How many colors are there in the world? The human eye has the ability to identify nearly 7 million unique colors, but the color spectrum is limitless beyond the naked eye. With so many colors surrounding us on the canvas of life, it isn’t surprising that the perception of color varies from culture to culture. Every culture has its own sense of color, and Japan is no exception. From prehistoric times to the present day, the Japanese have developed their own collection of traditional colors, known as dentouiro (伝統色), which are still recognized and used today.

Creating Color Perception

Variations in color perception across cultures are present for a number of reasons, but they mainly concern the influences of geography, internal cultural affairs, and external cultural interactions.

Some traditional Japanese colors have been used since the Asuka period (538 to 710), while others are more recent. Due to the long history of the Japanese color system, some inconsistencies in color and name do exist, but the basic outline of the color system still remains intact, listing nearly 500 individual colors.

Geography

Some people think of geography as a somewhat useless, easy-A class in college, but the truth is that geography is one of the most important factors in how we interact with and perceive the world around us. In the case of color sense, a group of people living in the desert would undoubtedly perceive the color green very differently from a group living in lush forest lands, as the Japanese do.

Geography also has to do with color in that it dictates the resources available to people. In Japan, this is especially clear as the names of traditional colors are often related to native plants and animals, especially those used to make pigments and dyes. An example of this would be the Japanese color name, akane iro (茜色), which was produced by creating a dye from the root of a plant called akane grass. Another perhaps more familiar example is azuki iro (小豆色), or the color of azuki beans (aka the most delicious thing ever, often the filling of daifuku mochi).

As for colors named after animals, the most popular choice seems to be the mouse, or nezumi, which is used to express grey tones. For starters, you’ve got budou nezumi (ぶどうネズミ), or grape mouse (purple grey). But, the list goes on and on with names like fuji nezumi (藤ネズミ), or Fuji mouse (light purple grey), yanagi nezumi (柳鼠), or willow mouse (light green grey), and cha nezumi (茶鼠), or tea mouse (light brown grey).  All I can say is Japan must have a really big rat problem.

“Die, beast. DIE!!!”

You can see more colors along with the explanations for their names (in Japanese) here.

Internal Culture

Now that geography has been taken into consideration, we can look at the internal cultural affairs that have influenced Japan’s sense of color.

“Ohoho, mister. Look at my pretty dress.”

The beginnings of the traditional Japanese color system can be traced back to the year 603, when Prince Shotoko established the first Twelve Level Cap and Rank System in Japan. Based on Confucian values and the five Chinese elements, this social ordering system determined rank by merit rather than heritage, and certain colors were used as symbols of rank in society, as below:

In this system, the use of colors known as kinjiki (禁色) was forbidden; only the highest ranking government officials were authorized to wear robes of these colors. An example of this is the color Ootan which was strictly reserved for use by the kuge (公家), or the Japanese aristocratic class. On the other hand,  colors designated as yurushiiro (許し色), or permissible colors, were used by the common folk.

“Boo hoo hoo, I am a sad aristocrat.”

Another period noted for its contributions to traditional Japanese color sense is the Heian period. Stretching from the years 794 to 1185, this era is considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and is known for its art, especially in poetry and literature. It was during this era that many famous works such as The Tale of Genji were written. The poetry and literature of the Heian period is notably expressive, and many color names and descriptions came about from the pages of these traditional pieces.

External Culture

A third influence on the perception of color within a particular group is the impact of interactions with external cultures. In other words, through the ebb and flow of history, color perceptions are adopted by one culture from another. In the case of Japan, both China and Korea had heavy influences on the traditional colors of Japan early on in history through religious and political ideas. However, in the Meiji era many new colors were adopted in Japan as chemical dyes were introduced through trade with Western countries.

In the 1860′s Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie (ウージェニー皇后: 1826-1920), made popular a new dye called aniline (アニリン) by showing off her flaming red military boots to the public. It wasn’t long after that a group of entrepreneurial Germans brought the trendy new dye to Japan. Below is a picture of the boots that started the aniline craze.

“My red boots bring all the boys to the yard…”

You can tell aniline red dye from more traditional Japanese reds just by looking at it. Traditional Japanese reds were made from natural substances and had the tendency to fade quickly, leaving art historians only able to guess what the original looked like. However, aniline reds stay bright for much longer. Both the Japanese print above and the one below were dyed with aniline red dye. Can you see how overwhelming the color looks compared to older Japanese prints? It almost looks out of place, if you ask me.

If you are interested in the history of aniline red and its presence in Japan, I’d recommend this great post. Of course, there are many more colors now part of the Japanese color system that were adopted from foreign countries. Many of these colors are identifiable by their names which are often written in katakana, such as オレンジ. It seems that many people are stupefied by loaned color words in Japanese and are under the belief that the Japanese didn’t have these colors before they were imported. However, it’s not that the colors didn’t exist. Simply, the names of colors have more to do with their source and the dyes used to produce them, many of which were not present in Japan before the Meiji era.

