Home for the Holidays then flying back to Japan

Hey Everyone,
 Just wanted to give you an update. I will be home for the holidays here in the states and without internet for a little while as Richard and I are now picking up and moving to Tokyo to pursue our next degrees, and hopefully find ourselves more permanent and interesting careers in our respective fields. We've been preparing for the big move for about six months now, so we're really happy that it's finally time to go. After packing all of our "lives" into two suitcases each we are anxious to just get the long, miserable flight over with, get over our jet lag and start our new lives in Tokyo! I have to say I am overjoyed to be returning to Japan with hopes of making it a more long-term home for a while. I have missed Tokyo, and will happy to be back!
On that note, if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, I've been working very hard to build The Cosplay Project Website to make my thesis and research more available on the interwebs. Please check it out if you haven't yet.

Signing out for a while, but coming back with great new posts from Tokyo!
Lady Lara Jones

Japanese for Dummies: It's actually pretty good, but don't plan on being fluent!

     So, a note about this post. I am writing this post for people who want to start learning Japanese. I am in no way fluent at Japanese. In fact, I am still a beginner! Probably much like you if you are reading this post looking for information about learning Japanese! Please take this as advice of a person who has been trying to get to a language class for about a year now and is finally getting the classes I need to become more fluent in Japanese. Every person learns differently and so this advice might not work for you! Be flexible, but most importantly, work hard, and you can learn any language! I became semi fluent in Spanish in high school, but Japanese is a lot more work for me because of the writing. Be prepared to work hard, however, and I'm sure it is possible for everyone to learn Japanese! Now, back to the post...

     Have to say I was really surprised by the quality of the book Japanese for Dummies. It's not half bad for an intro-level text! The "for dummies" series is often hailed as an excellent group of books, but I'm not always blown away by their quality. Most of the time they sort of introduce you to a concept but don't necessarily make you all that proficient at it. I was particularly impressed with Japanese for Dummies as an entry-level text, however, because it does not pretend to make you an expert and informs you straight away that you are learning introductory-level, conversational Japanese. If you're going to vacation in Japan for a length of time, or wish to pick up enough Japanese to watch more anime with less subtitles, then this seems like it's not a bad title to add to your collection.

     Now, don't get me wrong, I think taking a real class, with a real professor, and doing real practice conversations and tests and the like is the best way to learn a language, and ESPECIALLY Japanese. The character memorization alone can take a long time if you don't have a good system worked out to help you practice and remember. I honestly have a really hard time memorizing characters. It's a lot of work! The other problem many people have trying to learn Japanese out of a textbook is that they can't test themselves enough and therefore have a hard time retaining the information they are reading/taking notes on.

 So far I have found that a good way to start learning Japanese and make yourself a sort of lesson plan when no course is available (or you can't get to Japan for immersion), or if you can't afford a course, is as follows: (Please add to this and make recommendations to!)

 1. A good dictionary that can translate from Japanese romanji (English Characters that spell out the pronunciation of Japanese words) to English and vice versa. I have four of them that I got donated over the years (a few people heard I was studying Japanese one year and my holiday presents became language-related. lol), and my two favorite language mini-books to tote around on a daily basis are the Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook (excellent to carry around in one's purse or pocket) and the Websters Compact Japanese Dictionary is great for a beginners level dictionary.

 Note: If you are trying to learn kanji, the following is hailed as quite excellent: Kanji Learner's Dictionary

Don't be scared by the sheer amount of characters in this text. It's probably the most useful dictionary I've ever bought in that it lists ALL the kanji I could ever need. However, it is quite difficult to find things in this dictionary because I'm not good with writing and reading in Japanese yet.

 2. A text book. There are sooooo many Japanese textbooks that it is downright overwhelming to pick one if you have no idea where to begin looking. My suggestion is to pick ones that are being used in a University Syllabus (some university classes have their books listed online and you can search them through google) or ones that have excellent reviews on sites like Amazon.com
  
     My recommended book for absolute beginners who only want a vacationer's grasp or very basic conversational grasp on Japanese is Japanese for Dummies. It really helped me to start picking up the basics.

 3. A program, website, or hand held video game to practice, practice, practice.

     Many, many people are praising My Japanese Coach on the Nintendo DS but I have to say it didn't really do much for me. I think it's great for people who don't have to take notes while studying, but I'm one of those people that relies on studying and taking notes into a notebook at the same time. If I write it down I'm more likely to remember it. My husband, however, thought it was the best program for little practice sessions on the bus or the like because it allows you to easily practice characters, etc. on the go. This is all dependent on your learning style, of course.

