Artikler om Japansk mode

[Angelica]

Finder I nogle artikler på internettet om Japansk mode, så sæt dem ind her.

Der er nogle få regler;
1§ : Undgå OT - selvom artiklerne er gode (eller dårlige), skal I ikke skrive det. Skriv det i jeres profil eller i en PM til den, som har fundet artiklen.
2§ : De (artiklerne) skal omhandle japansk mode, om de er af nyerer dato betyder ikke så meget - skriv eventuelt alderen, journalisten og lign. oplysninger i toppen og lad så artiklen komme.
3§ : Billeder, hvis der er nogen, kan sættes nederst, giv folk lov til at læse artiklen i ro og mag. Eventuelt kan I give nogle hint til, hvor billedet passer ind, noget tekst, en kommentar eller lign.

Held og lykke med projektet.

[Angelica]

Photos by Chris Betros, courtesy of Isao Kaneko, article from Metropolis (japans no. 1 English Magazine)


Fashion: A cut above

Isao Kaneko's outfits would fit right in at an afternoon tea party, the set of Gone With the Wind or high society, Chris Betros observes.


You always know when there's an Isao Kaneko fashion show on. At the nearest station, women of all ages get off trains sporting the designer's trademark outfits that look like something Scarlett O'Hara might have worn in Gone With the Wind. And once you get to the show, you'll certainly stand out if you're not dressed accordingly.

Kaneko is the only designer in Japan to get such a response from his fans, who have been coming to his shows like that for as long as anyone can remember. Such loyalty and enthusiasm thrills the 62-year-old Kaneko, who designs under two labels—Wonderful World and KANEKO ISAO.

"When they first started to come to the shows decked out in my clothes, I was really surprised. Now it's the norm. The models joke that I don't need to do a show because the audience is wearing my outfits already," he says.

Born in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Kaneko says he can't remember exactly why he became interested in fashion design. "I think it is because I liked America," he says in his office surrounded by clothes, accessories and knick-knacks. "When the US and its allies defeated Japan in World War II, I was just five years old. At the time, I had been taught that foreigners were to be feared. Because I had never met any, I believed that. Then American military officers started to come, and I found out they were not scary at all."

More importantly, he saw his first Western films. He liked the cut of clothes that elegant actresses such as Vivien Leigh, Grace Kelly and others wore in that era's films. "I was drawn to classic clothes with their skillful cut. Later on, the European look started to influence me more. I really took to the style of the French 'nouvelle vogue' in the 1960s and the fashions of Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau."

After the terror attacks of last September, Kaneko felt he wanted to do something in tribute to America for its early influence on him. So the first model at his 2002-2003 autumn-winter collection in April came out wearing a Stars and Stripes outfit. "I just wanted to do something to cheer up America. There was nothing political about it." Strangely enough for someone who has been so strongly influenced by American and European trends, Kaneko doesn't like going overseas and admits he still finds foreigners a little scary—despite the fact that his wife is half-German. "Foreigners are too direct and aggressive. That rattles me. For example, Japanese fashion writers act as if we are friends, which we are not. But they never criticize a collection. On the other hand, experienced Western fashion writers aren't afraid to say your clothes are awful."

Few foreign fashion writers are probably familiar with Kaneko's clothes, since he doesn't show or sell them overseas. His Wonderful World label features cartoonish clothes that conjure up images of Little Bo Peep—lots of cotton, pink lace, ruffles and teddy bears. The outfits could double as curtains or bedspreads. On the other hand, KANEKO ISAO is more elegant and classic. It evolved from two brands that Kaneko worked on in the 1970s, Pink House and Ingenborg, before he branched out on his own (he didn't establish his own atelier until 1990). Besides selling out of department stores, Kaneko operates 36 KANEKO ISAO boutiques and 31 Wonderful World stores.

