June 24 - Chillin' Osaka Style

Just a mini-update since I've been kind of in absentee lately, but work's been keeping me busy. ^^

Anyway, I checked out of my hotel the next morning and on a whim decided to go to a famous mall called HEP-5, which was listed in my guidebook as attracting more visitors than Tokyo Disneyland. Maybe I'm a snobby Tokyoite now, or maybe Tokyo Disneyland really sucks, or possibly this place is just more convenient to hang out in, but I didn't find it particularly special.



Perhaps it's more impressive when it's not raining. Since it was kind of miserable outside, the ferris wheel, probably the main attraction of the mall, wasn't running. It's pretty cool looking though.


Ok, fine, I GUESS a giant ferris wheel in a mall is pretty impressive. And the first thing I saw upon entering was a gigantic red whale. O_o Interesting choice of decor...


Anyway, the rest of this entry is going to be some rambling on Japanese street fashion, so you can see later how it relates to the high-end fashion I'll be working with. ^^



Like I said before, girls are pretty feminine around here. Skirts are a lot more common (and easier to use the traditional Japanese squat-toilets in, which were also the only kind they had in the mall), heels are worn all the time, and fluffy lacy girly things are all the rage. But this store takes the little girl thing to the extreme. O_o I have never seen no much concentrated pink and white and lace and ruffles.... The fact that such a place exists is pretty awesome though. ^^ The anti-Hot Topic, perhaps?


Also, the layering is very popular. I call this particular look 'hobo chic.' My theory is that they had to think of a gimmick to get an already crazy consumer market to maintain growth, and someone said, "I know! They can wear several outfits at the same time!" There was a stunned pause, then someone started a slow clap, and the person was heralded as a marketing genius. Or at least that's how it happens in my head. :p



And here's some more layering. Though sleeveless clothes are available in Japan, hardly anyone wears them alone - it's always paired as a layer with something that has sleeves. Which in my mind, defeats the purpose of owning sleeveless things, but oh well... it can look cool sometimes. I'm really liking the sleeveless hoodie/vest thing that's really popular right now.


It's also really popular among guys fashion. A lot of the guys walking around don't restrict themselves to wearing just one shirt at a time. That's far too plebian. And useless. I bet the moms doing the laundry are secretly cursing whoever thought this up.


A close up of a shirt in the same store: you don't need two shirts if it's warm enough outside to wear short sleeves, but I must admit that it looks pretty cool here. By the way, I was wearing the shirt/hoodie thing I got yesterday, and the attendant at the store said my shirt was cute. ^^


More guys clothes, pretty normal looking actually.


And EWWWW pointy-toed guys shoes. SNEAKER-INSPIRED, punked-up, pointy-toed guys shoes. It's like a pair of converses had illicit affairs with a pair of cowboy boots, and this was the shameful result. A horror to rival super-high-waisted pants.... I'll post a picture later from the Guts Dynamite Caberet show at last season's Tokyo collection, and you'll understand the true extent of their terror.


The jean selection however, it awesome. If your waist is 28 inches or under, of course.


And SHOES. Like, every female in Tokyo wears heels. I totally saw a girl at the subway station today that couldn't have been more than 7 years old, and she was sandals with maybe a 1 inch plastic heel. O_o Anyway, the point is that Japan has the cutest shoes ever - but they only make them up to size 8! ::sighs:: Stupid Japanese girls and their dainty feet... ::grumble::


But the elevator system was designed to be like a piece of modern art. ^_^ This is the view from one of them. ^^


Also, I think it's hilarious how there's no euphanism for this - it's just 'black music'. -_-;;


Likewise, my section is 'loud' music. I just got excited about this section cause I listen to every single band on this display case. Though, it was depressing to note with surprise that not only had the Used released another CD without my knowing, but it had made it all the way to JAPAN without my knowing. Gone are the carefree days of high school, when I could follow CD releases...


And Snoopytown! You'd think this would be a novelty store, but it's actually a chain - they're one in Harajuku too. O_o I never knew there was enough demand for plush Snoopy toys to support an entire chain of stores, but I guess economics continues to baffle me. Like how in perfectly competitive markets price is equal to average total cost, and the net profit is zero. When I found that out, I had a mathematical existential crisis brought on by a sudden acute understanding of the meaningless struggle of commerce. Unluckily there was also problem in my homework dealing with comparative advantage in a closed system, so that made me feel better. ::goes back and reads this sentence:: And this my friends, is why you should never mix pseudo-science and philosophy with blogging...


