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Imitating
celebrity style
Or
trying to look like someone else rather than keeping your own
identity
 Jean
Takarada recently returned from her trip to
Japan. She is echoing the comments and the concerns of other
visitors to Japan in recent years, “I have to agree that no matter what
these Japanese girls do, they will never actually look white. I think
native pop stars in Japan, such as Ayumi Hamasaki, should sport dark hair
instead of adopting a western appearance, because I think they're also a
big influence on native Japanese girls. During my stay in Japan, I wished
I could see more girls in keeping with their natural looks - I felt like I
was just in an America II". What
should you tell people like Jean who have a certain image of Japan and
they do not want it to go away? Japan
lovers like this are appalled at how traditional Japan is
vanishing.
For them, Japan is almost sacred – the tea
ceremony, the Buddhist
monks, the temples, Kyoto, Nara, Nikko – and they do not want that dream
to go away.
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The
Japanese have a different perspective on this.
For them the traditional Japan has its role in their lives but only
a limited one. They want to
be like the rest of the world even if that means giving away some of their
heritage. Maki, a 25-year-old
Japanese woman, now working for an American biotech company in Tokyo, says
that she used to be a kogal when she was
in high school but never changed her hair color to
blonde.
In her opinion, “People who change their hair color just want to
look different from other Japanese. Of
course, they look all the same but this is how they think.
What's in vogue is always the hot item here in Japan.
If Japanese media thinks blonde
hair is in fashion, some people try to copy. You know why I can tell?
Because I used to be in that environment.
I did what the idols were doing even if it did not suit my body or
style. I had all the more
pressure to do it because my friends were doing it and I did not have the
courage to be different than my peers.
We Japanese are practical people – we do what makes sense for us.
Kimono was really uncomfortable and we couldn't do anything in our
daily life wearing a kimono.
So when the time came we jumped to western clothing.
We still dress in kimono/yukata on special days or just
when we want to dress up. It
is the same with everything else – we do it because others are doing it
or because we like it. I
think some foreigners are taking it too seriously.
I will not be surprised if we soon reverted to dark hair or even no
hair – who knows?”
(Related:
Celebrity gossip) |
 Yoka,
a Japanese woman in her early 30s living in the Southern United States for
over a decade is clearly upset, however.
She says, “Living here for such a long time has given me a
totally new perspective. It
now seems that during these last 10 years, Japan has changed a lot more
than ever before and the Japanese people are undergoing a complete
transformation of their identities. In
fact, I sometimes even wonder if we need to ask ourselves “Who do we
want to become?” As I look
around when I meet my friends or visit Japan, I feel uncomfortable when I
see many Japanese men and women with naturally black hair coloring their
hair in strange ways. For
some people, it seems to suit them, though, and I think that some of these
people actually look attractive, but I still wonder why they bother to
pollute their bodies and the environment by using such toxic agents.”
Why do some westerners want to become Japanese?
Jo,
an English girl, writes, “There are no Japanese in my family but I look
very much like one. My eyes are like theirs and my hair is brown-black and
straight and my skin smooth and lightly tanned.
I am only 1.46 m and my body is quite small. I'm very proud of it
because I think Japanese girls are really pretty. I have always been
interested in Japan and my favorite singer is Ayumi Hamasaki and I think
she is so beautiful. Her eyes are very big like the eyes of a deer and
they stand out form her face and she always looks so amazing. I have also
learnt to speak and write
Japanese. My teacher says my accent is very
natural, which pleases me! In fact a lot of people really don’t believe
that my family isn't Japanese. Some times I do get annoyed though, when I
look in the mirror – my eyes look hazel. I would like them to be
slightly darker, almost black.”
Jennifer
in Florida is equally fascinated by people who would like to change their
appearance to that of a Japanese because she would like to do the same.
She comments, “If it were up to me, I would have Japanese hair
and Japanese skin. I'd have eyes shaped like a Japanese woman's, and I'd
keep my American ass. I'd have long
legs, pale bust and a slender
waist. If it were up to me, I'd have an Icelandic spirit, and I'd never be
insecure. Unfortunately, it's
not so simple. Instead I was given curly hair and olive skin. My hair is
blonde, instead of black. My eyes aren't shaped like a Japanese girl's;
they're big and round, and green. I'm trying all the time to accept
my genetics; beating myself up about the way that I look does me no good,
and I understand this. However, I would so love it if I could run my
fingers through silky black hair, and bathe in milk as white as my soft
Japanese skin.” Nicole Pivaro, a Mexican, shares the predicament of Jennifer. "If I
could have one wish in life come true, it would be that I were born Asian
(preferably a Japanese) instead of Mexican. I can't understand why
the girls in Japan would want to look
"western." I'm afraid to tell my Asian friends about all
this because they'll think I'm weird."
We
believe that all human beings are beautiful in their own ways.
It is indeed quite possible that one may want to look like someone
else because grass is always greener on the other side.
Yes, changing your appearance in some ways might make you look
different than everyone else around you but it does not change you in any
other way. As Angelika tells us, "As hard as anyone could try to copy
someone else, they can't be that person. If we let our individuality
taken away from us, we can't say who we are." Having said that, we also believe that these decisions are
better left to the individuals rather than dictated by the society.
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