Working out of his building in Tokyo's Sendagaya area, Kaneko prefers to decide everything himself. Even if his staff or wife make suggestions, he usually follows his own sense. Not that he's a dictator or anything. "I like to think alone. I hate meetings. I think most designers are like that. For me, fashion is neither a business nor an art form but a hobby, and you don't usually collaborate with others in a hobby," he explains.

He usually shows up at his office around 10am and stays until about 6pm. He works on more weekends than he cares to admit ("Actually, I call it relaxing, not working," he says), but he will occasionally go to watch kabuki from which he draws inspirations. Contemporary films don't stimulate his creative juices, though. "Classic films are my favorite. I watch them when they're rerun on TV," he says.

Kaneko admits he still gets nervous before a show, especially when the audience starts to arrive. He feels the Tokyo collections have lost some of the vitality they had 20 years ago. "Young Japanese seem to prefer overseas designs, so I wonder if it makes sense to have a Tokyo collection. I fear Japanese designs tend to look plain next to foreign ones. Foreign designers have a better sense of perspective."

Unlike many of his contemporaries, who have nothing but disdain for what Japan's young generation wears, Kaneko envies them. "Sure, they have no inherent sense of style, and they like to imitate things, but they are free to express themselves."







Isao Kaneko

[Angelica]

Fashion: Soft touch

The 2002-2003 Autumn & Winter Tokyo Collections revealed the dainty side of Japan's top designers

Following last September's terror attacks in the US, fashion designers were subdued in their spring-summer collections. This year, Japan's designers are letting their creative juices flow for the 2002-2003 autumn-winter look with the emphasis on casual romance, modern punk and light classical. What does all that mean? Metropolis and Japan Today reporters spent three weeks at the Tokyo collections to find out.

Wonderful World
No matter what's going on in the world, Isao Kaneko always looks on the bright side with his Wonderful World label. In tribute to the resilience of the US following the terrorist attacks, his show opened with curly-haired models, clad in flashy Stars and Stripes outfits and holding teddy bears. Then came the Kaneko signature clothes—colorful layered skirts, lace petticoats, camisoles, printed knit tops and casual pants.The finale was a billowing pink wedding dress. As usual, Kaneko's legions of women fans in the audience attended the show dressed in his cute outfits as if they had just come from a costume call for Little Bo Peep.

Yukiko Hanai
Primitive Roman was the theme for Yukiko Hanai, who included lots of sexy see-through evening and daywear in her 79-piece collection, with the emphasis on chiffon, ruffles and leather. Many outfits mixed masculine and feminine styles with black, gray and wine the standout colors. Crocheted skirts were pencil-slim and flowing, mostly ending below the knee and worn over boots. Fox and chinchilla coats were common, while taffetas were strategically placed on see-through chiffon blouses.

Hiroko Koshino
As always, Hiroko Koshino drew on Central Asia for inspiration and merged it with traditional Japanese looks for her innovative collection that combined vintage designs from the '30s and '40s with more modern materials. The veteran designer's 117-piece collection was divided into eight sections—haute couture denim, vintage masculine, modern punk, oriental flowers, folklore elves, romantic punk, rebirth and lotus soiree. Skirts and tops, often looking like they were unfinished, were matched with pants. Black and red dominated the show, while metallic belts and some conical headwear stood out among the accessories.

Yuki Torii
Rayon and pleated skirts over pants or leggings with full-length coats highlighted Yuki Torii's collection, which featured everything from pret-a-porter to haute couture. Blues, browns, indigo and khakis dominated the show with many outfits consisting of many layers. Leather coats lined with rabbit fur lapels, cardigans worn with print and knit tops over lustrous and striped pants, were the casual look. Jackets were dyed in different patches. Black one-piece dresses and black pants with off-the-shoulder tops were daring evening wear, but not nearly as daring as the long black outfit opened at the front down to the navel, precariously held together by a red ribbon.
With the theme "Masculine Heart," Mika Kinoshita created a casual yet tailored collection of white cotton shirts, cropped peacoats and slim velvet pants for her Io Sono Io label. Sheer white, sandy beige, army green and dark browns dominated the collection. Feminine touches to the mostly masculine look came in the form of ruffled plackets, fringed jackets and hot pants. With black-and-white herringbone and plaid knits rounding out the show, Io Sono Io evoked a season of cozy nights spent relaxing in front of a roaring fire.