Anyway, after the mall I decided to go to Kyoto. ^_^ Theres usually a bullet train leaving every fifteen minutes or so, so I can leave pretty much any time I want. ^^ I bought lunch at the station, but they put wasabi in the MAKI (roll)!! So hot. >_< The reason for this picture though, is so you can see my soy-sauce packet, which is in the shape of a fish! Cute. ^_^


So then it was a quick ride to Kyoto, where I finally found my hotel after a bit of a search. And let me tell you, it's the most luxurious 25$ hotel I've ever stayed in. I'll put on pictures in the next entry so you can see what I'm talking about. But anyway, above you can see the girls' dormitory (there are 6 beds, but only 4 were occupied), which was full of a bunch of Korean girls, and me. All the beds have curtains that you can pull around, so it's like having your own little capsule hotel, and there's also free internet, free laundry machines, outlets embedded in the bed frame, fluffy down comforters, and really nice bathrooms. The only catch is that it's in a residential area and the owner is really Japanese, so you kind of have to follow all the customs pretty strictly, be very tidy, and speak Japanese somewhat (qualifications which discourage rowdy American backpackers, I'm assuming). But seriously, that place was creepily spotless. I once came in later while they were cleaning, and it was insanity! The place was still very neat, but they were scrubbing the floor until I could see my reflection in it almost. O_o


Also, here's a picture of the fridge and tea kettle. ^^ Note the shiny floor. My hair's really long, so it kind of gets everywhere, but every night when I came back, there was not a hair to be seen. O_o Best lone/Japan-savvy traveler deal in Kyoto, hands down.

Anyway, I'm gonna go to sleep now, it's a busy weekend. O_o But I'll try to put up another entry in the next couple days....

In unrelated news, the Harry Potter 5 comes out in America in the next couple days, but doesn't come out in Japan for another week. :( I'll be there in spirit though - waiting outside the movie theater in Mira Mesa for the midnight showing.... in costume.... It didn't occur to me that I could probably just do the same thing here a week later though, so I left my slytherin tie at home. :/

Eh, oh well, just means I won't get shown up by Japanese cosplayers. ^^

Day 4.5 - Shibuya Style

Just a short entry, since my current travels leave me without a home base from which to work on this thing, but here are the pictures from after I left Asakusa that day. It was about 3 in the afternoon, so I thought I'd head over to Shibuya, an area I had neglected until then because of the lack of defining characteristics. Silly me, I forgot about the iconic 109 building and HUGE TVs. And by TV, I mean the entire side of a building.


This particular photo doesn't capture the whole thing lit up, but trust that this entire side of the building is one giant TV screen. And here's the 'small TV screen' that my guidebook refers to when giving directions.


And here's the madness that's people crossing the street right out of Shibuya Station.


Shibuya is apparently shopper's heaven, and just full of Japanese youth. Well, the ones that are too normal for Harajuku anyway. The above picture by the way, was taken from my amazing window seat at Starbucks, in the second floor of some big department store complex. It has huge glass windows looking over Shibuya's big crosswalks, and so is a perfect place for people watching whilst sipping on an Azuki frappachino. Which is DELICIOUS by the way. But I thought it was interesting that Japan only has one size in all their Starbucks' across the country: tall. (which is the smallest size, for the coffee uninformed). Apparently Japanese people don't drink ventis? Oh well. The point is that I got a few shots of random street fashion (and I wasn't the only one doing so), before feeling too much like a creep for taking pictures of people without their knowledge, and leaving.


Some Harajuku/punk-goth style, juxtaposed to a salaryman, the ultimate in conformity. Though the existence of a particular 'harajuku style' seems to contradict the very principles of uniformity it seems to rebel against. Very interesting....

Parasols. All the ladies have them. I feel like I'm in a kid's dollhouse. Aside from a lot of people trying to keep their skin light, which I guess explains the existence of parasols, I feel the need to point out the specific popularity of parasols that I would describe as somewhat gothic lolita. What with the lace and flowers and color scheme being either monochrome or pastel. However, most of the people with these gothieloli parasols are completely normal-looking, and not at all into the lolita thing. I'm talking middle-aged housewives here. But yeah, parasols are very in. They range from the $10 one I got at a discount store in Asakusa earlier that day, to $150 one from Ginza with intricate embroidery. And folding umbrellas aren't very much in style either, even among boys. Most people carry the full-length ones. Which has no purpose other than aesthetics, because the wind here, at least during the summer rainy season, isn't strong enough to warrant not having a folding umbrella. I gotta say though, they're cute, and I'll probably get another one before I go back to Boston, where non-folding umbrellas are VERY much warranted.


