with little mini purses and even female-looking purses. Since I've grown up in the U.S., I can't help but think they look a little silly, but because they're Japanese, they can get away with it somehow...

One girl from Germany in my class suggested that Japanese people are so obsessed with fashion because, especially when it comes to elementary to high school students, they have to wear a uniform all the time, so when they go out on their day off, it's a special day. For that reason, it's important for them to look special. According to my teacher though, even when they wear their uniform, they try to make it as individual as possible by wearing their shirt in a different way, or changing the length of their skirt. The same is probably the same in the business world. They have to all wear a suit, so they try to make it a nice suit and then do something with their hair to make themselves different from the others. Perhaps it's because not only foreigners, but Japanese people themselves think they all look to similar to each other physically, so they use clothes, hair, make up to make themselves stand out. It's an interesting topic, I think.