JAPAN: Maybe it's the Radiation...

Reaganite Republican ^ | 08 April 2013 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

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[Reaganite Republican]

*** PING ***

[AmericanInTokyo]

Representative of about .001% of Real Japan.

Take it to the bank, from me. Most Japanese would publicly gawk at these types of over-the-top's and think it odd.

You could just as well go to a Star Trek Convention somewhere in the USA, take photos, and then on a website say "these are Americans."

Just adding some dimension and balance and larger picture to this.

This is "real Japan":

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

That’s something you say about war. It gives lids a different outlook on life .

[Reaganite Republican]

I deeply respect Japanese civilization and capablities, truly and impressive nation by most measures- biggest problem they’ve got is entrenched Big Government

The trendys are something else tho... and what’s with the ‘cute’ obsession? Bizarre to say the least

[BigCinBigD]

From which time?

[AnAmericanAbroad]

Do they still have gosu rori and rockabillies hanging around Harajuku Station in Shibuya? It’s been awhile since I’ve been there. Sundays were, as I recall, like a cosplay convention.

The peculiarities of Japanese pop culture are fascinating, and sometimes quite weird.

[Hot Tabasco]

Those pics are Japan’s equivalent of our Wal Mart shoppers......

[Reaganite Republican]

Particularly the Fifties and Sixties, talk about pulling yourself up by the bootstraps

[lefty-lie-spy]

I’ve never seen “bagel heads”, and all the other pictures are, meh...not unusual in Tokyo, but including the punks and greasers in that album is a bit odd, as I see them every time I go to a gig. Those guys are the only normal ones in the bunch.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Yep, they are all still there as usual. I love rockabilly. See “Jackie and the Cedrics”, and enjoy Rockin’ Jellybean’s famous album cover artwork. They opened for the Detroit Dogs here in February. What a great rock show that was. Some of you from LA or Detroit may remember The Dogs from the 70s. But I digress, sumimasen.

[cll]

I was there in ‘11 and there was a policeman posted in that corner preventing the kids from gathering there.

[Reaganite Republican]

imho the saline injections a bit much...

[Little Ray]

Figured that. Probably just pictures of fanboys or fangirls, who’ll be dressed normally in a few days.
Except for the ones with the surgical modifications...

[UnwashedPeasant]

Hmmm...

[lefty-lie-spy]

You’re not kidding. I don’t know anyone who has seen that here. Maybe its more of a weird Kyushu or Shikoku thing.

[Reaganite Republican]

Similar self-destructive activity to serial piercings, full body tattoos, etc

[AmericanInTokyo]

People really really REALLY need to climb down from this "Japan is Weird" conspiratorial Western biased reporting dictated by perverted editors in Western newspapers who tell their stringers in Tokyo, "give me weird stuff. Only weird stuff." It is the worst bum rap, take it from me, an eyewitness.

Instead, people need to catch THIS, posted just today online:

Japan has a global reputation as an originator of trends. While that's true in many cases, the global media tend to latch onto the most insane examples that defy any sort of logic. Let's do a quick rundown of some of the more outrageous things news outlets have been trying to pass off as trends in Japan: • Geeks dating their pillows in public • Geeks marrying their video game girlfriends • High school girls wearing panties on their heads [as shown at left] • Young people injecting saline to create bagel-like shapes on their foreheads • Girls paying for fake snaggleteeth • Finally, teenage girls selling advertising space on their thighs The one thing these examples have in common is this: They are all utter nonsense. But they serve the global narrative of Japan being full of nutcases who will try anything. The idea of "trends," especially of the Japanese variety, is near and dear to my heart. When I co-founded what is now Mandalah Tokyo, trends were our bread and butter. A core tool of our consulting business is the Tokyo Trend Tour, where we connect clients with innovative companies, experts, shops and individuals. It's a great tool, and there's a lot to be learned from Japan precisely because it's so forward in certain areas. Eric Hartsburg/Facebook Eric Hartsburg and his Romney-Ryan tattoo. However, we spend a lot of time deprogramming clients' preconceptions of the Japanese. Yes, there are fads here, and they're different from what you'll find in the American Midwest or Europe. But when some guy tattoos Mitt Romney's logo on his face for $15,000 [as shown at left], no one sees it as indicative of anything beyond his own financial situation (and mental stability). To paraphrase Yogi Berra, Japanese trends are so trendy that no one follows them. While you can get a few weirdos together to inject saline into their heads, that doesn't make it "Japan's Hot New Beauty Trend" as HuffPo loudly insinuated. What does this have to do with marketing? It's a heads-up for anyone doing business in Japan: If you let foreign press shape your view of the country, you'll be in for a rough time. I know that bursting the Japanese trend-bubble might be disappointing, but have faith! There are very real ways that Japan is influencing the world, and we can start with emoji and cute cats on the internet. Laugh if you want, but these are digital/social trends that connect emotionally with people everywhere. If you want a single example of some crazy trend in Japan right now that "everyone is doing" you'll have to be disappointed. Otherwise, you can check out the most trendy products from 2012. The thighvertising reality I can't tell you how many people asked me in the last couple weeks about Japanese teenage girls renting their thighs as advertising space for everything from Green Day albums to local bookstores. Yes, there is a PR agency offering this service, and yes, some girls seem to have participated. But headlines like "Japanese Women Use Their Thighs as Advertising Space" create fake trend hype. "A Handful of Japanese Teenagers Got Paid to Wear Ads on Their Thighs" isn't so exciting, is it? Let's break this down: While I am a fan of supple thighs, I've not seen this fascinating new advertising medium in use. My vision is perfect, but I would have difficulty making out the ads in the real world, no matter how hard I stare. Despite being technically analog, these ads are 100% digital! The whole point of them is to get media outlets desperate for clicks (I'm looking at you Daily Mail) to write about them. There's a word for this: Gimmick. The agency gets to promote itself (more than its clients), websites get clicks (to sell more ads), teenage girls get a few bucks to waste on panty-hats, and advertisers get exposure in the coverage of the ads themselves. That only works once! The problem is that all of this perpetuates a view of Japan that is far from reality and caters purely to "journalists" looking for a quick and wacky story that isn't even fact-checked. If the agency behind this wants ads on thighs to be effective, let's use QR codes and prove it. My phone is ready for this new innovation in T2O (thigh-to-online) technology. Otherwise, it's going to go straight into the bin along with the ad-supported "free underwear" company we blogged about last year which has given out, at this time, exactly zero pairs of underwear.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Amen. You could run “COPS” on Japanese TV, and say, this represents all of the United States. All Americans are like this. And if you did not have a disclaimer, many Japanese who had NEVER been to the USA would believe it, and would be scared to death of Americans and have a very low opinion. Same as you said, the “Walmart Shoppers” grotesque photos. How about if a foreign news agency put that out and said this was widespread and nearly all Americans looked this way.

[Little Ray]

If I understand correctly, conformity is pretty important in Japan; so, anything different stands out.

Besides I have seen weirder stuff at SF cons here (well, except for those two with bulges - hopefully those were saline and will go away? And I have seen worse PERMANENT body mods in pictures here. UGH.). Also, those haircuts in the first picture are standard issue samurai haircuts - sort of the Taira and Minamoto equivalent to the “high and tight.” They might be re-enactors or cosplay types at a con.

Also, in a nation of conformists, when someone cuts loose, I guess they REALLY cut loose...