Opaque over-the-knee black socks with heels. Seriously, they're EVERYWHERE. And now that I was looking for someone with them one, I was only barely able to catch one.... oh well. Anyway, I have no idea what the deal is with this. Over-the-knee socks?! These can be risky in that they only work if you have really, really nice legs. If you don't, they pinch above your knee and make your thighs look huge. But I guess enough people here have really skinny legs that these were able to come into mainstream fashion. And I bet they make walking in heels a little more endurable, since all females here have some sort of lift or heel to their shoes. I just don't get the black, over-the-knee part, since it's REALLY HOT here in summer.


Speaking of legs, they're the hottest thing here since hair bleach. Case in point: the girl with the black/pink/white mini-dress and pink shopping bag. I suppose fashion trends gear themselves to whatever flatters a particular group of people's stereotypical body type. For example, 'urban fashion' (which, as Allan so tactfully puts it, is really just a euphemism for black) tends to accentuate curvy females and broad-shouldered males. And since Japanese girls don't have much in the way of curves, but tend to be really really skinny, it's all about the legs here. Short-shorts and mini-skirts are really popular, but hardly do I see a female besides me in spaghetti straps. Strangely enough, tank tops are far more common among guys than among girls, but I'll get to that in a moment.


You can't tell in this picture, but the volume of that girl's hair to the size of her head was ricidulous. The 80s just rolled over in their grave. But anyway, typical Japanese consumer girl: rich, bleached hair, short skirts, and high heels. It's like a uniform almost.


And brand names. It's all about the brand names. I can't see the bag's label from here, but I'm sure I recognize it from last month's Vogue. Is it Chanel? I know a few years ago, everyone over 25 HAD to have a little black Prada bag...

And now from fashion, we'll move onto music. The starbucks was actually on the same floor as a music store, so I spent a while looking around there, and taking photos of the displays for the ones I recognized. ^_^


Gackt! I'm not a Gackt fangirl exactly, but I think he's ok, and from what I heard of his new single in the sampling booth, it sounds awesome. ^_^ Note: He's playing a concert in LA at AX this year, with his band SKIN, which involves Miyavi and possibly Yoshiki. It think it may already have happened though...


The fact that there was a section called 'J-punk' but not 'J-rock' amused me, since we differentiate j-rock and j-pop in the states, but not j-punk. Interesting. I've never heard of any of these though, so I'm curious to see what their adaptation of punk sounds like, since both rock and pop have their own idiosyncrasies that separate them from American rock/pop.



Raison Detre!! Nightmare! D'spairs Ray!!


And THESE boys have been haunting me ever since I arrived. Apparently they're the next big thing, or they just have the best publicist on the face of the earth. They're seriously everywhere I look. On the big screen in Shibuya. Plastered on the Subway Station posters in Roppongi station. Playing on the DVD players in Akihabara. Seated in the place of honor in all the record stores. Kai-tun. Anyway, Japan does the boy band thing WAY better than the US ever did, probably because I didn't even think of them as a boy band until from referred to them as such to me, I guess because in the states 'boy band' carries a connotation of cheesiness, choreography, and matching white suits a la Backstreet Boys. But technically Kai-Tun is a boy band, since it's a five-singer group, just not quite as delightfully dork as say, W-inds. Regardless, they sounded pretty catchy when I sampled their stuff. ^^

So afterwards, I went shopping around, getting distracted from my original pursuit of finding the mythical 100 yen shop mega-store by all the cute little fashion shops. Shibuya is just crawling with the young and trendy, and the stores totally cater to that.


And here pretty much the coolest boys fashion store ever, called Zen Mall. Like I said before, the guys here are much more stylish than the guys in the states, so there's actually a market here for stores geared to specifically guys' styles. I think I might buy something from here before I go though, since I'm probably too big for teenage girls' clothes here, and the boys clothes here are practically girls' clothes in the states anyway. ^^

And now, the famous 109 building:


It's a bit of a landmark in Shibuya.


Note the crowd of high school/college girls making a beeline for the store.


And the floors upon floors listing all sorts of small trendy boutiques. ^_^ They weren't all prohibitively expensive either, which is I guess part of the reason it's so popular among the younger folk.

I was a little tired after getting up early and seeing all the sights, so I actually was boring and just went home after all this. ^^