Fashion

Special thanks to Special K. - Kristine South who sent me a document via e-mail about the latest fashion trend to hit Japan. Uh... that's the image to the left.

Now before everyone freaks out - it's a print applied to the fabric. People aren't really showing off their derriere.

Having been (past tense, in case my wife reads this), an aficionado of the female form in Japan, I've noticed more often than not that there is a decided lack of roundness to the female buttocks. I swear, I have no knowledge of the Japanese male rear - if I had noticed, it's not part of memory files. If I did still remember, I'd tell you.

Anyhow, if you glance again at the photo(s) scattered in this blog, the rumps on the dresses look pretty good. Too good. It's why I wasn't fooled for a moment. Obviously not every person lacks a well-rounded rump (and I'm not talking about bubble-butts)--and it certainly isn't a defect, I'm just passing along an observance. And, yes, I did date more than a handful of Japanese women. Like I said, this is not a criticism, it's actually more of a critique.

So... I can see the allure of wanting to give the appearance of having a well-rounded physique, but, and I'm no prude, this new fashion statement is rather bold.

Japan is well-known for it's kooky inventions for things you and I would never even think there would be a use for (I sense another blog topic) ... and this seems like another mis-step in Japan's thirst to become something it isn't.

Let me just come right out and say this: Japan's fashion sense--excluding the awesomeness of the kimono--is a few steps behind being chic.

I love Japan. I love the people. I love the food. I love the history. I love the culture. But darn it all, Japanese fashion leaves a little to be desired (at least by Western tastes).

One of my Japanese girlfriends (yes, plural) told me that Tokyo girls (circa 1990s) wore a lot of black coloured clothing (nothing wrong with that). Osaka girls - a few hundred kilometres to the west of Tokyo, well they wore more colourful garb. It's true - at least as far as my observances went.

She told me that while Japan's fashion industry was centered around Tokyo, Osaka took its cue from a more European influence.

Now, while the women are pretty, I can honestly state that I was rarely blown away by someone's garb--well, in Ohtawara (north of Tokyo), we had one woman--Narita-san--who dressed so against the grain that she stood out--and not in a negative way. She was loud, funny, slightly obnoxious - and was probably more western than most westerners. You can see a photo of this styling woman here to the right. Her... I miss.

Narita-san

Hey - I'm not saying us guys and gals on the JET Programme were stylin' either. Though, some of us did, like me (ego-maniac!).  And Japanese men - just like western men - we get a suit and a tie with colours ranging from blue, black, brown, silver and grey. It's rare to see a colour other than that, and even nowadays, if you see a man dressed in a suit not of those colours, you're going to do a double-take.

Back to the issue at hand. I've critiqued the standard Japanese fashions the average person wears. Don't believe me? School kids wear Victorian sailor uniforms and/or full track suits with a solid colour and white stripping or lettering.

They have ugly indoor slippers for the home, and uglier green slippers for the household water closet (W.C. or bathroom). Even my girlfriends - while always nicely dressed, there was never anything that made one go 'whoa'. Those kimono did, however - but they were only wheeled out for special occasions. Geisha? Rare. I'll fill you in on another blog.

Granted I lived in a farming city - but I did travel around the whole country (though I did not make it out to Hokkaido or Okinawa). And, while again I reiterate that there was little superb fashion to ogle, I can state that it is rare to find people there who are willing to buck the trend. Remember: Deru kugi wa utareru  (The nail that sticks up, gets hammered down). It's a Japanese way of life.

I'm sure the photo of the women (I'm assuming they are women) wearing these butt dresses are professional models - and that perhaps a few Japanese women will buy one - but sticking out like a sore bum, I mean thumb, is not something individual Japanese folk are known for.

Now I could be wrong about the Japanese not wanting to stick up - afterall, 20 years ago, the main purpose of the JET Programme was to internationalize (not to teach the kids English). That's my opinion. We wanted to show them that there was more to the world than just Japan.

Butt, hopefully we didn't go too far and make them think this is a good fashion statement. Still, the Japanese birthrate has been in freefall for a number of years as Japanese women are either delaying having a family or are forgoing it entirely... something that in the past would have been considered so un-Japanese. 

Somewhere, the butt of most jokes,
Andrew Joseph
Today's title is by David Bowie, who knows something about FASHION. I was going to use The Doors 'The End' as a title, but this episode is more about fashion as a whole. Man, there are so many jokes to make here.