Tokyo’s Fashion

Currently residing in Tokyo, Japan, I have noticed that beauty is something necessary for many females and males. Most women carry around designer bags and highly decorated cell phones with sparkle and flowers. Men carry designer wallets and wear cowboy fashioned shoes. One can easily notice that the people in Tokyo pay very close attention to the way they look. However, I must remind the readers that this is Tokyo fashion and not that of Japan. We all know that the fashion sense in New York is nothing like the one in Dallas. The ideals of Paris are not the ideals of Southern France. Therefore, Tokyo does not represent Japan neither culturally nor fashionably, and yet it's a common mistake to assume so.

The women in Tokyo must be the hardest working, highest paying customers of beauty products. It seems most of the working women can't afford to go to their office without make-up. They would be perceived as unclean if they should ever appear without it. They also shave their arm hair, their legs, armpits, and pay extra close attention to their eyebrows and eyelashes. Beautiful eyes are those with double lids, heavy mascara, thick upper and lower lid eyeliner and a light-colored eye shadow. Eye-lid surgery, along with colored contact lenses, is very popular. For those who can't afford surgery, special glue and tape are sold to create the double eyelid as a temporary solution.

As for body shape, a large behind is not desirable in women, and it is better to have large breasts. Though not many Japanese women are born with large breasts. To solve this, breast enhancers of all varieties are sold from silicon cups to herbal medicines to even massages that claim to boost the breast size. Generally speaking, the women are very slim. The average woman is about 160 centimeters tall, or 5 feet and 3 inches. Weight loss advertisements, however, often portray women who used to weigh 58 kilograms (127 lbs) and now weigh 46 kilograms (101.5 lbs) thanks to this or that miracle solution! Everyone is very quick to notice if one has lost only one kilogram or so. And in come the compliments.

Hair is important too. Black is boring, instead, blonde, reddish brown, orange, and dark brown are in. Perms are very popular, making for a huge-curls hairdo. Big, purposely messed-up hair is the Shibuya girls' fashion. These same girls will sometimes tan to the extent o...