JAPANESE AMERICAN IDENTITY & SELF-IMAGE
(Updated to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

In relating with other Asian American groups, Japanese Americans most exhibit which of the following attitudes?
More Americanized than thou | 51%
More rooted in ancestral heritage | 0%
More anxious to be low key | 49%
More embracing of other AA | 0%

Which of the following has the most impact on the Japanese American identity?
Smallest percentage of recent immigrants | 36%
World War II internment | 51%
Japan's economic success | 6%
Smaller population than other AA groups | 7%
To All:
Where did the "Sailor Moon" uniforms for girls and the "Urban Cowboy" look for little boys come from?

DBL DRGN
Who Saw More of These Than She Would Dare to Believe    Tuesday, November 06, 2001 at 08:40:52 (PST)
Half Japanese Girl,
Our host informed us that we were going thru one of the biggest tourists areas run by foreigners. I don't know if this had any impact on the the local girls, but I noticed right off that it seemed in style not to cooridinate tops w/bottoms.

Sunburst Yellow bandana tops gave way to Army-motiff Green and Brown pants. A lady wearing a Lavendar sleevless top had on White jeans with Hot Pink swirls. I saw many Dark Blue/Cloud White/Creme combinations.

What I saw very little of --surprisingly-- was belly-button exposure. In fashion sense, these were some of the most shapely women in the planet, so I was a little thrown by the conscious effort to keep their tummies confined. But also, I had big respect for them for their non-trash dressing. Do you know how many big girls in America will proudly display their rolls to squeeze into those low-rider jeans(?!) *lol*

The shoes took cake. These girls in the States have nothing on the balancing act I witnessed from everyday women in Japan. They thundered down stairs of train stations against surging masses going up, they mastered jogging after wayward cabs like they were in socks. I thought I had a good laugh when I spotted this one girl who I had sized up to be actually 5'1" but when she stood, her corked heels shot her up to 5'6" easy.

In the middle of our tour, a flash storm turned the streets into a raging river. My husband and I ran for higher ground, cursing as we had to wring out our socks and nice, sensible canvas/leather walking shoes.

And the girls in-style? Laughing at us as they glided onward on stilted shoes, the water no where near their cute polished toes.

DBL DRGN


He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best =)    Tuesday, November 06, 2001 at 08:38:24 (PST)
Far Side
Who said I was Asian?

Nihonjin
You're right, people want to look nice, and if their idea of nice happens to inclide a certain hair colour, why should we assume they want to be white?
But sadly, a lot of people all over the world buy into the idea tha 'sexy' equals blond, blue-eyed, long-legged and busty. Some of these are 'white' charactaristics, and if a non-white person buys into this, he/she might indeed be ashamed of his/her black hair or brown eyes. Sad.

Half Japanese girl
The styles can be pretty crazy in Tokyo! The deeply tanned blondes are not as common now, and they were definatley a sub-culture, NOT mainstream!
But hair dying is rampant here (usually medium to dark brown, or reddish brown), and it's rare to see a young urban woman with real black hair! This is not an exaggeration, EVERYONE does it. Lots of guys, and even kids do it.

It's definately just a fad, and in most cases no one is trying to look white. But I can't help but feel sorry for the brown haired toddlers who are treated by their moms as some sort of accessory.

Other things in style- last year's 80's revival is still big here, lots of off the shoulder shirts, hairbobbles, studs, wide belts etc. Yuck. I hope this fad will die out soon.

Also, brand-name anything is as popular as always.

This summer, lots of young women wore traditional yukata, sometimes with a twist- new, brightly coloured hawaiian or hello-kitty prints instead of the traditional blue and white flower patterns. There is even a 'mini' yukata, that ends above the knees.
smallworld    Tuesday, November 06, 2001 at 00:00:35 (PST)
Sometimes Style is Just Style:
Wow. I just read your post and I had no idea young Japanese girls are tanning and going blonde. Is it common or are just a few rebellious kids doing it? What else is in style?
half japanese girl    Saturday, November 03, 2001 at 17:34:22 (PST)
its sad to discover how racist we are. its strange to think that just because a japanese lighten his or her hair means they are ashamed of her race. may i ask you something: do you think europeans or americans that have a tanned skin are ashamed of their race? why does everybody think the whole world wants to be caucasian
nihonjin    Friday, October 19, 2001 at 19:27:31 (PDT)
small world,

you';e Asian, but you get mistaken for Irish? What the hell is that about?
Far Side    Friday, October 19, 2001 at 15:24:14 (PDT)
a concerned citizen
Some studies have shown that DARK permanent hairdyes, especially black, could possibly be linked with cancer. If this is true, only people who are regularly exposed to large amounts of black dye for long periods, like hair stylists, are at risk. Asians who lighten their hair have no problem, and those who use back dye to cover grey also needn't worry if they use the dye as directed.

Then again, plenty of studies have either refuted the cancer link, or have been inconclusive.
smallworld    Monday, October 15, 2001 at 07:50:26 (PDT)
studies have shown a strong link
between use of hair dye and bladder cancer.
a concerned citizen    Saturday, October 13, 2001 at 21:51:49 (PDT)
...Last summer, I had the pleasure of visiting Yokohama for a couple of weeks. I myself am not sure what I was expecting, but what I was not was to see so many young ladies tanned nearly as dark as me (sable brown) w/bleach-blonde hair, sky-blue contacts and sporting white eyeshadow.

I must have looked pretty drab, wearing mostly sleeveless shirts and jeans. But I chalked it all up to style. Our host informed me that fashion in Japan is often European-inspired and changes rapidly, so I could not analyze or get in the "psychology" of why these women chose to dress the way they did...