Kimono

Traditional Japanese colors have been used in artistic fields for centuries, and kimono is one of the most notable. The colors displayed on kimono are not random. A piece of clothing so expressive it is considered an art must be thought out very cautiously. In fact, the color combinations used on kimono over the centuries have become part of Japanese color sense.

Although not everyone could afford an array of various colored kimono, geisha had the ability to set the fashion standard with their ever changing style. Below is a list of color combinations worn by geisha according to month:

• January   Pine:   sprout green and deep purple
• February   Redblossom plum:    crimson and purple
• March    Peach:   peach and khaki
• April    Cherry:    white and burgundy
• May    Orange Flower:   deadleaf yellow and purple
• June    Artemesia:   sprout green and yellow
• July    Lily:    red and deadleaf yellow
• August    Cicada wing:    cedar bark and sky blue
• September    Aster:    lavender and burgundy
• October    Bush Clover:    rose and slate blue
• November    Maple:    vermilion and grey-green
• December    Chrysanthemum:    lavender and deep blue

Over time, these color combinations have become part of the Japanese color culture and are thought of as being pleasing to the eye.

Traditional Colors in Modern Fashion

Ten or twenty years ago, most Japanese young people wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing something “traditional” (oh, the shame!). However, these days, things are different. Recently many fashion companies in Japan have been working on reviving an interest in traditional Japanese colors and styles. Now, wearing a kimono to work (in the right setting) is the uber cooliest! In a way, the last decade or so has been sort of a fashion renaissance in Harajuku.

You can get away with wearing toe socks in Japan. Noted.

Honestly, I wasn’t aware of this fact until three years ago when I attended a presentation by %6DOKIDOKI, a prominent Japanese fashion company in Harajuku. Not knowing anything about Japanese fashion, I was astounded that nearly their entire presentation revolved around the importance of the traditional Japanese colors in their designs – something I had never even heard of. They spent an hour going through their outfits bit by bit, pointing out each color they included and reveling at the brilliance of their design. As a frumpy mid-class American teenager, I had no idea what they were talking about, but I was amazed nonetheless.

6%DOKIDOKI presentation with designer Sebastian Masuda

And it’s not just Harajuku fashion models that are flaunting the traditional colors of their country. Familiar faces such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and other J-pop idols are also rockin’ the traditional color trend and showin’ their stuff on stage.

“Pan, pan, wei wei wei?”

It seems that this new trend spurred on by Japanese fashion companies has become a matter of pride for Japanese youth, as they embrace the beauty their country’s culture has to offer. With modern technology, you can even download a traditional Japanese color chart on to your phone or other device.

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Knowing about Japan’s perception of color can tell you a lot about the Japanese people’s culture, history, and life, and being able to recognize such colors can bring Japanese works of art and literature to life. In the case of Japan, it is also pertinent to understand if you are interested in modern fashion trends.

If you get familiar with traditional Japanese colors, you’ll be sure to impress your Japanese friends because even most Japanese people don’t know the names of dentouiro- an added bonus. Do you have a favorite traditional Japanese color? I think mine is azuki iro (小豆色) because MMM azuki beans. Let me know in the comments below, yo.

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Sources:
Traditional Japanese Colors
日本の伝統色
Traditional Colors of Japan
日本の伝統色465色の色名と16進数
The Colors of Japan
 

Now, when I say “overwhelmed” with English words, I don’t just mean there are a lot of them. I mean they are everywhere in Japan- staring you down and mocking you every way you turn. You can’t hide. They’re watching you.

At first, this fact was easy for me to just accept, even if it wasn’t what I expected Japanese to be (Free English words? score!), and it’s not especially apparent to residents of Japan who are surrounded by it everyday.

But, have you ever wondered why there are so many English words lurking about in Japan like a bunch of drunk party crashers?I mean, who invited them there anyway when Japan has a perfectly good language of its own? I’ll tell you why. The motivation for absorbing so many words from other languages can be broken down into four categories: compensation, upgrading, obscuring, and humor.

Compensation and Modernization

“Compensation” is probably the most obvious reason for stealing (I mean borrowing) words from foreign languages. In terms of linguistics, compensation has to do with absorption of foreign loanwords into the areas of a language where vocabulary is not yet developed or does not yet already exist. Since languages start off with an abundance of vocabulary in some fields, and a lack of vocabulary in others (see Part 1), it’s only natural that with language contact and the introduction of new cultural concepts, things get traded.

After Japan’s isolation period ended in 1868 and the doors to trade with the West were finally (forced) open, Japan had a lot of “catching-up” to do. With the trading of new goods from aboard, a whole heap of Western and technical terminology breached the floodgates. Then, with the American occupation during the years following WWII, Japan was heavily influenced by the ‘Murican forces – Japan was going to learn the word for cheeseburger whether they liked it or not! Of course, this introduced a whole slew of other words and ideas to the language that had never been present before. One of them was probably type 2 diabetes.

