Japanese pop culture emerges into a society of its own, in the streets of Harajuku, Tokyo young adults parade the pedestrian only streets dressed in the most innovative fashions ever. The streets are flooded with trend creators of tomorrow. Japanese youth dress in extreme styles known well to the western world. How does the Japanese culture gauge and understand the globalization process that homogenizes culture and accept that the traditional dress of Japan lies in the midst of yesterday. How and why are the fashion trends in Harajuku influenced by American culture? What are the specific trends detected in the streets of Harajuku?
Japanese street fashion breaks all the rules. Dress just like your best friend, a child or a cartoon character. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Westernization is among the youth of Japan. In the streets of Harajuku, a huge fashion trend with the influences of American culture makes its way in a major way. Classic western styles are seen in the Japanese fashion youth. Cute, is one of the trends found. Cute is significant to girls wearing bright colors, kooky matching and cartoon characters advertised anywhere you could think of. This style almost reminds you of the all-American first grader getting ready for school in their best attempt to match, wearing those favorite striped socks and dashing out the door with their favorite Rainbow Bright lunchbox. There are a few ways of interpreting this particular look. One, the style “cute” contributes to the continuing infantilization and consequent disempowerment of women. “Japan has never had a significant feminist movement and women continue to be at a disadvantage of men in Japanese public life. So the young women dressed as children seem only to hurt attempts for women to move into the grown-up world of politics and business as the equals of the men who are already there.” McVeigh points out. Cute is a trend that is easily incorporated into mainstream culture because of what it says about women. In “Chic Theory,” Joanne Finkelstein, writes, fashion has a disciplinary power and “coerces the body to shape and rearrange itself in accordance with ever-shifting social expectations.” The young women who dress in resemblance to children risk the stereotyping of being weak, and childlike.
Lolita is another style trend detected in Japan’s street fashion. This way of dress entails a relation to “cute” in a sense that Lolita style relies on childlike innocence that is displayed in the dressing in old Victorian child and doll like dress. “Lolita is a form of aestheticism.” (Novalo Takemoto) “In an era where we are terminally rushed, over scheduled and pressured to be prefect at all times, the Lolita culture makes us take time to be polite, kind, and graceful. Who wouldn’t want to go back in time to a simpler, slower youth, where innocence and beauty are safe and not shunned or threatened?” (Pinckard) “Lolita’s do not see themselves as what they are doing at all sexual or a reflection upon Japanese men’s sexual desires. In fact, it is repeatedly pointed out by both men and women that Lolita fashion is not generally found sexually attractive. Yes, the term comes from Nabokov’s book. Lolita’s know this. But the Japanese have a tendency of taking terms and reshaping their meanings for their own purposes. (Pinckard)
Gothic style is the elaborate dress of doll like costumes. This subculture’s look began late in 1999 and has evolved into a Victorian Gothic look. The women want nothing to do with Western Gothic ways. They do not listen to the same types of music and they are not Gothic in the Anglophone sense. “In a society that extols female youth, it is not surprising that the philosophy of gosurori--which incorporates the innocent and the alluring (or angel and devil in one body, in direct Japanese translation)--is appealing to certain older men.” (Kubo)
In historical Japan the women known as geisha perceived as artists and entertainers were among the visual influence of culture. Geisha describes female entertainers of the 17th century skilled in singing, dance and playing traditional Japanese instruments. The social system in Japan was that wives maintained the home and did not participate with men in business, politics, or entertaining. Geisha therefore became an important part of male entertainment acting as hosts at registered teahouses. The women in this culture sect were registered in a system, to keep them under control and force them to pay taxes. It strictly controlled their dress, behavior and movements and was considered so successful that it quickly became the norm across Japan. Tea houses were not allowed to operate outside the district and strict rules were applied. Geisha dressed in traditional kimonos and wear wooden clogs. Their hair was worn up and with ornaments; the make up used is a white foundation, with brightly painted red lips. Geisha were regarded as fashion leaders. The women of Japan have always had uniqueness about their style.
Maybe it's feminism. Maybe it's fantasy. Or maybe it's simply an updated version of the dramatic external decoration that drives Kabuki theater or geisha culture. (Janelle Brown)
The detection of these trends is a form of cultural imperialism.
I. Is the traditional culture of Japan diminishing with every new generation of pop culture to come?
- Japanese culture in the command of media.
McVeigh, Brian J. Wearing Ideology: State, Schooling and Self-Presentation in Japan. NY: Berg, 2000
Aoki, Shoichi. FRUiTS. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2001.
Finkelstein, Joanne. “Chic Theory.” Australian Humanities Review. (1997) May 2006 http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/Issue-March-1997/finkelstein.html.
Janelle Brown. “Juicy "Fruits" is sexy, tasty and good for you
A new portfolio of Japanese street chic puts our bland fashion to shame.” Archive Salon 9 July 2001. May 2006. http://archive.salon.com/mwt/style/2001/07/09/fruits/
Emily Kubo. “Harajuku girls co-opted: everyone imposes their own interpretation on the so-called Harajuku girls. Despite their recent rise to fame, who are the real girls behind the Hollywood obsession?” Japan, Inc. Summer, 2005. May 2006. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NTN/is_64/ai_n14813550
Hell, Kyshah. “Elegant Gothic Lolita.” July 2002. Morbid Outlook. May 2006. http://www.morbidoutlook.com/fashion/articles/2002_07_gothiclolita.html.
Pinckard, Jane. “Dress-Up.” July 2003. Game Girl Advance. May 2006. http://www.gamegirladvance.com/zine/200307play/playing_dress_up.html.
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