Japanese fashion

Fashion is really just like beauty...it's in the eye of the beholder. What one person thinks is fashionable and interesting another may find boring or ugly and vice versa. Ever since arriving in Japan I've been observing its people, culture, mannerisms, language, and fashion. Since I live in a small town I haven't seen any fashion forward people yet. The ones that think they're being fashionable, really are just following an old trend which I'd like to call the "skank" trend. It's when the woman wears short shorts or short skirts (and when I say short I mean the fabric stops right at the point where the butt and the thigh meet), has on some type of boots, and has the option to wear colored tights if the mood streaks her. She thinks she looks cute but really she just looks cheap.

I wish many women could understand the difference between sexy and skanky. Examples: Britney Spears - skanky; Charlize Theron - sexy; Paris Hilton - skanky; Halle Berry - sexy; Tila Tequila - skanky; Salma Hayek - sexy. There's nothing more sexy than a woman who isn't afraid of her sexuality and choices outfits that show off just the right amount of skin and hugs her curves in just the right way. The clothes should stir up people's imagination and create a sense of allure. But most importantly the difference between a sexy woman and a skanky woman is a sexy woman wears certain clothes because she finds herself attractive and wants to show herself to the world in the best way possible (self-love) compared to a skanky woman who wear certain clothes because she thinks it's what men find attractive and basically just wants their attention (self-rejection).

I didn't start this post to go off about my issues with skanky dressed women (even though it does relate to fashion) but how I have newfound respect for Japanese fashion. So the last few months I'd been a little worried that the Japanese fashion was mainly based on dressing like a skank. Like I said earlier, there aren't any fashion forward people in my town and when I went to Osaka and Kyoto I didn't really see any fashion forward people either. I mean there were women who were dressed pretty cute but fashion forward is something different. It's taking the old and adding a little twist. Well I finally found the fashion forward people, and it's true that they reside in the Harajuku district.

When I decided to join my friends in Tokyo on our 3 day mini-break from work, I at first didn't know where I wanted to go. Tokyo is so big and you can't possibly see all of it in 1 and a half days. So one night while I'm listening to Gwen Stefani, I thought "why don't we go to Harajuku and see what Stefani's been ravin' about" and it did not disappoint. So many different styles and fashions reside in this one area. I'm not even a shoe person but I could help but LOVE some of their designs and found myself wishing I could find at least ONE pair that came in my size (sadly I didn't). My friend and I found (and even bought some) great accessories from scarfs, necklaces, bracelets, hats, and more. As we walked the streets I found myself overwhelmed by how amazing some of the women looked (yes there were still the skanks but I just ignored them or kept thinking in my head "why?!"). My friend and I even popped into the H&M store and loved how some of the clothes were very much influenced by the 1940s. I soooo wanted to buy a top that my friend said reminded her of the fashion in the movie "Atonement" but even though the store was entitled H&M, it did NOT have H&M prices! I've never been in a more expensive H&M in my LIFE! And I've been to the ones in London, NYC, Dublin, Minneapolis and I think Florence (can't remember for sure) but none of them had prices like these. The top that I wanted cost 6950 yen (that's about $77 USD) and the cheapest items they had in the store were around 2000 yen (and were accessories). So I walked out of H&M empty handed.

Next my friend and I ended up chillin' in a department store for a while. We popped a squat in a random corner, talked, and people watched, This was the moment when I finally realized my appreciation for the Japanese fashion. As we're people watching, I noticed how many women would take on old fashion idea from the 80s (i.e. leg warmers) and add a twist. Instead of wearing the leg warmers the traditional 80s way (no tights, no socks, no heels) they added color tights and heels and they made sure to wear the leg warmers high enough so the color tights can peek out down by the shoes. Fashion like that I like because there are only a limited amount new designs people can come up with, but for a creative people there are endless amounts of ways they can adjust a few things then make it their own. It's great!

Being in Harajuku was wonderful; it gave me some fun new ideas for fashion that I'd like to adapt into my wardrobe. Now if only I can find out where Japan's hiding all the second hand shops I'll be set...

Ryoanji in Black and White

There's only a few. I took more but they are in color and I'll post them later. These 5 were about nuturing my artistic side and of course, my love of black and white film. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=73903&l=0114b&id=615202714

P.s. If you haven't read the blog entitled "What It's All About" please do. It's more important than these pictures.

