[MikeB]

Originally Posted by Columbine

Tokyo's pretty exceptional though. Where I lived, I saw a gyaru girl precisely once. They're not wearing yukata in a typical way though, so I still think they stand somewhat outside the rule.

Where were you based?

Originally Posted by Columbine

Again, i agree, but here I think it could depend on who the wearer of the yukata is. A man with a japanese girlfriend and her family? Clearly one of the in-crowd. A man by himself? Some stupid tourist.

There is that about Japanese culture, everything ought to be done in groups. I remember some dude I knew walked into a bar once wearing a yukata and smoked one of those long thin old Japanese style pipes. It was winter so he looked rather odd. Mind you he was a complete weirdo and looked fairly odd no matter what he was wearing. But I think a Japanese person might get a similar response. Still, nobody got angry with him, though we all thought it was a bit funny. If he had have gone to a Summer festival, even on his own, however I don't think anybody would have found it odd.

Originally Posted by Columbine

Yeah, often the loudest critics are other foreigners. I remember a party where one of the guys turned up in yukata; he was soundly mocked by the british contingent and greeted with bafflement by the japanese students. But again, context. We were all students in the same class so him turning up in yukata was a) kind of a way to big himself up and b) we all knew he was just doing it to get attention from girls.

Yeah, the context is out there...

Originally Posted by Columbine

No, the rules aren't different depending on your ethnicity, but let's face it, Japanese people have these kinds of rules ingrained over the years they've grown up there. Foreigners have to learn it all more quickly. And we stand out more when we goof up.

True, but when we goof up they're usually quite forgiving about it. We've all done the toilet slipper thing right?

Originally Posted by Columbine

Hope you have fun at the Matsuri! 8< I miss ika-yaki.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Columbine

That's really interesting about Uniqlo. I know a lot of the top sumo pro's aren't japanese, and there's now a full-fledged foreign geisha too. But yes, I think if there's a big boom in trad. culture abroad, it might inspire more people to take an interest. Oh! That reminds me, i read in the news about a manga artist who's just made a series all about kabuki and it's getting really popular with middle-school kids.

I remember when I was about 17-18 there used to be some white kids I knew who loved rap music and liked dressing up in hip hop clothes. The black people I knew mostly hated them for that, some of whom argued that it was in some way "stealing their culture" or something similar. I think some people might assume that Japanese people have the same sort of logic. But it's quite the opposite, if you make an effort it will be appreciated. But like anywhere if you act like a weirdo it won't be. What's the anime called by the way?

Originally Posted by Columbine

My friend chose higanbana; http://imaginatorium.org/sano/pics/b02206hgb.jpg . I don't know if you know about them but they have a strong association with death and picking them is considered unlucky. It's just really not done much. On her way to class she had a number of people stop her in the street to try and tell her about this, although of course, she was already aware, and several of the older ones got very shirty about it.

Interesting, I didn't know that, thanks...