Kyoko Higa
It seems Tokyo has gone gaga over casual, neo-Bohemian street style. Kyoko Higa, an Aoyama-based designer better known for sharp, pret-a-porter apparel, has pulled out the thin cotton, Tyrolean knits, floral head scarves and bell-bottoms, all in brown and off-white hues, for her latest autumn/winter offering. Thrown in with some high fashion accessories—fox stoles, diamante-encrusted pumps, loose silk overtops—the designs worked, combining the simple charm of the contemporary boho look with some edgy and curious trimmings. The show's emphasis later returned to Higa's more trademark designer evening wear, though apart from some par-for-the-course black silk dresses with plunging necklines, the color range remained earthy browns and oranges, with knee high boots, leather skirts and wool knits the order of the day.

Chinami Kamishima
Chinami Kamishima's exhibition featured the familiar combination of yellow and lime green against dark, glossy outerwear, mostly long coats. A touch of traditional sumo fashion was conveyed through the bottom-heavy garments, while modernism also played a part with meshed coveralls indicative of the latest "romantic casual" style sported by the youthful generation. Otherwise, creased suits, leather skirts and woolly sweaters came in all shades of signature gray, while some designs were exclusively psychedelic, blending well with the exotic jungle music playing in the foreground.

Akiko Ogawa titled her collection for a Primary"Frosty Flowers." At times, it looked more like a spring-summer collection than autumn-winter, with materials such as silk and chiffon bringing a brightness and a softness to a normally cold sentimental season. Symmetrical skirts and chiffon or silk dresses were worn with ankle-strap, heeled shoes and pants were adorned with a silk ribbon at the waist. Sharp black suits were combined with blue-striped frilled shirts. A washed antique touch corduroy jacket with white silk frilled skirt was an unusual combination, but added a fresh look to the season's gray image.

Punkish super-bitch-style designer Mug sent out her girls-with-attitude staring through heavy '80s fringes in laddered stockings and baggy leather boots for her G.V.G.V. label. Layers were key here and were comprised of oversized knits, frayed denim, string vests, checked shirts, and the brand's skull-and-crossbones T-shirts in night-shirt size. A spectacular speckled-knit dress with matching drag-in-the-dirt scarf, three-quarter-(calf)-length cardigan and Statue of Liberty-design pullover showed off Mug's flair for knitwear. The US tribute continued with New York skyscraper print sweaters and a Stars-and-Stripes stadium jacket. With plenty of black and attitude to spare, this collection was perfect for Tokyo's punk rocker set.

At Royal Chie, there was fur, fur and more fur. Chie Imai thinks it should be used for more than just coats: there were fur pants, both long and short, fur bras, fur tops, fur hats, fur boots and lots of frills. Russian sable, mink and chinchilla dominated the show, with outfits coming in mainly black, brown, yellow and gold. You'll need lots of zeroes in your bank account for some of these outfits.

Formerly of the Issei Sports family and a long-time fashion veteran, Tsumori Chisato launched her collection with a tribute to the wayward bands of gypsies and a nod to sleek, chic lines of early 20th-century fashion. Light and airy peasant blouses sported a cacophonous patchwork of colors and patterns, including checks, polka dots and stripes. Although loose cuts and flows characterized the clothes, wide belts accentuating narrow hips gave '60s and '70s style a modern twist, with poignant turbans and ropes adding that extra oomph. But peasant chic switched to dapper flapper as Chisato's dramatic winter line was unveiled. Masculine retro suits in gray, with pinstripes and tails, were softened with A-line cuts or low belts, while the evening wear alluded to the glamour of cinema, with opened backed dresses and white fur capes.



