Why People Dress Nice in Japan

Japan is a culture that thinks of others over themselves. Most people are thinking will I be a bother to other people before taking action. This way of thinking applies to a lot of different aspects of daily life in Japan. But for today, I'll be discussing the dressing habits in Japan.

It is well known that Japan is famous for its fashion. These seasonal fashion trends can be most commonly found in Shibuya prefecture in Tokyo, Japan. The reason Shibuya is known for its fashion is because of its hundreds of stores with the latest fashions. A popular department store in Shibuya is Shibuya 109. It features 10 floors of clothing stores and restaurants. It's a very busy places with crowds of people looking for the popular trend that's out. It's a great place to visit as a tourist if you are into the more modern lifestyle of Japan.

Shibuya 109 building.

If you venture out into other cities in Japan there won't be as much hype for fashion, but looking good still exists. Previously mentioned, it is important to present yourself in a clean, respected manner. This includes the way you dress. I've briefly discussed this topic in another blog post of mine titled Japanese Pop Culture. I'll have the link to that post at the end of this one. Anyway, There are guidelines on how you should dress. For females, it is acceptable to show as much leg as you would like but it is necessary to cover the chest. Japan is a country of modesty which is why the chest needs to be covered. It is also common for females to where heels. There's no strict reason for this. It's a combination of looking taller and fashionable. For males, the desired look to aim for is cleanly dressed. Fitted clothing accomplishes this desired look. Now there are exceptions to these guidelines. Older adults will still dress nicely, but it'll be in a more comfortable way. So instead of heels they may wear tennis shoes since walking is a common activity in Japan. Also living in a more rural area gives room for compromise, as it may not make too much of a difference to dress up in a low populated area. There's also going out to tourist attractions. If you know you're going to be walking a lot from place to place it might not be reasonable to dress up.

Touristy area in Kyoto and a ton of stairs. Dress in comfortable shoes in you plan on walking a lot.

Now, it is not required to dress up in your own house in Japan. In privacy, it's okay to be more relaxed. But if you're going out to the grocery store or the post office, little errand like that, you should consider following the dress procedures I mentioned above.

I personally love this way of thinking. Yes, it can be seen as annoying to most people who just don't care about their appearance. I'm sometimes guilty of not caring and going out looking like a slob. But it would be nice to dress up without having a reason to dress up. The most common look where I'm from is a shirt, some shorts, and flip flops on your feet. In my home of New Orleans, its not common to dress up on a daily basis, unless your job requires this of you. In my case, I work in a back office where no one hardly ever sees me except for the occasional potty breaks and whatnot. On rare occasions I like to try to look nice, and people notice I'm looking nice but then they ask me, "What are you all dressed up for?" I can't dress up just to dress up? There has to be a reason? This is not fair in my opinion. There shouldn't have to be a reason. If I want to wear heels I should be able to wear heels. If I want to wear a dress, I should be able to wear a dress. I wouldn't get this kind of reaction in Japan because it's just natural for everyone to look nice.

Shopping in Kyoto's shopping district.

What do you think? Would you like to live in Japan and experience this lifestyle for yourself? Try dressing yourself up on a random day and see if you get any reactions like I got.

Link to my other blog post: japantherapyneworleans.blogspot.com/2015/06/japanese-pop-culture.html

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Japanese Pop Culture

Japan is a country that's deeply rooted in their traditions, but they've developed an influential pop culture that has reached to many different countries. Whether you are familiar with the pop culture or new to the scene, there's always something to learn.

Fashion

Fashion is the biggest part of the Japanese pop culture. It's very important to the lifestyle they live by. In Japan it is important to look presentable and clean when going out. Not only that, but there are guidelines to their fashion. For men, properly fitted clothes are desirable. For women, you can show as much legs as you'd like but you should cover the chest area. To make the look complete women should wear heels. There are obvious circumstances that will allow these guidelines to bend such as weather and preferences. These are just the typically rule of thumb to Japanese fashion. One of the best stores to shop at is UNIQLO. This a well known store in Japan that has fashionable and cheap clothing.

College students.

Music

Just as America has various genres of music, so does Japan. The most common and talked about genres are J-pop (Japanese pop music), J-rock (Japanese rock music), and Visual Kei (a music and fashion associated with rock style but adds an elaborate sound and look). Japanese music lyrics are very poetic. The lyrics usually talk about nature or emotions. For those of you who may not be familiar with Japanese music here are examples of bands and artists I recommend you to check out:

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu- a popular and well known pop singer famous for her song "PonPonPon."

*Babymetal- a 3 member girl rock band that combines cuteness and the sound of rock into their music.

Stereopony- a girl rock band that has had songs featured in anime. 

Perfume- a pop/techno girl group who is recognized for their unique sound.

*AAA- a pop group of both genders who have been featured in anime and have came out with multiple cds over the years.

*Da-ice- a new boy pop group with great vocals and eye catching choreography. 

*Abingdon Boys School- an alternative boys rock group who is recognized for their iconic songs that are featured in various anime.

                                                                                           *These are my favorites to listen to.

Babymetal (got from an article on Rocketnews24)

Anime

Anime is Japanese animation. It is in fact for all ages, so make sure to check the show's maturity rating. Some of you may have seen anime before without even noticing such as Pokemon, Dragonball, Speed Racer, Astro Boy, Sailor Moon, and Cardcaptor Sakura. These examples are a part of many people's childhood. Anime has evolved since then and has become an art form, always trying to out do themselves. Anime comes in many genres. It is probably the most popular thing about Japanese pop culture. It has migrated to all parts of the world with voice acting in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Korean, Brazilian, and of course Japanese. Anime has a subculture called cosplay which will be for another post entirely. Here are examples of anime to watch:

Ages 4-12: Pokemon, Yokai Watch, Digimon, Kaleido Star, Tokyo Mew Mew, Glass Mask, Shugo Chara!

Ages 13-17: .hack//, Naruto, Fruits Basket, Full Moon, Inuyasha, D.Grayman, Ouran High School Host Club, Kimi Ni Todoke, Slayers, Trigun.

Ages 18 and older: Hellsing Ultimate, Ghost in the Shell, Elfen Lied, Death Note, Berserk, Ceres Celestial Legend, Attack on Titan, Paradise Kiss.

These anime are recommendations based off of age groups and do not reflect my taste of anime. I will be happy to post about my favorite anime at a later time.

Characters of the series .hack//Legend of the Twilight.

I hope you enjoyed this quick overview of Japanese pop culture. All of these topics can be discussed in more detail which will reappear in later posts.

Sorry for not posting lately! I've been super busy with my cosplay since anime convention season is approaching for me. I will probably be doing a blog post on that relatively soon. I will continue to post as much as I can. Until next time!

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