What It's All About

So the last few days (maybe even a week now) I've started to feel blue about the upcoming holiday and not being around my family for the first Christmas EVER. I've been trying to live in the moment here in Japan and not forget about the past but not take the present for granted either. It's been working for the most part (it's helped me in those very sad seconds when I think of my cats and remember that unconditional love that was waiting for me everyday when I came home). Today I had a break through on what I can do to beat this onset of depression into submission. As some of you may know I'm going through a transformation while in Japan. I'm changing (or baking) into the best version of myself. I have the book "The Four Agreements" to guide me down this road of self discovery and it's liberating it feel the false misguided beliefs I once held onto so dearly crumble away. It's important to understand this about me because it will give light to what I'm about to say.

Today at work we had to put on a U2 concert video because the movie I rented (Gremlins, the perfect Christmas movie) was all scratched and not watchable. Sometimes I forget how much I like U2 because I don't listen to them often but I love that their music is about love, spirituality, politics, and changing the world for the better. I enjoyed listening to them so much at work I decided to pull up Joshua Tree on my iPod and listen to them on the bike ride home. I started to think about my journey to Japan and all the people and places I've seen along the way and that's when the epiphany or inspiration hit me.

(Hold on people...we're gonna go down a slight detour but it will make sense it the end. Please bare with me...) Vancouver has a serious homeless problem. People have always told me how beauty the city is (and it really is quite breathtaking) but it also has a serious homeless problem no one seems to talk about. It's so bad that people where telling me about how the city officials plan to ship off the homeless to Victoria when the Winter Olympics arrive. I wouldn't be too surprised if this is true because countries go CRAZY when the Olympics come. Look at Beijing. Anyway...when I was there for training, every night I saw an overwhelming amount of people sleeping on the cold streets and the distance I had to travel on a typical night was only about a 1.5-2 miles. Many of the homeless people would work "jobs" for money (like holding the door open for you when you walked into the 7-11) and they did it with a smile on their face, kindness in their eyes, and would still wish you a good evening even if you gave them nothing. Now I'm not naive by any means. I understand some people are homeless because they have a drug problem (that was another surprising element to Vancouver, the amount of drug addicts) while others are homeless because of mental illness (undiagnoised mental illness is a major contributor to the homeless problem in America, especially in NYC). But even if we understand the reason it doesn't excuse us from not creating a solution to the problem.

The reason I bring up Vancouver, and my eye opening experience to their homeless problem, is there is something we can do about it this Christmas season (and more importantly ever day of our lives). To all my family and friends, who I love and miss dearly, for the time and money you would have spend on or with me if I was home for the holidays, I humbly ask of you to spend it on those in need. Don't send me any presents or cards. Instead please spend it on a charity. There are so many big and small organizations that could use all the help they can get. If you don't have any money than give your time. Give the time you would have spend hanging out with me on collecting donations or handing out food to the homeless. If you live in Minnesota I can tell you the names of the places I liked to volunteer for if you don't know where to go. Many of you know I've never had much money but I always thought I was doing something worthwhile with my life when I volunteered (even if it was just 2 hours spent on making safe sex kits for the Minnesota AIDS Projecct and talking about how a chocolate flavored condom would go well with a vanilla flavored lube!)

And for my part I'm gonna spend the time and energy I would have spent on being sad because I can't see you for Christmas on finding a charity I can volunteer and donate to here in Japan. They don't have a Toys for Tots and since they don't seem to be a very gay friendly country I doubt I'll find an AIDS organization to work with but I'll ask my JET tomorrow about local charities and see if he can help me in this mission. I know I live in a small town but there has got to be something somewhere. Finally thank you for taking the time to read this. I know it's not the shortest of blogs (and probably my most impassioned) but I've never been one to shy away from emotionally going where a lot of people may not want to go.

Oh and before I forget...thank you Sarah G for suggesting I donate my old mittens to that homeless man in Vancouver. Where others ignored them you saw them as nothing but human. Liz...I wish I could be there on the streets with you donating your time to bring awareness to the homeless in MN. Don't worry I'm still gonna pay your good deeds forward. And for all the others, who do good things everyday but never tell a soul, I admire you and one day hope to have a soul as beautiful as yours. Take care of each other. We're all we've got!

Kyoto

Ok so I've FINALLY put up my pictures of Kyoto. I went for the first time about a month ago and the link to the photos are posted below. Kyoto is a beautiful city rich with Japanese culture. It's really pretty there now with the leaves changing colors and will be even more breathtaking in the spring when the cherry blossoms are in bloom.

The one strong memory I still have of my first trip to Kyoto was the smell of incenses at the top of a temple and hearing the cries of crows and the low hum of a gong in the distance. A woman silently prays to the left of me and to the right of me is a cemetery the stretches endlessly beyond the view of my naked eye.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71912&l=efca6&id=615202714