Isao Kaneko's Wonderful World


Yokiko Hanai


Hiroko Koshino


Yuki Torii


Kyoko Higa


Chinami Kamishima


Akiko Ogawa


Royal Chie

[Angelica]

-Artikel fortsat.

T.H.D. La maison
Takumi Hatakeyama deconstructed classic pieces with sleeves and lapels sprouting from waistlines and appearing as stoles, sashes and belts in his T.H.D. La maison collection. His geometric patterns in blood red and black on '60s mini dresses, highly structured jackets and stiff A-line skirts were set off with long gold chains. Soft pastel, mosaic-patchwork pieces, houndstooth on houndstooth ensembles, rainbow striped knits, crepe roses and rose prints showed a softer side of the smart T.H.D. woman.

Koji Aruga
Leather master Koji Aruga's collection was presented as a dance performance, as he tried to symbolize graceful but urbane women. This time, he didn't just stick to his trademark animal skins; he included a variety of fabrics such as cotton, silk and wool. Tight-fitting black Spanish lambskin jackets denoted strength, while light pink and blue dresses provided a more feminine touch. Sleeveless checkered wear and pleated skirts made from machine washable wool were chic.

"Dec 12" was the strangely titled theme of Masahiro Tobita's collection for Spoken Words Project. According to Tobita, he wandered in a forest with a hangover on that day last year. He was inspired by surrounding trees, and reflected what he felt at that time in this season's collection. Basic black tight pants and long boots were combined with checked long sleeves or border shirts having matted colors. Other outfits were flimsy white one-piece dresses with light gray leaf and floral motifs that were all drawn by pencil. "The gray of the forest was the gray of pencils," explained Tobita, who originally started Spoken Words Project in 1991, when he was still an art school student, as a project aimed at expressing a variety of expressions. In 1996, Tobita turned the project into a fashion brand.

An upbeat Masafumi Yoshikawa presented his y+contact collection of masculine ensembles to the sounds of birdsong and performance poetry. Heavy tweed suits replete with cut-away collar shirts, ties with fist-sized Windsor knots, flat-caps, waistcoats and watch chains were twinned with culottes and button-up boots. Macro-check-dyed pants, waistcoats and jackets with knitted cuffs charcoals and chestnut brown teamed with poor-boy cloth caps shading smoky eyes. Patchwork jackets and velvet jacket-and-waistcoat combinations continued mannish. Suggestive chunky brown wool knits with extra-long sleeves came with matching scarves and hats. Leather jackets with matching culottes in black and chocolate brown, while still butch, added luxury to an exceptionally strong collection.

Kyoichi Fujita
Formerly a designer for Issey Miyake, Kyoichi Fujita unveiled a very sensitive collection under the theme of craft guilds. White knitted shorts worn beneath long coats seemed more like handicrafts. Cute-looking soft long skirts came with flowers printed on them.

Yu Homma
Yu Homma went for the monotone straight-silhouette soft look. The stylish collection featured a variety of fabrics and cuttings, mainly in unified black or white Geometric and floral patterns created a relaxed mood.

Frapbois
Having debuted at last year's spring/summer show, Eri Utsugi's second offerings for the label Frapbois was presented under the theme of striking a balance between reality and fantasy. Frapbois is actually a combination of the French words frapper (hit) and bois (wood). Utsugi says she is inspired by the sound of the xylophone, which suggests a simplicity and brightness. A dark brown jacket and thick, matted green one-piece outfit with an orange hood evoked characters from a fairy tale. Light brown knits, jackets and pants with a lot of tiny, mixed-color spots caught the audience's eye as well. Throughout the show, the emphasis was on loose rather than tight-fitting clothes.

NAiyMA
Sticking to his view that a woman should feel beautiful, natural and free, Takeshi Yanagida presented a refined collection with a light classical touch for his NAiyMA label. Based on monotone and lustrous soft colors such as orange, beige and gray, most of the creations looked stoic but at the same time had a sense of calmness to them. Hats and tight-black headdresses worn by all models conveyed a retro-chic sense throughout the show.