Okay, so it’s pretty obvious that English loanwords have often compensated for gaps in the Japanese vocabulary (spoon, fork, knife) and vice versa (sushi, tsunami, rickshaw). But, what about the cases in which a foreign word is adopted where a perfectly good native Japanese word already exists? This is where things get interesting – and complicated.

As you may have noticed, the rate at which Japanese has absorbed loanwords has resulted in a number of synonyms in the language, making it all the more frustrating for learners. I realize English is even worse, but seriously, does there have to be 6 words in the dictionary for everyone one I look up (Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a tiger by his toe?). Yes, it does seem ridiculous, but there are reasons for everything.

Let me Upgrade You

Just as Kango, or words of Chinese origin, can have a classical, academic effect in the Japanese language (see Part 1), Western-based terms, especially from English, have effects of their own. One of these effects is social upgrading.

Due to a mess of political and cultural influences over the years, the English language is often regarded with a sense of elitism and prestige in Japan (though, sometimes it’s the opposite). Therefore, upgrading in this case refers to the social benefits received by using English loanwords in Japanese. In other words, using English vocabulary is a way of building one’s social image and making others say “Oh you fancy, huh?”

I got street cred, yo.

One example of this is using technical English terminology to sound as if you know something special and high-level. It’s sort of the same thing old Victorian era men did when they threw in random French words as if everyone knew French. I suppose since everyone is graded on their English skills in school, it’s almost like being really good at a subject like math in the US… sort of.

If it’s true that English carries an air of prestige, then it’s only natural that advertising companies would eat this stuff up (they have to sell you stuff so you can be cool, of course). Countless companies in Japan have created English advertising campaigns in an attempt to make their products look high-class, or “swag” as you kids say. And since commercials have such an influential force over the very flexible minds of young whippersnappers, English has become the coolest of the cool (it’s just so ironic).

Consequently, more and more English words have flooded the Japanese pop culture scene in recent years. However, because English is obviously not the native language of Japan, this has resulted in some pretty hilarious and downright confusing situations.

Although social upgrading is not the primary motivation for adopting English loanwords, it is especially associated with communication between youth and in the commercial realm.

Obscuring the Facts

English loanwords are not absorbed solely for fashion purposes. When I asked my Japanese friend Yuri how she felt when hearing English loanwords, she said:

“English words make everything sound blurry and vague.”

It happens in every language; foreign words are used to cover-up unpleasant or taboo ideas. Using a foreign word in place of a native one has the effect of obscuring the meaning, therefore blunting the force of said word. So, just as I can yell “scheiße!” in an American grocery store surrounded by elderly women without turning too many heads, people in Japan could potentially get away with advertising a big ‘ol F-bomb on their knickers.

That’s one classy granny. Now, an older woman in a “fart” shirt might seem innocent enough – just another helpless victim of marketing – but there are times when loanwords are used for less reputable purposes.

Rebel Yell

Angsty teenagers and rebels everywhere have their own way of sticking it the man, and language is usually a part of that. Japanese people who fit into this “rebellious” category often try to put themselves out of the mainstream by using language opaque to outsiders, and what better way to do that then to confuse everyone with English?

Using English as a rebellious language works in two ways: 1) instead of using it in a positive context, English words are usually selected to refer to negative ideas, and 2) the English language is sometimes mangled and warped to fit a particular group, separating it completely from standard usage.

For example, トラブる or トラブする means to make trouble, ペーパー (paper) means counterfeit money, and アド (address) refers to a hidden location. Graffiti written in romanized characters can also be found spewed all over the cities, giving the same effect of obscurity. Much of this has to do with creating in-groups and keeping social distance from the “majority.” Like man, if you don’t know yo street language, you be dissin’ yo homies. Word.

My English subtitles are so street, man.

Don’t Feel Guilty

Another effect English loanwords have is the diminishing of guilt associated with taboo subjects by creating euphemisms or codes. An interesting example is DCブランド. The original meaning of this phrase is “discount on name brand goods,” but it’s come to refer to students whose grades are primarily low Cs and Ds. Oh, the scandal! Money lending companies also like to take advantage of the vagueness of English words. “Money loan? Oh, that doesn’t sound so bad.”

Another example of this would be the words “hug” and “kiss” in Japanese. Have you ever wondered why English loanwords are used in these situations when obviously hugs and kisses weren’t imported from the UK or America (or were they)? Of course, these words do exist in Japanese, but over time their English counterparts have replaced them as common use words. According to my friend Yuri:

“If someone says せっぷん (kiss) or ほうよう (hug) in Japanese, I think everyone would be like, ‘Huh?! What happened?!’”

Blasphemy!!!

