Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
fashion (Page 76)
Recently, in what we might call the ‘marshmallow movement’, we’ve seen chubby girls start to shed some of their stigma in Japan. A chubby Japanese idol group has already arrived on the scene, and now we can also introduce a dedicated plus-size magazine. And as if marshmallows weren’t enough, they’re apparently also pushing for a new, and rather creative, label.
Japan’s got a somewhat unusual obsession with knee-high socks, with enthusiasts having come up with no fewer than two days a year to celebrate their love of thin-covering legwear. Of course, the country has the other, less unusual fetish of exposed skin.
But what about smartphone users who can’t pick between the two? Isn’t there a way to satisfy both their cravings at once?
Why yes there is, with a new app that lets users swipe the screen to make a model raise or lower her socks.
The monthly comics anthology Nakayoshi is the oldest of Japan’s big three girls manga magazines, debuting months before rival Ribon and decades ahead of Ciao. Most of Nakayoshi’s readers are elementary and junior high school girls, but with over 50 years in circulation, there are generations of adult women who grew up reading its titles such as Princess Knight, Sailor Moon, and Cardcaptor Sakura.
One such former Nakayoshi kid is our Japanese correspondent Anji. While Anji’s a little older than the magazine’s target market, she was recently enticed into buying her first issue in years by the freebie included with Nakayoshi’s March issue: a perfume set that allows you to mix your own fragrances.
That cool giveaway wouldn’t be the only thing that surprised her about the magazine she used to know, however.
Marketing men’s fashion can be a tricky thing, since, as on average, guys don’t spend that much time worrying about their outfits. One exception, though, is when they’re trying to impress girls. You can sell a man a jacket as long as you first sell him on the image that it’ll make him more attractive to women.
Of course, even if it is the underlying message, most companies are more subtle than to come right out and claim you’ll look so cool in their clothes that women will take their pants off for you.
Japanese online retailer Men’s Fashion Plus is not most companies.
I’m sure we’ve all received gifts of clothing from loved ones that we secretly didn’t like at all. We throw them on while the gift-giver is still present in an effort to show our appreciation, but more often than not the garments are destined to spend the rest of their days in the back of a cupboard or are promptly donated to charity.
We have no qualms whatsoever about pulling on an ugly garment received from a well-meaning relative, but we doubt we could even pretend to be pleased if someone gave us a hat and sweater made out of their own hair, which is exactly what one woman in Chongqing, China came up with after collecting her fallen locks over the past 11 years.
Smart products seem to be emerging left and right these days with smart wigs getting a patent by Sony and smart sushi restaurants already on the streets. With all this smartness to be had, why not give your nails the same intelligence. They deserve it. All you have to do is pick up some Smart Nails recently released by H2L.
There’s a common phenomenon where people born and raised in Japan appear younger than their actual age to people who grew up in the West. On a trip to Los Angeles, for example, my wife and I wanted to shoot pool at a local bar, but were turned away at the entrance. She had forgotten to take her passport with her when we went out, and the doorman wouldn’t let us in without proof she wasn’t a minor, despite the fact that we were both in our 30s at the time.
The effect is amplified when the person in question looks young even by domestic Japanese perceptions, such as with actress and TV personality Maiko Ito, whose age we’d never have guessed by looking at her.
A while back, we told you about Japan’s Knee-High Socks Day. Held on November 28, or 11-28, the date was chosen because of some wrangling of the Japanese language that enables 11 to be pronounced “ii” (Japanese for “good”), and 28 “knee high.”
By the same linguistic basis, though, you could make the case that February 8, or 2-8, is just as fitting as Knee-High Socks Day. Of course this means losing the “11 = good” portion of the equation, but true fans would argue that the adjective is redundant anyway, as knee-high socks are always good.
In celebration of Knee-High Sock Day 2, why not attend the grand opening of a new shop in Tokyo that sells nothing but that particular piece of clothing?
A while back, I’d been struggling for months with an old laptop that took a solid 30 minutes to start up each morning. My repeated attempts to rectify the problem, using the most advanced electronics trouble shooting techniques known to me (hurling every curse word I knew in both English and Japanese at the screen), only proved successful in cutting the waiting time down to 29 minutes, unfortunately.