Garde Collective's chirpy chief designer Kikuko Maki took her casual couture project into darker, riskier territory with this collection. Exaggerated hourglass silhouettes of black and gray dresses that snugly wrapped around the shoulders and waist, the pinpoint positioning of occasional slashes and society ladies' faux fur stoles all suggested a more mature and elegant mood. A screaming pink paisley print on leggings and clingy tops, and cleverly constructed pleated and layered skirts and dresses were stand-out pieces. A Central American influence emerged through crocheted ponchos, embroidered cactus motifs, and fringing on cowboy shirts and jackets. With a conspicuous absence of anything resembling a winter coat, Maki proposed wrapping up warm in generous sweats with peaked hoods to shield the eyes of her glamorous girls.

Kohshin Sato
A great master of men's fashion, Kohshin Sato studied fashion design by himself, and since making his debut at the Tokyo collections in 1983, his clothes have been loved widely in and outside Japan—the late US pop artist Andy Warhol was a fan of Sato's clothes. As always, Sato displayed coolness, wildness and boldness with black, tight-fitting leather pants and gray sleeveless zipper-jackets. Worn beneath them were bright red, silver and gold fabrics to give the outfits some accents.

Astro Boy
Hiroaki Ohya loves the cartoon character Astro Boy so much he named his brand after him, and almost all the models' hairstyles were arranged in Astro Boy style. The show was more like an art performance, as models with black trainers and pants and futuristic white outfits featuring Astro Boy silhouettes pranced around the stage.

M.Y.K Noriko
Noriko Fukushima's collection for her M.Y.K Noriko brand, which she founded in 1998, consisted of refined and simple clothes for the mature women, a sense she acquired from working as a designer for Christian Dior in Paris. Beige fur coats and dark green shawls gave a calm impression, while metric silver striped jackets combined with see-through, meshed, dark color pants were voluptuous but moderately restrained.

A bare room painted in white and carpeted by a green mat with artificial flowers sprouting here and there hosted Hiroko Ito's Hisui show, whose most prominent features were billowing pants with prints on rich shades of red, blue and purple. Printed geometric and linear patterns featured strongly, gracing ankle-length sarongs, with sportive enamel white footwear usually in accompaniment with the above. Quasi-transparent cloaks and blouses covered the upper body, and button-downs and cardigans shone in the red-to-blue spectrum, as well as the odd lime green and darker piece.

Ato
Japanese menswear house ato returned triumphant from Paris with only their second show another great success. Combined with the ato staple of very fitted black jackets were super-wide hipster pants. Mixed in among the black on black on black were pinks, mustard yellows, camels and khakis. MA-1 bomber jackets with velvet stripe details, nylon shirt/blouson and vest/blouson hybrids and smoking gowns made this the loosest-fitting ato collection to date.

UNDERCOVER
It seems Harry Potter had a hand in influencing Jun Takahashi's show for his UNDERCOVER label. The show was mysterious and illusory, with colors and designs unified under the theme of witchcraft. Models appeared with unusual make-up—black lace paint on their faces and long, black, unkempt hair, which created a deep ambience. Ornamental stars, pointy-toe shoes, braided knitted rope belts, and long black mantles were the favored accessories, as were witch and bat print motifs. Color combinations were mainly green and gray, as well as brown and black. Each color had a synergistic effect in creating a witch world.
Photos and text by Chris Betros, Stuart Braun, Georgia Jacobs Takanori Kobayashi, Tama Miyake, Carlo Niederberger, Eri Takahashi and Martin Webb.

Photo credit: staff




T.H.D. La maison


Koji Aruga


Spoken Words Project


y+contact


Kyoichi Fujita


Yu Homma


Frapbois


NAiMA


Kohshin Sato


Astro Boy


M.Y.K. Noriko


ato


UNDERCOVER

[Frost]

Another subset of Harajuku fashion incorporates military gear into everyday fashion. For some this occurs in conjunction with the punk aesthetic described earlier. Significantly, this military wear is foreign, never Japanese, and is usually American.