So, the Japanese words for hug and kiss sound very heavy and serious, while their English counterparts sound less like a dramatic scene in a K-drama and more like a good pat on the back. Good to know. If you think about English, “taboo” words are disguised all the time, too – especially by widely giggling junior high students. Giggity!

Be Polite!

Obscuring the truth is not always a bad thing. I mean, do you really have to tell your girlfriend that in fact, yes, her butt does look ginormous in those pants? In Japanese, using the English counterparts to native terms can sometimes be polite. For example, if you want to say copulate in Japanese, using “エッチ (ecchi, or H)” is a nicer way to do so, and saying “トイレ (toire)” instead of “便所 (benjo)” is always a good choice if you want to save your poor grandmother’s ears from your blasphemous mouth.

My granddaughter says what on Facebook now?

My friend Yuri gave a great example of this concept, too:

“When I don’t like something I can just say: ‘この部品はスタンダード (standard) から外れているかな’ (kono buhin wa sutandaado kara hazureteiru kana, “I wonder if this part is lacking something…“)

“Standard,” huh? Sounds pretty vague to me. During the interview she went on to describe how even her sociology textbook is filled with indirect English terms, used to avoid being overly harsh on touchy subjects. One of the chapter titles in her sociology textbook was: ネガティブなまなざしを感じ取るースティグマ化 (negatibu na manazashi wo kanjitoru – sutigumaka, Looking at negative perceptions – a changing stigma). If you’ll notice, the words “negative,” and “stigma” are both in English. If you try looking over some Japanese material, you might notice this trend.

Have Some Humor

The last use of English loanwords in Japanese I will touch briefly on is humor. Although it can be difficult to understand humor in other cultures, making fun of other languages is always a classic. However, since English is studied by all students in Japan, it’s a special case. Comedians love to twist the language and make it sound even stupider. For example, one comedian gets laughs by attaching the Japanese honorific “o” to plain loanwords like “juice.” Apparently the ridiculousness of the whole thing is a real gut-buster (I don’t get it).

The use of loanwords in Japanese is very complicated, and this is no way an exhaustive list of uses. However, getting a feel for the flavor English loanwords have in the language is a great way to better understand Japanese, especially when it comes to all those synonyms (and maybe even some Japanese humor). Although this “Westernization” of the Japanese language has been strongly criticized in recent years, all societies have their own ways of expressing social issues through language, and I happen to find the case of English loanwords in Japanese especially mind blowing. Have any thoughts on the subject? Hit me up in the comments section below.

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Sources:
Language Contact in Japan: a Sociolinguistic History

Read All the Posts in This Series:
Japanese, The Borrower Language Part 1: Where the Japanese Language Came From
Japanese, The Borrower Language Part 2: Twisting Words
Japanese, The Borrower Language Part 3: Why They Do It

Well, let’s dive into people’s personal belongings and de-mystify some of these weird every-day items, learning some subtle cultural quirks while we’re at it!

Kinds Of Bags

Let’s start with the outside and work our way in. What kinds of bags do Japanese women carry? Well, there are a lot of different kinds of thing-holders that people have thought up and slung onto themselves. Here are a few examples.

Purses/Totes

You can find a wide variety of purses in Japan just like you can anywhere else. Totes are popular because they are relatively cheap, match with any outfit, and can carry a lot of stuff. Sometimes you can even get totes as freebies wrapped literally inside magazines such as non-no or Seventeen.

Other purses that seem to be popular right now are leather and shoulder-strap purses. Small backpack-like purses are also pretty widely used.

Also feel free to go bag shopping on sites like this. (It’s all in Japanese, but at least you can browse. If you want to buy, there’s always the Chinese Ebay-like site Taobao, which takes payment options from around the world so long as you can navigate around the Chinese.)

School Bags

Middle school and high school students tend to carry School Bags. Sometimes shortened to “sukuba” which sounds like “scuba”, most teenagers opt for one of these bags over a backpack. Some use both, especially kids who go to high-level schools and have to carry twice their weight in books.

There are plenty of ways to show your own style with a school bag. You can choose different colors, brands, fabrics (leather seems to be popular among fashion-conscious teenagers), and sometimes hang whatever keychains or charms you want on them, depending on your school’s rules.

Brand Bags

Japanese women have had a fascination with brand items for quite a while now, and in fact account for consuming over 40% of the world’s luxury brand items. The video above shows people coming in to a brand recycle shop to buy and sell brand-name bags and items for discounted, but still ridiculous prices.

The Things They Carry

So we talked about the outside, the frosting on the cake. But that’s not what you’re here for. What kinds of layers are in the cake? What kinds of filling? It’s time to explore some common and some Japan-exclusive items that Japanese women consider important to keep with them at all times.