Eventually, I bit the bullet and bought a new laptop. Despite my lovely and crafty wife talking the salesman into a 3,000 yen (US$30) discount, it was still the most expensive thing I’ve ever bought. Not that I’m complaining of course. It works great, and since almost all of my work, in-home entertainment, and overseas correspondence is done through my PC, my life is honestly better for having purchased it.
You can’t always count on being completely satisfied every time you drop a giant wad of cash on something, though. Japanese women’s Internet portal My Navi Woman recently released the results of its survey on working women’s biggest expenditures, and whether or not they got hit with a dose of buyer’s remorse afterwards.
Back in October, cosmetics manufacturer Shiseido held its Japan Original Beauty exhibition at the company’s new building in Tokyo’s swanky Ginza district. One of the highlights of the show was a recreation of a portion of the pantheon of characters in long-running manga and anime series Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures, with special effort placed on duplicating the cast’s wildly styled and colored hairdos.
But with over 100 collected volumes of comics in the series, obviously every character couldn’t be fit into the display. So Shiseido is back again with a group of new additions to its collection of real-life Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures models.
Since you’re reading our kinda geeky site about Japanese and Asian news and pop culture, we think it’s safe to assume you agree with us that cosplay is pretty cool and fun to look at, but it’s also natural to be slightly dubious that cosplaying could ever amount to anything more than an extremely expensive hobby or very crappy contract work.
Well, it turns out we were all wrong, and we were jerks to underestimate cosplay in the first place. The more time you spend in the cosplay world, the more you end up developing talents in a range of fields, including fashion design, cosmetics, lighting engineering and even photography, as the Internet learned when a Japanese cosplayer with just four years’ experience in the hobby gave her 54-year-old mom a full cosplay makeover and photo shoot.
Over the past several months, we’ve seen wave after wave of wearable Sailor Moon merchandise, from accessories to lingerie to even bibs. But what about the other colossal ‘90s anime hit featuring combat-ready adolescents, Evangleion? Is there no new way to dress yourself in a way that shows your love for the franchise that ping pongs back and forth between scenes of its 14-year-old protagonists battling horrific aliens and coming to grips with the sexual confusion and frustration of puberty?
Why yes there is, and you can keep yourself warm at the same time with this crazy zip-up Evangelion hoodie.
Looking for some style inspiration? How about Barnaby Brooks Jr. and Kotetsu Kaburagi from Tiger & Bunny? Premium Bandai’s Bandai Fashion Net has started selling clothing inspired directly by the characters’ duds from the upcoming Tiger & Bunny The Movie -The Rising- film (check out all the new character wardobes and designs at the official website).
In our modern world of contact lenses and laser eye surgery, no one really needs to wear glasses. Nevertheless, there are some people who choose to do so, as well as another set of not entirely overlapping glasses fans who simply feel the object of their affection looks all the cuter with a set of corrective lenses.
Now, a new glasses stand from anime merchandise producer Funny Trick lets you instantly transform your favorite characters, even those with 20-20 vision, into bespectacled beauties.
Pop quiz, guys: Your girlfriend approaches you and says she’ll wear whatever panties you tell her to, and she won’t even get mad if you choose the ones that reveal too much or make her look fat. What do you do? Go for the safe, hip-level sailor stripes? How about the slightly creepy but non-offensive teddy bear print? Go for broke and tell her to go commando?
This is the kind of question men of the Internet apparently pore over, because this image with the above question popped up on a Japanese Internet forum recently.
Even for those living in Tokyo, its plate-of-spaghetti-like tangle of train lines can be overwhelming to navigate. Worse for visitors, it’s hard not to get lost, but you also don’t want to walk around gawking at a map like some touristy chump. So, for basically anyone in Tokyo, we humbly present the Subway Map Necktie.
Hello Kitty has always been somewhat of a fashion icon. With more costume changes than Cher, she knows how to put an outfit together. Now you can use Hello Kitty’s fashion sense to accent your own and take her wherever your feet may carry you with two styles of limited edition Hello Kitty shoes.
One day while I was playing Pokémon in my parent’s basement, my uncle Sam came down and asked me to help him. He handed me a Womédex (a smartphone loaded with online dating apps) and a set of Woméballs (tennis balls painted red and white) and told me it was time to catch one of these magical creatures for my very own.
