I went on a bit of a shopping spree the other day around Kobe (I got 2 pairs of Jeans, some shoes, a scarf/shawl thing and a T-shirt). Most of the shops I went into I`d wandered into briefly a few weeks ago when I first arrived but just for a quick look, I didn`t actually buy anything at that point. Anyway, it turns out there is an upshot of being a big tall foreigner here; I don`t need to bother remembering my measurements anymore, the shop-assistants are all more than happy to do it for me! Walking into one place where I`d tried on a pair of jeans 3 and a half WEEKS ago, the guy shouts over to me: "31 yea?" (In Japanese obviously). We had a bit of a chat later on (for anyone who cares about such things, he preferred Hedi Slimane as well...) and he mentioned that my Japanese was much better now, and that I was welcome to come back anytime, even if I just wasn`t up for buying anything and just wanted to see stuff :-)
The nice little Japanese tradition of walking out the store with you reached slightly creepy heights at another place where 4 shop assistants (that was everyone in the store!) were still outside bowing to me when I was 3 blocks away! (Kobe has a grid system, the Americans feel right at home, the Brits just get confused...) I eventually turned a corner and hid for a minute or two just to let them go back inside...
On the subject of clothes in Japan, there arn`t actually that many people wearing the really weird stuff you see in photos or on Gwen Stefani (what happened to her btw? Not that I`m complaining or anything, though she was ok in No Doubt), at least not in Kobe. I can think of about 2 distinctly odd examples, but that`s over 2 months.
Two things I won`t let Japan of the hook for are 1) Crocs. People actually wear them as serious footwear here, and 2) the awful potato-sacks about 1/3rd of the women (all ages) wear. Seriously, when I say potato-sacks, I`m not exaggerating one bit in terms of shape.
P.S Note to Japan: You know all that amazing technology you use to make everything so simple and convenient? COULD YOU MAYBE SOMEDAY GET ROUND TO EXTENDING THAT TO DEBIT CARD TRANSACTIONS SO I DON`T HAVE TO CARRY ROUND $1000 IN CASH EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!!! (I don`t mean to work in dollars but my Japanese keyboard doesn`t have a pound sign :-(
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hehe there's plenty of gwen stefani dress sense in Tokyo! Most of the girls are just exceptionally well dressed though, I feel like a real slob :(
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the whole debit card thing - every month I have to draw out ￥70,000 to take my rent to my landlord in person! And this is regardless of the fact I have a Japanese bank account and could easily set up a direct debit... :/
Yea, I think in general the Japanese are better dressed than people in the UK.
ReplyDelete