Face-blotting Paper

I’m pretty sure that these are used around the world, but Japan has made あぶらとり紙 (abura tori gami), or blotting paper, a purse essential. Used to take off the excess oil on your face halfway through the day, they’re pretty useful. And the ability to package it with any cute design or characters makes them great gifts. I’ve gotten cute packs of these little tissue-paper things as presents at least twice! They’re actually fun to carry around if not just for the sake of having them. With them, you don’t have to worry about having an oily face for your date, although you do have to stand in a bathroom mirror and dab your face with a little sheet the consistency of a toilet seat cover.

In the above video, the uses of face blotting papers are compared with other items you can use to take off oil without removing makeup. Apparently, plastic bags work just as well in a pinch.

Towel

A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker (or person living in an area where the summers are extremely hot) can have. If you’ve been to Japan in the summer, you’ve probably noticed that EVERYONE carries a towel with them. And if you don’t have one, enjoy the sweat from your face drip like warm tsuyu rain.

When I first got to Japan, it was odd seeing how everyone had a colorfully printed towel either around their neck or on their desk at school, but I came to realize how useful they are. You can also use one for drying your hands, wrapping around a cold drink to keep it from getting condensation around it, or waving goodbye to your loved one as they leave on the train (oh wait, you need a handkerchief for that.)

Advertisement Tissues

Although it’s possible to buy your own packs of individual tissues, there’s a much more economical way of getting tissues in Japan. Just go to either the streets of a big city or to the mall and find people handing out FREE packs of tissues. Awesome, free stuff! But what’s the catch? They have little advertisements printed on the wrapping. I really think it’s a win-win situation. They get their word out, I get free tissues! (Which are also great for when you go to a public restroom in the mountains where they’re always out of toilet paper.)

Handing out tissue seems like the saddest job ever if you’re not assertive. Ganbare, tissue girl!

Mobile Phone

There used to be cool flip phones in Japan with features exclusive to the country, but in the past 3 years or so, the country has migrated to smartphones. Rather than computers, Japanese people have tended to use their phones for internet browsing, even before the smartphone boom, so they’ve always been a bit more equipped with features like email, infrared contact adding, and easy browsing.

Today, iPhones are popular as well as Androids and even some japan-exclusive smartphones, like the ones seen above. One of the downsides to iPhones though is the lack of a strap loop.

Although people have gotten around that with charms that go into the headphone jack and cases, it just isn’t the same without stuffed animals strapped onto a phone half their size.

Wallet

Of course the average lady will have her supply of yen. People tend to carry a lot more cash on them, as the likelihood of your wallet being stolen is very very low. People tend to prefer cash over credit/debit cards too, but there are plenty of alternate payment options. Point cards and member cards are also very popular and most stores in Japan have them.

Sea Breeze

It’s still the middle of the summer and you’ve been using your towel to wipe off your sweat. Still, when in the middle of your sports game, you just feel this undying urge to refresh your skin, maybe make you feel less sweaty, and perhaps even keep the sweat from coming back. Sea breeze does that for you, acting as a deodorant, cooling agent, and kind of perfume. Something I’ve always found interesting is how people apply it- they pat the liquid onto their skin rather than rub it, kind of fanning it onto your skin for extra breezy-ness.

Senpai finally noticed her!

Any guesses on what Sea Breeze’s target demographic is?

Feminine Hygiene Bag

Japanese women sometimes store their pads in pouches similar to make-up pouches. As a majority, Japanese women prefer to use pads, but some companies are pushing for more women to buy tampons- and using a gaggle of gyaru to promote.

Using gyaru to advertise products for women seems a bit counter-intuative, but at least it might prove effective to all the other gyaru-types out there.

Omikuji

Whenever you go to a temple in Japan, you have the option of paying a 100 yen or two to get a fortune card! Nothing like Chinese cookie fortunes, omikuji are much more detailed in explaining to you your fate. They have a general fortune (bad luck, average luck, small luck, big luck) and then go into general explanation of your near future. After that, there’s categories like love, family, travel, lost things, love, and etc, giving you some pointers and vague hints to what will happen to you. (Fun, or just creepy?)

Planner

or 手帳 (techou) in Japanese, is the go-to way of planning your life if you’re a Japanese woman. It can even become sort of a diary, where you can write what you did or post a purikura sticker that you took that day into its place on the calendar. Japanese techou come with a plethora of useful guides and references on the back including public transport maps of Tokyo and Osaka, unit/clothing size conversions for abroad, lists of how many calories are in basic foods, and emergency phone numbers.

Others

Some other common items you might find include:

• Eye drops
• Make-up bag
• Electronic dictionary
• Gum
• Hair wax (styling product)
• Mp3 player/headphones
• Pen case

Some Real-life Bags!

Just for your viewing pleasure, I had some of my Japanese friends to take pictures of the belongings that they keep insides of their bags! Enjoy!

Moe: a college student

Rie: an English teaching assistant

Kaho: a  high school student (Wallet contents)

Miyu: a college student

So, what do the female readers of Tofugu keep in their bags? Was there anything in this list that you didn’t know about? Did I forget anything? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks to Leslie for the initial post idea!