Luckily, Trisha was kind enough not to press charges after I threw a tennis ball at her head inside a Starbucks during our first date, but my quest has so far still been left unfulfilled. Thankfully, I found something more suitable for catching high-level Womémon like Trish being sold online by a talented jeweler named Paul Michael.
As part of our solemn duty of keeping our readers abreast of the latest panty-related developments, we recently brought word of the Sailor Moon lingerie developed by Japanese intimate apparel manufacturer Peach John. Unfortunately, several of the anime-inspired offerings sold out almost immediately and are currently unavailable.
On the bright side, Peach John has several other themed lingerie sets, which we, being the dedicated journalists we are, present to you today.
Like any good anime magical girls, Sailor Moon and her comrades transform into special costumes before taking on the forces of evil. But as cool as their sailor-themed battle gear looks on TV, pleated skirts in vibrant primary colors are a little loud by contemporary Japanese fashion standards. So how can the many fans the Sailor Moon franchise has attracted over the past two decades feel a little closer, wardrobe-wise, to their beloved heroines?
By slipping into a set of Sailor Moon lingerie.
Injuries on stairs in Tokyo highlight an overlooked design flaw
Japan’s popular bead bonsai kit is as beautiful as it is gruelling to make
Wisteria season starts early with blooming of Japan’s Great Wisteria in its beautiful garden
Japanese Godzilla looks set to attack New York in teaser for Godzilla Minus Zero[Video]
Japanese bento shop sells croquettes for 13 cents, but are they any good?
Drink vending machines disappearing in Japan as number drops to lowest in 30 years
What’s inside Japan’s super-rare, super-popular Nara bread?
Japan named most sleep-deprived country for fourth year in a row, according to survey
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourism
What exactly is the treat known as a “kougnané” that’s sold outside Tokyo’s Yurakucho Station?Wisteria season starts early with blooming of Japan’s Great Wisteria in its beautiful garden
Japan’s best conveyor belt sushi restaurant of seven years ago has now, finally, come to Tokyo
Mt. Fuji decorated with a 500,000-flower pink carpet is Japan’s ultimate spring view
Lawson convenience store at popular tourist site is one of the most unusual in Japan
Japanese trains in Sapporo might be better than those in Tokyo, thanks to one special feature
30 Pikachus want to share a Tokyo hotel room with you that has separate Grass, Water, Fire spaces
Japanese government wants overseas anime market to roughly triple in 10 years, but are they crazy?
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visaJapanese bento shop sells croquettes for 13 cents, but are they any good?
Starbucks Japan releases FIVE new Frappuccinos in a day, and we try them all in 90 minutesJapan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Japan now has a special desk for people who work at home with a pet cat[Photos]Wisteria season starts early with blooming of Japan’s Great Wisteria in its beautiful gardenJapan’s best conveyor belt sushi restaurant of seven years ago has now, finally, come to Tokyo
Famous Tokyo cherry blossom spot installs view-blocking screens to fight overcrowding[Video]
Uniqlo announces new T-shirts for One Piece, Naruto and more for manga publisher’s 100th birthday
Starbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the country
Krispy Kreme releases Super Mario doughnuts in Japan for a limited time
Japanese onsen egg maker from 100-yen store Daiso needs to be on your shopping list
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Drink vending machines disappearing in Japan as number drops to lowest in 30 years
What’s inside Japan’s super-rare, super-popular Nara bread?
Japan named most sleep-deprived country for fourth year in a row, according to survey
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourism
What exactly is the treat known as a “kougnané” that’s sold outside Tokyo’s Yurakucho Station?
Official Evangelion emergency rations, with curry and beef bowls, are now on sale【Photos】
Draw like a Studio Ghibli anime artist with exclusive watercolour set approved by Hayao Miyazaki
Is the all-you-can-eat KFC buffet in Tokyo really as good as they say it is?
Downtown Tokyo’s meaty monster Kaibutsu ramen will challenge your stomach, thrill your taste buds
Drunk customer who threw coins at Tokyo bento shop gets arrested
How often do Japanese high school kids watch anime, and do boys and girls watch the same series?
Famous koi ponds overwhelmed with tourists throwing thousands of coins in them
McDonald’s and Gundam team up for customized anime mecha and fried chicken sandwiches[Video]
Timpani drummer’s crazy finale is startling, funny, more metal than you’d expect from a symphony