Japanese find New Zealand as a friendly place, it is only 10 hours by air from Tokyo, and provides a wonderful escape whenever the weather in Japan becomes intolerable. In order to better understand how Japanese fashion trends are influencing New Zealand, MYNIPPON recently interviewed Lydia Banal, who lives in Auckland, and is a keen watcher of Japanese people in New Zealand.  Her interest in the Japanese people was sparked by seeing Japanese magazines brought to her by her niece (who is just one year younger than her), who worked in dance clubs in Tokyo during 1999.  She was impressed with their bold fashion style and has often wondered about their long-term impact on New Zealand culture and fashion.  Lydia herself is of mixed-race (half New Zealander-European and half Samoan).  She is 23, and interested in music, writing songs, stories, and poems.  Because of her deep interest in Asian culture, she is studying Bahasa and Tagalog.

MYNIPPON: How did you become interested in Japan?

Lydia: I really like the way Japanese women dress, especially the ones I see in New Zealand.  I am very impressed by how Japanese fashion has taken western fashion and changed it into something totally new and exciting altogether.   As I watch the trends in Japanese fashion, I hope that Japanese style of fashion will come to our end of the world, because after all, it is a lot of fun for young people to dress up, dye your hair and go out with your friends.  I find that Japanese women are always dressed up, even on occasions when most of us would go casual. 

I also see a lot of Japanese people who are trying to look different by getting a dark tan and dyeing their hair in all sorts of colors.  I don't think it would be considered ugly by anyone but that’s a matter of personal taste.  I don't think it makes one forget who they are or lose their respect for culture (although I'm sure some people do it for those reasons).  Sometimes it's just fun for young people to do those things, but I don't think it's worthwhile to prostitute oneself only to buy a brand-name bag or a dress, as I heard some Japanese teenagers tend to do.  Why to do that when we could just get a faux-replica at the street-market for only $5?

MYNIPPON: Where do the Japanese tourists go?

Lydia: Many (if not most) of the tourists who come to New Zealand are from Japan.  In order to serve these tourists, many of our souvenir shops have signs in Japanese.  Tour companies run buses for Japanese tourists and these are all manned by Japanese staff.  People of all ages come to New Zealand from Japan to admire the scenery, or have a 'cultural experience' in Rotorua (our tourism town).  Many of the younger people go to Queenstown because it is a ski resort town.  As I understand, Japanese are very fond of snowboarding or skiing, and they can do it in the summer months in Japan.  It is also common to see a lot of Japanese fans who come to cheer up their teams during an international competitions.

MYNIPPON: What about the Japanese who go to New Zealand to study English?

Lydia: Yes!!! There are many Japanese students who have come to New Zealand for long-term or short-term English education; some only come for a six month intensive course, others, will stay for years.  Many Japanese students in New Zealand stay with a host family, pay money to the Kiwi family, and get to live with them, while learning about Kiwi culture, and also getting to practice English.  From what I have seen, some Japanese students break away from their peers to become really good at English, and make friends with a lot of Kiwis.  Some of them actually become bi-cultural by the end of their course, but I'd have to say that most of the students spend most of their time with their Japanese friends, and so, don't really make the most of their overseas experience. Having said that though, it is sometimes daunting to make the leap to try and meet Kiwi friends who are interested in the same things as you are, especially when you come from a country so different, and on the other side of the world.  I would also say that many of these students get homesick, so they just tend to keep with their own kind for those reasons.

MYNIPPON: Do Japanese people, other than students, actually live in New Zealand?

Lydia: Yes, there are many Japanese business people here. A friend of ours owns an auto salon here in Auckland.  Many other Japanese business people represent Japanese corporations in New Zealand.

MYNIPPON: How would you describe the fashion trends in New Zealand as compared to Japan? Conservative, moderate, or something?

Lydia:  Fashion trends in New Zealand are moderate.  We don't really use the high price brand names, mostly because the average New Zealander wouldn't dream of spending a huge percentage of his/her disposable income on articles of clothing. The malls here all have very reasonable priced garments which are not too way out or avant garde, but not too boring either. Some shops do sell very sexy clothing, but most people wear these clothes to the clubs, because dressing very sexy will attract attention, which only SOME people want to do while walking down the street. Also New Zealand fashion is sometimes very sporty (sports is huge in New Zealand) or casual, that is, jeans. The youth street trends revolve around hip-hop culture, skateboarders culture, surf culture, punk culture, a few Goths, inner city fashion culture (local designers), retro culture (60s/70s/80s) and/or op-shop culture (second-hand or vintage clothes or Vintage jewelry).

MYNIPPON: In Japan, the fashion trends have changed radically over last two or three decades.  While Japan was a very conservative society prior to the 80s, Japanese women are now believed to be the trendiest in the world and when it comes to dressing sexy, there seems to be no limit there.  We are sure you have seen some of it in New Zealand.  Can you guys simply dress wild and do what you wish or your parents determine how much freedom you can have in how you dress?

Lydia: That is also a mix, because there is such a diverse culture here.  I'm sure most parents would probably raise an eyebrow at most of the things young people are wearing these days, but in the end I think they would let them wear it anyway.  Because if they didn’t, their kids would just wear it anyway.  My parents were not very strict with my dress code as long as I didn't dress like a tomboy; that’s the only restriction I had.  That I think is what we have in common with Japan.  My family emphasized the importance of being feminine though for other people it might be different. The thing I am attracted to most in Japanese fashion is the fearless use of color. I love color in all things; most people in New Zealand are not so brave as to combine colors in that way.  I really admire it.  It's fun!

MYNIPPON: What do people in New Zealand generally think of Japanese people?

Lydia: I suppose there is the first stereotype of "Japanese Tourist", which is the smiling, polite, and can't speak English image.  Apart from that a lot of people would probably say that all Japanese are incredibly wealthy, but that might be because only the wealthy can afford to travel to New Zealand.

A lot of people in New Zealand are very interested in the traditional side of Japanese culture so they would think of the kimono clad woman in a tea ceremony or perhaps flower arrangement, or an elderly man pruning a bonsai tree. The last is probably the crazy blond dread-locked Jimi Hendrix style Japanese, which is probably thanks to a resident Japanese-Busker we have in our Main Street and has managed to be on TV a couple of times for some reason or other.

I would also like to add that the New Zealand band PAN AM has just released its song "Japanese Girls" with the music video set in a photo booth, with you guessed it – Japanese Girls! If that is not enough to show Kiwis fondness for things Japanese, I don’t know what is!

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