     Websites: there are so many websites that claim you can learn Japanese and I want to say that you should probably be careful and not pay for something unless you know it's going to help you. Please, do research BEFORE you sign up for a website. Don't just jump on because one person or the site themselves claim it's good. Many bloggers about Japan get paid to tell you an instruction site is good (Seriously, they're paid "per impression" when you click over to the site they have linked on their page, and this can be big bucks for them so they might not actually believe in the site they support. Tread lightly. If they have some of their own feedback about the site and it's got some decent sounding criticism alongside a decent review then it's probably alright. Just use your best judgement.). Just something to remember that when you're making your decision. Personally, I don't use any websites. I just haven't really needed them since I've been signing up for classes (and tests! yikes! lol), but I can definitely see how they'd be another great way to provide practice and repetition.

     Rosetta Stone or other Japanese Language instructional software: I think Rosetta Stone is great for practice as you are using a book and other materials to go with it. I tried it out and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it honestly. As a beginner I think it's alright, but I definitely wouldn't use it by itself. The US Government and many other organizations back Rosetta Stone, but I just want to stress that it's good to use many different materials to learn Japanese. It really does help to become well-rounded in a language, and get cultural context alongside your language lessons. Using all these options together will really increase your abilities, as well as improve your sense of Japanese culture alongside the language itself. This was my experience with learning Spanish as a second language, and the same techniques are definitely so far working very well to help me learn Japanese alongside culture and context.

Might I suggest "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" to help you learn Japanese and watch a fun anime at the same time?

4. Consume Japanese Media! Watch Anime! Watch Live Action Films! Read Manga! Listen to Japanese Music! Anything that can expose you to more Japanese as spoken or sung by a Japanese person will help you to hear and comprehend the language much more. I love learning Japanese alongside anime, because I feel as though I really begin to understand more of the show then by just reading subtitles (which are often watered down from the exact translation).

     Most importantly: Practice! Writing, speaking, and reading in Japanese all take lots of practice and the more time you spend away from your practice and lessons, the less you will become really integrated into your "syllabus" and of course the less it will "stick."

 Good luck! and remember, learning Japanese is NOT EASY. There is no "easy solution" for learning an entirely new language, and especially one that uses four separate writing systems and a whole bunch of very different rules from Western-style languages. Trust me though, it's worth it. You'll be happy you did! I am already quite happy that I picked up basic language skills before going to Japan. I have a feeling it is going to help me a lot in class and in general.
 Signing out,
     Lady Jones

They're Making a Haruhi Movie! Yay!

     I just found out they're making a Haruhi Suzumiya Movie...thank you youtube for your wonderful information exchange. For anyone that doesn't know, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is one of my favorite anime series of all time. It features a young girl who had god-like powers that is obsessed with experiencing strange and unusual events in her life. Because she wants to experience them so much, they come to pass, as though she has some strange power over fate itself...but I won't spoil it for you!!!
     Anyone who loves sci fi and fantasy in their anime will love this one. Kyon is definitely my favorite character because he somehow manages to put up with Haruhi throughout that whole series, and it often looks as though he's really struggling to comply, albeit with cynical remarks and a hilarious attitude.

    For those of you who have seen the series, check out this neat movie trailer below!
 Yaaaay Haruhi!

Why you shouldn't be afraid to try and fix your own computer! - Save your Computer from a Virus Edition.

This is what happens when you tear apart two computers, pile all the working parts onto a table, dust them off with canned air, and then re-build them into one, full-functional "Frankenputer." One of my favorite projects is to save people's computers from what many companies assure them is "the end." The end you say? I say you're just trying to get them to buy a new machine (which isn't always necessary!).

 I've been meaning to write a post about this for a long time but didn't really get the time until last night when I had a good 'bout of insomnia (I am an occasional victim to insomnia, and it most frequently happens when I have a lot going on in my life at once because I can't quiet my brain down to sleep). The only good thing about said insomnia is that a way I have found I can relax is by doing something somewhat productive and focusing on it and then passing out once I've exhausted my brain (Seems to work quite well actually. Another recommendation I've had is to make a list that you will look at in the morning so you feel okay about not worrying about your "to do" anymore).