Military clothing can have very different meanings depending on who wears it. A military supporter or war veteran in a military jacket indicates support for the military while a hippie or anti-war protester in the same jacket indicates a critique of the military. In American subcultural style,



Hippy preferences for old fur coats, crepe dresses and army great-coats shocked the older generation. . . . But they were not acquired merely for their shock value. Those items favoured by the hippies reflected an interest in pure, natural and authentic fabrics and a repudiation of the man-made synthetic materials found in high street fashion. The pieces of clothing sought out by hippy girls tended to be antique lace petticoats, pure silk blouses, crepe dresses, velvet skirts and pure wool 1940s-styled coats. In each case these conjured up a time when the old craft values still prevailed and when one person saw through his or her own production from start to finish. (McRobbie 196)



Appropriations of military clothing, then, may be another reflection of a desire to move away from fashion as dictated and toward a more do-it-yourself (DIY) ethos that sees fashion less as high art and more as pop art.



Another possible interpretation of this trend is that the particular uses to which military garb—not only previously used military jackets but also camouflage patterns and colors—is put. Rebecca Mead, in her analysis of Harajuku fashion, discusses the prevalence of military wear in 2001 Harajuku:



“Pacifist appropriations of militaristic chic were everywhere in Tokyo this fall [2001], as if fashion designers had anticipated what turned out to be a widespread Japanese unease with American war in Afghanistan. At the stores of Under Cover, another of Tokyo’s trendiest brands, customers could buy a brightly patterned umbrella with a machine-gun-shaped handle, and the centerpiece of Under Cover’s fall collection for women was a dramatic ball gown made from camouflage material; on the bodice, hundreds of large, pink rhinestones had been appliquéd. ‘The message is antiwar,’ the label’s designer, Jun Takahashi, told me. ‘Of course, if your clothes are covered with jewels you can’t go to war.’”



Similarly, if your military wear is embroidered with lace and comes with a pink petticoat or takes the form of legwarmers (see left), any pretence to utility is abandoned.



This critique of the military is extended further in the context of the military wear. This feminized version of military wear, which is ordinarily so masculine, undercuts the authority and power of the military by placing it on the bodies of young women. Not only is it turned from a utilitarian, functional print and design to a purely decorative one but it is thoroughly feminized, commodified, and reworked so that all possible original meanings in support of the military are elided.





linket til artiklen www.uta.edu/english/tidwell/JapaneseFashion/JapaneseFashion--MilitaryWear.htm

[Angelica]

A form of cuteness is a basic element of Lolita fashion, another major trend represented in FRUiTS. Lolita style relies on a childlike innocence but is differentiated from kawaii/cute style in part in that it is not childish. Lolitas do not carry toys; instead they dress in clothes that are simultaneously childlike (pinafores and somewhat formless dresses such as a young girl of an earlier era might wear, quite often in rather subdued colors or pastels) and elegant in their delicate attention to detail. Novelist Novala Takemoto, whose characters are often Lolitas themselves, describes Lolita fashion as being “as much a way of living as a fashion statement,” going on to say, “Lolita is a form of aestheticism. I think Lolita is a condition in which two conflicting elements co-exist without contradiction, for example, something grotesque as well as cute” (Miyuke Kondo).



One common misperception on the part of outsiders looking in at this subculture is that it is somehow related to Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita in theme. The name and the style’s simultaneous emphasis on childlike innocence and adultlike elegance makes such comparisons tempting and virtually inevitable. However, one Lolita writes about the misperception that Lolita fashion has anything to do with sexuality, saying, “in an era where we are terminally rushed, over schedualed [sic] and pressured to be prefect [sic] at all times, the Lolita culture makes us take time to be polite, kind, and graceful. who wouldn’t [sic] want to go back in time to a simpler, slower youth, where innocence and beauty are safe and not shunned or threatened?” (response to Pinckard). Lolitas themselves do not see what they are doing as 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. In fact, Lolitas often find themselves shunned socially or even dumped by boyfriends because of their adherence to this style.



