“Traditional” dog costumes for New Year’s holiday

Surely we’ve seen no shortage of doggy costumes to commemorate traditional western holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Now pet shop Dog Marine is going East Asia-trad with pet accessories to celebrate the New Year, Chinese astrology-style.

Above is one for this year, the year of the rat, and for next, the year of the ox. Dog Marine is calling these head-pieces inuzura, which means “dog wig.” We also like the “Daruma” (traditional Japanese doll) and “barcode” styles. Barcode is Japanese slang for comb-over!

In other dog news, thanks to the website from pet health insurance provider Anicom, we learned that “Choco” remains the number one dog name in Japan (fourth year running) and is followed by “Momo” (peach) and “Marron” (chestnut). Yes, they are all food names…

Tags: Back to Japan, pets
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends
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Lawson x Eirakuya - Kyoto textile manufacturer

Convenience store chain Lawson has tied up with the 393-year-old Kyoto textile manufacturer Eirakuya to produce a line of stationary items to be sold at Lawson shops around Japan.

Specifically, the collaboration is with Eirakuya’s considerable newer brand Enveraak that creates designs for the teens through 30s market. In clever patterns that incorporate decidedly modern elements like telephones, the line-up includes pens and pencils (¥399, about $3.75), ring notebooks (¥420, about $4), and memo-pads (¥263, about $2.50).

Lawson looks to be channeling the “back to Japan” trend that has been making a mark on the fashion and beauty industries for many years now—though a trend that has seen a recent boost from the association between “traditional” and “natural,” thus eco-friendly and safe. Then there is always the quick turnover that a hit stationary line can create, a la the Beams meets 7/11 retro line we covered earlier this year.

Tags: Back to Japan, Convenience Stores, design, Kyoto, Lawson, Stationary
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends
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Japanese jeans: Past, Present, and Future

Tokyo’s twice yearly Japan Fashion Week takes place this week, which is actually interesting for not so typical reasons (no Posh sightings here). Instead, we give you a look at a rather technical exhibition on the denim industry in Japan, “Japan Blue,” held in conjunction with fashion week.

As you, internet reader of things Japanese are probably aware of, the country is a well-known producer of coveted, artisan jeans. The Japan Jeans Association would also like you to know that they are hard at working making your urban uniform more environmentally friendly. To that effect, textile manufacturer Nisshinbo displayed denim fabric that incorporates discarded banana stocks (left) while Nihonmenpu exhibited items naturally dyed with mulberry (center) and lavender (right).

There was also a section highlighting the work of manufacturers to eliminate harmful waste produced during the washing and dying process. Apparently creating an average pair of jeans takes 200 liters of water, and since an average of 45 million pairs of jeans are created annually in Japan, that means 9 million tons of water are used and then discharged into rivers and oceans. Howa Co. is working on a procedure called ozone de-colorization (or more commonly, air washing) that takes advantage of the oxidizing effects of ozone (O3), produced from air, to break down and remove color from dyes with out needing water. The result (pictured below) looks pretty good.

Of course one of the reasons that Japan took up denim manufacturer was to make use of its long history of indigo dying, as demonstrated in antique traditional workwear also on display.

While the exhibition was limited to JFW guests, there was an additional denim display, the Denim no Mimi Project, for the public at main venue in Tokyo Midtown. Denim no mimi (denim’s ear) is the Japanese word for selvedge, the unused edge of denim woven on large looms. This project, a collaboration between Kaihara, a textile corporation, and Edwin, uses selvedge and other waste materials to create artistic installations.

More manageable waste products are available at the new Edwin Denim Galaxy that opened in April in Arakawa-ku.

Actually we lied, there is a celebrity element: the Japan Jeans Association sponsors an annual Best Jeanest Award that goes to the public figure who is voted to “wear jeans the best.”

The top prize this year went to pop singer Koda Kumi (far left), for the third year in a row.

Tags: Back to Japan, Denim, Eco, Fashion
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends, Technology & Gadget Trends
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Brand name kimono at United Arrows

Kimono designers, despite their traditional credibility and long family history in the fashion industry, hardly have the name recognition of, say, Christian Dior, even in their native country. Recently, however, popular mid-level clothing chain United Arrows began working together with top of the line Kyoto-based kimono makers to create a line of limited edition men’s and women’s kimono from Yamaishi and yukata (lightweight summer kimono) from Kondaya, available this month.

The fashionable shop, with outlets all over Tokyo and Japan held a kimono fashion show during Japan Fashion Week, and will reprise the event this month in its Harajuku flagship. The kimonos themselves are billed as traditional and innovative and likened to couture fashion for the discerning customer, as an alternative, but no less stylish, option to the Balenciaga numbers on the adjacent rack.

This move draws on both the recent interest in returning to traditional craft and manufacturing processes and the established cult of the brand name fashion designer in Japan.