 So, on to the topic at hand. Why you should not be afraid to try and save your computer from a nasty Virus or Spyware! A lot of people tend to really freak out when they think something is wrong with their computer. Understandably so, because it often coincides with paying someone LOTS of money to fix it (many techies charge $60 an hour for work that I could honestly do in my sleep. Sometimes a fix is just that easy.), or fighting on the phone for hours with your outsourced company (think, someone who probably doesn't speak your language but has been taught to answer questions from a series of lists...) to get your warranty. (I'm talking about companies like Dell or HP.....who I have personal experience with and was not happy with their service AT ALL). Most of the time, you end up trying to claim your warranty and they deny you, or, they take your computer away for several weeks and wipe your hard drive as "standard policy" before they return it to you.

 If you are like most average computer users you probably don't have a backup and you just lost everything....which sucks.

 So here is some basic advice that can often help you to avoid losing everything on your PC or paying money to go to some stupid chain that overcharges (I'm talking about you, Best Buy!!! Your Geek Squad is soooo overpriced for basic work!). Just see if you can get rid of your viruses on your own before calling the so called "experts."

Disclaimer: This is all meant to be helpful advice to the average computer user. this advice is not recommended for total beginners (also known as newbies) to computers and this advice will certainly not work 100% of the time. Obviously, problems can vary on a case by case basis and I assume no responsibility if you mess up your computer. You are following this advice or reading it because you want to learn one person's strategies and therefore I am not responsible for any losses caused by this post. Now, with that out of the way, on to my advice...

This article deals with Viruses!
 "Viruses = Very Yes?????"

(Strong Bad Email: See the awesome Strong Bad email about viruses here.) 

 Oh noes! You have a virus? Spyware? Well, try not to panic!
 What to do if you think you have a computer virus (On your PC with a Windows Operating System).

 Some signs that you might have a virus include: your computer screen is flickering in select places (but not because you dropped your monitor), your programs are freezing for no reason (and you know you have plenty of memory or this is a new problem), strange colors are appearing on your screen, your internet has suddenly become slow for many days and it's not because of your service provider (sometimes it's good to call and ask if they are experiencing problems), your startup menu or window operations are not what they should be, things just seem to be working strangely when you use your computer and you don't know why, etc. etc. etc.

There are a lot of things that can point to a virus. My suggestion is: if you don't have antivirus installed then you probably have many Viruses and Spyware /Adware entries on your machine. The interwebs are riddled with electronic plague, unfortunately.
Virus = A catch-all name for a series of Trojans and other programs designed to really EFFF up your computer. Bad. If you're surfing a sketchy site then you must prepare to deal with the consequences, which usually means viruses (especially if you don't have a good antivirus program).
Spyware/Adware = These often come from Pop up windows and usually entail a program that is trying to index your information and/or cookies to some company out there. Princeton calls it, "computer software that obtains information from a user's computer without the user's knowledge or consent."

 They are both really annoying, can be hazardous to your computer and your security (can give away your passwords and documents to the jerk who wrote the virus or spyware), and can be really hard to remove if you don't already have antivirus installed.

 That being said, there are some steps you can take to ensure you don't lose everything and try to rescue your machine without the help of some expensive techie.

Step #0: Are you using Microsoft Internet Explorer as your browser? Well, DON'T! Many techies will tell you that it has security flaws and that a majority of viruses out there are written to penetrate this program. Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome are much more secure and honestly I recommend Firefox 9 times out of 10 for everything because it is a much better internet exploration program anyways. Another good tip is to go to your preferences and set your internet browser to dump all temporary and personal files each time you exit the program. This will help clean out some possibilities for viruses to sneak into that pesky temporary files folder. Also, I never have my browser save my passwords as a security precaution. It just doesn't seem like a great idea to me, personally. Consider writing your passwords down somewhere or getting good at memorizing them instead of letting your browser remember them.

Step #1: If you do have antivirus or antispyware (or the ability to still install programs despite your virus) then SCAN the crap out of your machine (seriously, scan it twice if you think it will help). Scan everywhere including archive files.

 If you don't have a good antivirus or anti spyware program I recommend *AVAST Antivirus Home Edition (or AVG Home Edition) and *Spybot Search and Destroy (or AdAware free edition) as they are both free and pretty decent programs. Install AVAST and SPYBOT together and they make a great team of stopping viruses and spyware from getting on your computer. Of course, you could choose to pay for slightly better protection and if you do this I recommend Panda Antivirus (there are others but I have had really good results with Panda, and I only paid $14 a year.). If you can't install these files for some reason then download them onto a disk on a friend's computer and then try installing them on your computer in "SAFE MODE." (You can start in Safe Mode which often prevents some viruses from "kicking in" since you are temporarily severing your computer's internet connection and all but the most basic processes.