DBL DRGN
Sometimes Style is Just Style...    Saturday, October 13, 2001 at 17:10:33 (PDT)
I think if the undertone of the blonde is right, Asians can easily wear light blonde as well as anyone else. I don't think that it's tacky. I think what IS tacky is to have the hair colour match the skin colour: have you ever seen the tanned asian girls with the caramel coloured hair? --it's enough to make you want to puke! usually they have thick lip liner, beige lipstick, and crusted over foundation, heavy eyeliner. I've also seen olive-skin tone/black women do this too --it's ugly and GROSS! --almost as bad --Demi Moore's blonde hair in "The Butcher's Wife" --whoooooey! is that ever cheap looking!
if you go blonde, get it right!    Thursday, October 11, 2001 at 20:03:40 (PDT)
The Far Side, excellent observation. But I never said that women who died their hair aren't trying to be someone they're not. I said that dying her hair doesn't neccessarily make a woman ashamed of her race. It IS sad that women af ALL races seem to think that the only way to be sexy is to be blonde. But then again, I think lots of guys agree, so it's understandable that these women feel the pressure to go blonde.

Adamant Asian, first of all, how do you know I have black hair? My comparison to Irish people is NOT a bad one, as I'm often mistaken for Irish.

And sorry to say, you gotta pay up that hundred bucks because I dye my hair deep coppery red. I've never streaked my hair because it's too difficult (I do my hair at home). I also went through a period in high school where I felt the need to change my hair colour every month or so, dying it white blonde, candy apple red, electric blue, you name it. Hell, I've had my hair every colour EXCEPT black (but I have to admit, the green was an accident).

I think hair colour, like fashion, is a very personal thing. People shouldn't care about what colour a stranger's hair is, because it's none of their business.

smallworld    Thursday, October 11, 2001 at 17:43:52 (PDT)
small world,

Ah... but I beg to differ. Why do so many cute Brunettes/dirty blondes dye their hair light blonde? It's because of the social perception that blondes attract more men. So in that sense, these non-blonde white women who lighten their hair ARE trying to be something they are not, because they feel that they don't measure up to what society says they have to be (namely busty, blonde bombshells).
The Far Side    Wednesday, October 10, 2001 at 21:56:38 (PDT)
small world,

You say you've been dyeing your hair red. I'll bet a hundred bucks that your dye job consist mostly of some red streaks, or a deep-crimson that blends in quite nicely with your black hair. you would be stupid to dye your hair like an irish woman (Celtic people like the Irish have firery, ORANGEY-Red, hair, not the rich crimson-red that most Asians would use to dye their hair. Therefore your comparison is a poor one.) But when an asian girl goes COMPLETELY blonde? That's just tacky. I don't mind blonde streaks, but I will never want to be with a girl who's tacky enough to platinum blonde.
Adamant Asian    Monday, October 08, 2001 at 17:37:49 (PDT)
rachel, I agree that just because a woman dyes her hair, it doesn't mean she is ashamed of her race. You have every right to do it, and yes, white women can do almost anything to their hair without being criticized. Do people accuse white women who perm their hair of trying to look black? I don't think so. I've been dying my hair (mostly) red since I was 12, and NOBODY has accused me of copying the irish!

But you are wring to say no one cares about black women who dye their hair and wear contacts, and especially wrong to mention lil kim. This is a black woman who wears light foundation to look paler, uses shadow make-up tricks to make her nose look narrower, wears blond wigs, and blue contacts (the implants, fake nails and fake eyelashes aren't 'white' things, but they sure add to her ridiculous fakery)!!! People DO care, and she has been (rightly) criticized by LOTS of people!
She is trying to look 'sexy', using a WHITE AMERICAN definition of the word, and that stinks.
And yes, some white women do wear coloured contacts, but for the most part they look really fake. Most people I know think they look weird.

And I understand that teenagers just want to have fun and be pretty. But why can't you accept your brown eyes as being pretty?
I guess this is the time of your life for you to experiment with your looks, which is totally normal. Just ignore the people who say you can't do it. And after a few years, hopefully you will come to your OWN definition of 'pretty', and that it doesn't reuire contacts.
smallworld    Friday, October 05, 2001 at 21:32:14 (PDT)
Anais, as you are French you should not jump to conclusions as to why Japanese wear white powder and dye their hair. I am a hapa and I dye my hair brown and have gray contacts. But I dont do it to "hide my Japanese origins" or so you said. My friends all color their hair and we all love being japanese. Maybe you are not even French maybe you feel the need to hide your japanese origins or whatever you mean by that cuz if you were really french what would you be doing on goldsea talking like you know about why we japanese girls do what we do. I am sick of stupid asians telling me that /I a,m ashamed of my race cuz I do this stuff but you all seem so preoccupied with this stuff that I bet you are secretly ashamed of your race. white girls color their hair and gets contacts all the time and so do blacks think lil kim! No one cares when they do it just when we do it. Hey these are my teenage years and I want to have fun and be pretty and that is y we color our hair and wear contacts ok? And sometimes it is just fun to change your appearance every once in a while. That is so prejudice to say we cant do this stuff cuz were asian.
rachel    Thursday, October 04, 2001 at 18:43:05 (PDT)
suze- actually, I just stumbled on this site, and sadly I don't fully understand this obviously heated debate, but I just wanted to thank "Suze." I have never before had such an explanation of what it is like growing up "Korean-American." Thank you very much for the insight. Your points are very emotionally honest, clearly stated, and insightful. Thank you.
Sara    Tuesday, October 02, 2001 at 21:00:45 (PDT)

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