While United Arrows has been selling kimono since 2004, this is their first attempt to brand the designers as fashion icons in their own right alongside the other famous makers of western apparel that United Arrows sells. From their brief experience in the kimono business, United Arrows claims that customers (especially younger ones) are more likely to consider buying traditional Japanese clothes if they are sold in the same context and space as the Western style ones they are accustomed to purchasing. And so long as they are, we will likely continue to see more of the “back to Japan” trend in mainstream retail.

Tags: Back to Japan, Fashion, Kimono, Retail, United Arrows
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends
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Japanese Moxa rebranded for a new generation

Moxa (from moxibustion) is a traditional form of medicine that is often compared to acupuncture…with fire. In its modern incarnation, the mugwort moxa have sticky bottoms and can be placed (light them FIRST) on pressure points on the skin in order to increase circulation.

Moxa for relaxation have become popular recently “with young people” as claimed by one brand, and it’s true to a degree. However, young people don’t typically like the traditional smell of burning moxa. The girl whose arm is in the photo above said that it smells “Like my grandma’s room”. Thus, moxa have been rebranded with a modern image and aroma.

Having used moxa myself, I can assure you that they do indeed penetrate the points you place them on, but it’s also important to start with the “beginner” style like the ones above. There are some really tough ones out there for experienced users that leave very little between you and the fire.

Buy Moxa online

Tags: Back to Japan, health, Wellness
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends
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Ryukyu Lacquerware USB memory by Origami Inc.

Stylish and expensive USB memory sticks have been a highlight of the past year, and they just keep coming. This time, instead of Swarovski, we’re seeing USB memory in pure Japanese style.

Starting only from last month, Origami Inc. has released some amazingly beautiful lacquerware USB memory sticks that are completely handcrafted in Naha and Itoman in Okinawa.

Boasting Okinawan images and style, the Ryukyu Lacquerware USB memory sticks contain high quality materials (including real gold) and gold 1GB of flash memory. Not a lot of storage, but if you’re buying these purely to hold data you have some strange priorities. This is pure style.

Electronics in Japanese lacquerware style (such as these Lumix cameras) are not overly common, but are part of a still-emerging “back to Japan” attitude that is popping up in many industries.

Tags: Back to Japan, Lacquerware
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
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Disney, “wa”, and the Japanization of Mickey

One of the bigger trends of the last year has been the resurgence of Japanese-ness in all kinds of products. The reasons aren’t so clear, but a reemergence of pride in Japanese tradition and style most certainly plays a role, with wa (harmony) as a central theme. The idea of wa (和) is embedded in things that are specifically Japanese, such as wafuku (和服 - Japanese clothing) and washoku (和食 - Japanese food), and carries with it a very specific meaning and feeling. Recognize anything in the picture below?

What about now? The paper used to create the lamps and backlit wall is beautiful and stylish, yet pulls it off while simultaneously incorporating (of all things) a cartoon mouse!

This trend has gone both ways, with traditional items infused with modern elements, but also modern items given the wa treatment. Kyoto design house Wa-Qu did this with Disney, and managed to take an image that typically seems corny and childish and gave it some real style.

In this exhibit, entitled Disney+Wa-Qu, typical Japanese items such as chopsticks, lacquer ware, fabric, and other household goods were created with a mouse ear element whose subtle curves actually lend themselves quite well to the project. Often, as with the objects below, Mickey’s presence may be overt, but it doesn’t jump out and scream “commercial!” at you or cheapen the items (not too dramatically anyway).

The Disney+Wa-Qu display ended last week, but we’ll be keeping our eyes open for future exhibits or commercial releases of these items.

Photos used with permission from Flickr user Tomicwu.
Here’s his website as well.
Scanned picture from here

Tags: Back to Japan, Disney
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07: Japanese Lacquer Version (Limited Edition)

Finally, a Japanese digital camera that looks Japanese! These limited edition models of the stylish DMC-FX07 cameras are finished with a beautiful Japanese wood-lacquer look. They even come in a cool wooden box and with a Japanese-style braided strap to complete the presentation. They’ll be selling from December 12th for JPY 59800, which is about $500. Finishes range from “old wooden dry lacquer” to “jewel beetle”, and are sure to go well with your choice of kimono. The camera itself is 7.2 Megapixels and has an ISO sensor to detect movement and adjust the ISO accordingly. All in all, these are beautiful cameras that scream “Japan!”, and will be tough to get as they’re limited to 100 pieces each at this point.

Japanese marketing has increasingly been leaning toward traditional styling, from plastic green tea bottles with “old Japan” motifs and no English whatsoever to a resurgence of kimono in advertisements for young people. We expect to see much more in this realm.

Tags: Back to Japan, Cameras, Panasonic
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
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