Download the desktop-sized image!

You already know what I’m talking about: Hello Kitty, Pikachu, Rilakkuma, and Doraemon (to name a few). They are, after all, the characters that have made Japan the “Nation Of Cute.” While these characters are definitely “the mainstream” (so much so that even outside of Japan you probably will recognize them all), there is another group of “cute” characters out there that you probably have not heard of. Does Kobitodukan, Lerch-san, or Gloomy Bear ring any bells?

Kimochi Warui + Kawaii = KimoKawaii

When I was in Japan last summer, I noticed some really strange characters mixed in with the usual flurry of fluffy alpacas and Pokemon. These strange creatures had the outside skins of mushrooms, peaches, and plants, but on the inside they looked like old men in a perpetual state of shock. When I asked my friend about them, she replied that they were called Kobitodukan (こびとづかん) and were really popular, especially among high school girls who think that they’re cute

Cute? Cute?! How can something this strange be considered cute, I thought. “They’re supposed to be gross, and that’s what makes them cute. It’s called kimo-kawaii, or gross-cute,” my friend explained.

At first I was bewildered by the concept, but just as it took me three painful tries to go from hating the fermented soybean dish natto to loving it, the more that I saw Kobitodukan, the more I began to tolerate them. Before I knew it, I had a Kobitodukan pencil case, keychain, card game, guidebook, candy holder, and assorted stickers. Kimo-kawaii had won me over just like it had won over the rest of Japan.

Kobitodukan themselves were created by Toshitaka Nabata in his children’s picture book, Kobitodukan (which translates roughly to “dwarf encyclopedia”). These Kobito dwarves are explained in a poetic fashion, saying that:

“They are the ones who perform the actions that fill us with mystery. They are the ones that make the grass rustle when there is no wind and who fold the edges of toilet paper into triangles.”

But it’s not just the Kobitodukan that are considered kimo-kawaii. There’s a whole slurry of other characters out there that fall within this increasingly popular category.

Nameko – He’s A “Fun Guy!”

Have you ever heard of a mushroom acting as a detective’s assistant? Nameko (marketed in English as “Funghi”), a talking mushroom, started off in a video game and now embellishes many apps, keychains, and folders galore.
In fact, you can hardly walk a block in Japan without walking into a Nameko UFO catcher (most likely Viet will be cursing while putting in another 1000 yen into the machine… “last time… last time…” he’ll mutter under his breath).

Funghi’s official website says “His lovable expressions and unpredictable behavior make him super popular!” If a talking mushroom wasn’t kimochi warui enough, his skin is described as “slippery, soft, and shiny” and instead of talking, he can express emotions by saying “nnf nnf”

[yframe url='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2mFDFUTKzQ']

He even has a whole music video about him! There’s nothing like watching a mushroom sing and dance to a catchy tune!

Kimo-Kawaii City Mascots

If you’re traveling in Japan, you’ll see plenty of mascots, and not just for sports teams. In Japan, many cities have their own own mascots, or yuru kyara. There are so many (over a thousand) that they cover a wide spectrum of cute.  A while back, Hashi wrote an article about his favorite mascots, which includes some that are kimo-kawaii (or maybe just kimoi) enough to be mentioned here.

Manbe-kun

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKKRoPn19SU']

Manbe-kun is the mascot for the town of Oshamanbe located in Hokkaido. His physical mix of sea-creatures that make up his body and his silent disposition combine to make something that’s just plain weird.

Funasshi

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Funashi represents Funabashi city and vaguely resembles a pear. Although he doesn’t seem very gross standing by himself, when he jumps around (which is very often) you can understand why he might fit into this category.

Sento-kun

Nara’s city mascot, Sento-kun represents his town through his Buddhist monk appearance, reindeer horns and “amiable disposition.” He has not been completely well-received throughout his life, but has continued to thrive due to that those who love him, really love him.

Lerch-san

Lerch-san (pronounced reruhi-san) represents the snowy areas of Niigata prefecture, and is in fact based off of  real-life guy Theodor Edler von Lerch, who supposedly first brought skiing to Japan. I had the pleasure of meeting the mascot at a shopping center a few years ago. (Kimo-)Kawaii!

Blood and Guts- Grotesque Kawaii

Although kimo-kawaii has been a recent fad, Japan has always had a relationship with creating strange things. Similar to the kimo-kawaii is the grotesque-cute or “guro-kawaii”, which is a step more extreme. Those who know Gloomy Bear know guro-kawaii. Gloomy Bear, which has had a surge of popularity overseas, is a teddy bear character who brutally murders his child owner- but he’s so cute while he does it! Although more than a little disturbing, I can see why it would be popular with kids going through a goth-phase. Gloomy bear seems like just the thing embrace if you want to be edgy, but still cute.