Another points out that the association with Nabokov’s Lolita is diminished and resignified by creating a new spelling for the word in Japanese. She writes, “By creating an alternate spelling for Lolita, they could create a world for themselves. Not only does it keep the perverts out, but it allows Lolitas to find pages by other Lolitas without having to wade through a bunch of kiddy porn. . . . Yes, the term comes from Nabokov’s book. Lolitas know this. But the Japanese have a tendency of taking terms and reshaping their meanings for their own purposes. Sometimes they even make up new meanings” (response to Pinckard). The original term is emptied of its original meaning and given an entirely new, more positive and affirmative meaning by the Lolitas who take part in this subculture.



Once the potential sexual reason for dressing in this way has been eliminated, what reasons remain? Some see Lolita fashion as a result of cultural anxieties regarding economic insecurities of the 1990s: ‘“They live in a society that doesn’t feel very hopeful about its future,’ says Rika Kayama, a psychiatrist. By dressing up like babies, the Lolitas are attempting to hang on to the carefree days of childhood, she says” (Parker). For others, Lolita style is a way of connecting with the past, specifically an innocent, beautiful version of the past. “‘I’d like to go back in time, like to the era of Marie Antoinette,’ says Yoko Oguchi, a 24-year-old nurse who attended a pop concert in Tokyo wearing a red pinafore, a gigantic white bow in her hair and white high-heeled Mary Janes. ‘I wish the whole world were like this’” (Parker). This nostalgia, whether personal or cultural, seems to be an inescapable element of Lolita fashion, one that experts find disturbing but the Lolitas themselves seem to find comfort in.



Others see Lolita fashion as merely a way to get noticed: “‘Dressing up like this and having people stare at them makes them feel their existence is worth something,’ says Yo Yahata, a clinical psychologist who has done case studies and written articles about aspects of Lolita culture” (Parker).



For many Lolitas themselves, though, Lolita fashion is empowering, a much more positive experience than the experts’ analyses allows for. For instance, “Atsuko Takagi, 23, who recently visited Tokyo from northern Japan, walked around in a ruffle-covered, black-and-white dress and says that the Lolita style gives her a sense of power. ‘I normally look down at my feet, but when I’m wearing my Lolita outfit, I’m more confident,’ she says. ‘This is the real me’” (Parker).

[Angelica]

Shibuya 109 - the coolest area of Tokyo

j a p a n o m a t i c . c o m - something from Japan
*Last updated May 7, 2003*

Ever since the completion of a huge station connecting two subway lines, a JR line, and two privately run railways, the Shibuya area is one of the most lively areas in Tokyo.

It's tough to take it all in in a single visit (or photo). Let yourself go in the grand sweep of frantic-looking Japanese signs, multiple video screens spewing incomprehensible images, and the throngs of Japanese women tottering on impossibly high heels.

In the center of it all is Shibuya 109, a collection of shops catering to Japanese youths' unique taste in fashion.

Wander around inside to see all the odd Tokyo fashion trends come to life...
especially the shop clerks who wear some of the wildest clothes imaginable.

The intersection in front of the 109 building becomes impassable to vehicles on weekend evenings
(in the foreground is the "Pepsi Challenge").
If you head up the hill beyond the 109 Shibuya building, you'll find many trendy discos and shops in a maze of small alleys.
Nearly every shopping center has a branch in Shibuya--IOIO, Parco, Seibu, Marui, Tokyu.
There is also a massive Book First Bookstore and one of the largest Tower Records anywhere.

You'll find some really unique and extreme fashions on display in the area. Don't be surprised if you run into Japanese girls with blond hair, faces covered in dark brown makeup (to simulate the perfect tan), white lipstick, and 6-inch platform heels.

The Shibuya-Ekimae Intersection in front of the Shibuya Station clogged with pedestrian.
This photo was taken from the huge Shibuya Subway/JR Station that stretches over the street.