Speaking of edgy, if you “look” around Harajuku (and the rest of Japan) you may “see” something called “eyeball decorations.” Japanese girls are ripping out the eyeballs of their friends and are sewing them on their bags and jackets (just kidding.) But eyeballs are embellishing many fashion accessories, and are considered cute by many. Accompanying the eyeballs can be bones or other blood-splattered body parts parts. Adorable!

While this sort of fashion can be seen in Japan it also exists overseas, even in America, in fact! A lot of times it seems like there’s some inspiration going on, one way or another.

Guro-Kawaii Outside Of Japan?

Take for example the American animation Happy Tree Friends, which if you do not know, is a cartoon where cute fluffy animals inflict horrifying levels of violence and gore upon each other. It’s not Japanese, but I have heard various Japanese high school girls tell me that they love the show. Why? I honestly do not know. Personally, I can’t watch a whole video without cringing and looking away. Seriously, watch at your own discretion. Meccha kawaii~!

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The idea of something being both aesthetically unpleasing yet cute at the same time is being accepted both in Japan and outside of it, whether it is for shock factor or for remembrance, and shows around the English-speaking world have also used bursts of gross and grotesque in the mainstream. (Spongebob or Ren and Stimpy, anyone?)

Guro and Kimo Kawaii in the flesh

If we’re going to talk about guro-kawaii, we have to talk about her. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, the supreme overlord of Harajuku, is responsible for earworms such as PONPONPON, Candy Candy, and Tsukematsukeru, definitely embraces the concepts of kimo-kawaii and guro-kawaii.

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Kyary is responsible for many strange (often kimo/guro-kawaii) fads, the perpetuation of eyeball fashions (“see” above), as well as a recent fashion idea of using makeup to emphasize the bags under your eyes to make them look bigger- which is strange to some and cute to others.

Kyary herself states that her image is one of the main focuses of her musical career. She said in an interview once that “I love grotesque things. My concept is scary things that become traumatic with their cuteness. There are so many “just cute” things in the world, so I add grotesque, scary and even shocking materials like eyeballs and brains to balance out the cuteness.”

Almost Zen like with that balance. Wash on… wash off… Ommmmm.

But… Why?

So why are Kobitodukan, eyeball accessories, and Kyary so popular? Is it  the Japanese love of the strange in a society where most are not strange? Are people getting bored of the traditional soft vanilla-type Sanrio cute? The strange is what initially shocks the consumer, and is more interesting than the plain cute. And once they get past the initial shock, they become more open to the idea of it being “cute”, especially when the media and their peers are also calling these things cute. Japanese society is what gives these things the names “kimo-kawaii” and “guro-kawaii”, and once a name is given, the concept comes along with it.

So go forth, Japanese schoolgirls! Bring more kimo-guro-kawaii into the world for the rest of us to enjoy! We will continue your legend by calling these things cute as well, though maybe it’ll take a little getting used to. Although guro-kawaii has been accepted more outside of Japan with things such as Happy Tree Friends, kimo-kawaii still has a ways to go, I think, as I am reminded almost daily when people see my Kobito keychain. “What the hell is that?” or “That’s kind of creepy,” are things I hear a lot. I’m sure the more that I tell people that my kakuremomojiri Kobitodukan keychain is cute, the more it will rub off on someone at some point.

So let’s see, did it work? Let me know how you’re feeling about all of this in the comments. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? (That is, unless said eye is on your handbag)

Time To Coloring Book!

For those of you who still love coloring books (or have kids) our (not) kimo-kawaii artist Aya made you a coloring book page out of the header. How fun is that? Just click the image below to get to a full size.

Also, if you want this image as your very own desktop background, you can do so by clicking below:

2560 x 1600

Why Men Can’t Wear Shorts in Japan

In Japan, shorts are not really viewed as cultured or sophisticated wear for adult males. Unless you’re at the beach or lounging around the house or pool, people might be a bit surprised to see you sporting an excessive amount of calf.

On the whole, Japan is viewed as a pretty fashionable place, especially the high brow city areas and shopping districts. You might be able to get away with wearing shorts out in the country, but around the cities and classy areas, pretty much every respectable dude is going to be wearing pants. If you wear shorts in these areas, you might get noticed for it.

It’s not like anyone is going to call you out on it though. But if you want to “blend in” and not draw any more attention to yourself than you normally would for being a foreigner (if you are one) then wearing pants would be the way to go.

When it’s Okay to Wear Shorts

However, if you’re a woman, very young, or very old, then the no-shorts “rule” doesn’t really apply to you. Kids and old people can basically get away with anything, but that’s a pretty universal rule I feel. Women can wear shorts whenever they like, but it is a bit unusual for girls to show too much skin. That’s not to say their shorts aren’t short, they just tend to wear tights underneath them. Whenever I saw a girl with a whole lot of bare leg showing, it was definitely out of the ordinary.

I think this might be changing though. As I’m not over there currently, it’s a bit hard for me to tell, but I feel like fashion is moving towards bare leg showing being more of an okay thing for girls. Maybe someone living over there currently can help me out with this in the comments. It might also depend on the area of Japan as well.

And the shorts that young men do wear tend to be of the longer variety. It’s also not unusual for men to cuff their pants up into manpris, but this seems to be more acceptable than traditional shorts. Japanese fashion is always changing, so some of this can be a bit hard to keep up with.

Also, it’s okay for adult males to wear shorts around the house, at leisure time, or at the pool or beach. That makes sense. And like I said before, it’s not like anyone outside your friends and family is going to bug you about wearing shorts out and about in the world, but they’ll definitely notice. Unless you’re going to a place with a dress code, the most you’ll get is a confused look. And then they’ll notice you’re a foreigner and go, “Ohhh, I see.”

It’s Okay, You’re a Foreigner

From my personal experience, nobody really expects much from you when you’re a foreigner in Japan, especially if you’re a tourist. They’re always really surprised when you know how to speak Japanese, sit in seiza, use chopsticks, and all those other things that don’t really seem like a big deal to us students of Japan. Therefore, if you’re a foreigner in Japan wearing shorts everywhere you go, the Japanese will just brush it off because you’re a gaijin and you don’t know any better.

Now I’m not trying to say that you need to conform to every Japanese societal custom and everything when you’re over there, I’m just trying to inform you on what sort of fashion differences you might encounter. If you want to wear shorts over there, go right ahead! But if someone acts funny around you when you wear shorts out to Ginza for shopping or you get an odd look from a granny on the train home or something, now you’ll know why.

And all this is just my personal experience and observations. When I went over there in the spring, it got pretty warm, especially when we were all walking around so much. I wore pants every day, and a lot of my male American friends wore shorts. Nobody gave them any crap for it, but I did get told a lot that I was “very Japanese” with how I dressed.

That being said, I’m interested in what you guys have to say. Do you have any experience with the shorts/no-shorts issue in Japan? Did your experiences differ from my own? Share your stories down in the comments!

But few people know that this has been going on for a long time, and isn’t limited to the super-traditional and Harajuku fashions.

In fact, Japan is the birthplace of what many consider to be the modern fasion bible: Take Ivy.

The Gospel of Ishizu

In 1965 Kensuke Ishizu, founder of the Japanese fashion company VAN JACKET wanted to learn more about American fashions. What better way than to go to the source?

Like an anthropologist documenting a new tribe, Ishizu sent a Japanese photographer and a band of writers to descend upon Ivy League campuses in the US, snapping pictures of trust fund babies and future members of the Illuminati (Skull and Crossbones! OoOoOoOo!).

When they returned to Japan, they compiled the photographs into a book. They decided to name it Take Ivy after the iconic jazz hit of the era, the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s song Take Five.

VAN JACKET and its preppy fashions became incredibly popular in Japan, due in part to Take Ivy. Fashion writer and Japan blogger Marxy claims that “Ishizu essentially acted as the godfather of men’s fashion” during the 1960s.

Reportedly, young Japanese people would go so far as to add VAN stickers onto the sides of shopping bags to make it seem like they shopped there. In a way, Japan became an incubator for American fashion. As the preppy style fell out of fashion in the US, it thrived in Japan.

Take Ivy’s Incredible Influence

Even after VAN JACKET went bankrupt and the preppy trend passed into the fashion nightmare of the 1970s, Take Ivy’s influence kept on going. Over the years, Take Ivy became a bible for fashionistas interested in the preppy looks of Ivy League schools.

The New York Times described Take Ivy as “the nearly unattainable center of a passionate cult,” and it’s not far off. Copies of Take Ivy became increasingly rare. Desperate, and living in an era before the internet, people often relied on photocopied pages from the book if they couldn’t get their own.

Those who wanted the raw, uncut stuff had to empty their wallets for it. At the peak of Take Ivy’s popularity, decades after publication, original copies went for as much as $2,000 on auction.

People who were able to get their hands on a copy cherished it. The current creative director of J. Crew says that he was inspired by Take Ivy and “was always obsessed with that book.”

Fortunately, Take Ivy was republished a few years ago; so instead of shelling out thousands of dollars, you only have to drop about fifteen bucks to get your hands on the Japanese fashion bible.

After being revered in Japan for decades, this kind of preppy fashion has seen a resurgence in popularity, as the clothing of J. Crew and Ralph Lauren prove. Some stores even started selling Take Ivy when it was reprinted a few years back.

It’s really interesting how Japan seems to be able to import something and almost make it better than the original. Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal published an article called “Made Better In Japan” that made the argument that the Japanese do just that, whether it’s with American clothing, Italian coffee, or Spanish tapas.

What do you think? Do the Japanese really do it better?

Read more: Prep, Forward and Back, The Man Who Brought Ivy To Japan