The only program I will absolutely not recommend is McAfee because those cheating bastards made their program install like a virus that infiltrates your system and makes it difficult to remove (when you inevitably decide you hate the program). Above that, their protection sucks. Don't use McAfee. Just don't. It's not worth your money.

Step #2: Is your computer improving at all? If not, turn your computer on in "SAFE MODE" (so that it reduced everything to the basic state and it's easier to get around viruses) get your windows installation disk and try "Repairing" your copy of windows. Just follow the instructions on the disk.

If you have a "Ghost" or "Rescue" disk instead (from when you bought your computer and first set it up) then go to that process instead (usually your rescue disk program comes with basic instructions. If not then call whoever made the disk for you and ask).

*****Just make sure you save any documents you created after your "ghost" or "rescue" disk because restoring your computer to that state will cause you to lose all your most recent documents/photos/etc. Only back up files to disks (recommended) or jump drives and make sure they are not corrupted or you are just transferring your virus to your rescue state.******
A word of advice: you should be backing things up as you go anyways in case anything like this ever happens. I keep 3 backups of all my work (especially college work) because if I lost it I would be devastated. This occasional backing up of your work can be done on disks, external hard drives, jump drives, etc.

*Note: If you don't feel comfortable trying Steps 3 or 4 then proceed to Step 5 and call for help.*

 Step #3: If this did not work, then see if you can figure out what kind of virus you have and Google search some forums for recommended removal solutions. Be VERY careful here because the internet does not have a "100% awesome" techie site to go to and you could follow bad advice. I suggest staying away from removing your registry entries (if those are what got infected) because this is a very tricky process and most people will end up screwing up their operating system permanently.) A more recommended solution would be to get your windows installation disk or ghost disk and repair your copy of windows. This will not always remove your viruses so see step 4 as your LAST DITCH EFFORT.

Step #4: The LAST DITCH EFFORT, when all else has failed miserably and your computer is still sick with an electronic plague.

 If you cannot install antivirus, can't get any programs to operate, and can't get anything resolved (even in safe mode) because your computer is so screwed up,  then you will probably have to rescue your important documents/photos and wipe your user account and/or hard drive clean to eliminate the viruses. This is where things can get tricky and you have to be careful that you don't mess up your operating system. Again, this is completely within the realm of something you can do on your own but you want to make sure you follow your operating system re-installation and re-format instructions carefully and don't lose important "drivers" needed to run your PC (drivers = make things like your keyboard, mouse, screen, in-house programs function smoothly and without them your computer will be lost and confused).

 If you have your Windows Installation Disk and your Computer Drivers Disk (or know where to download your drivers from the computer manufacturer's website) then you can proceed to do the following as a completely last ditch effort to clean your computer.

 A. Rescue only your most important documents, work, and pictures onto disks (etc.). If it looks like any of these files have been corrupted or infected then DO NOT SAVE THEM because it is probably too late.

 B. Put in your Windows Installation Disk and go to the option "Install New Copy of Windows." Windows will see that you already have a copy installed, and on this screen you can DELETE the installation and FORMAT your hard drive (usually it's installed onto a "C" drive but it could have another name) to a fresh, clean hard drive.

 C.This will allow you to install your operating system and drivers fresh onto the machine.

 IMPORTANT NOTE: Now, sometimes this is not a perfect process. Wiping your hard drive completely can cause you to lose a little space on it, and sometimes re-installing your drivers doesn't go as smoothly as you want it to. I recommend just taking your time and carefully reformatting your computer so that you don't get angry at yourself later when your function keys don't work properly or some other weird driver isn't working properly. Most of the time, however, if you have your Drivers Disk and your Windows Installation Disks this is a fairly straightforward and effective process. If you had any lingering viruses they are definitely gone now! (This process is the techie equivalent of stomping on your hard drive until it behaves.)

 D. Put in your Drivers Disk and re-install the drivers onto your computer. You can also go on somebody else's computer and download all the drivers you need from a manufacturer's website (if they offer them there) and make your own Driver Disk with all the files on it that you need. I have done this in the past and it worked out fine. Just make sure you download the right drivers for your specific computer model, year, etc. Also, be VERY CAREFUL if you attempt to update a computer's BIOS. Screw up the BIOS and you will DEFINITELY need a techie's help to fix your system. Seriously, you might just want to avoid anything associated with BIOS unless you are an expert user and know what I'm talking about here.


Step #5. If you have screwed up your computer, or still have viruses (or don't want to attempt Steps #3 and #4 on your own because you don't feel comfortable with it) then I suggest calling for help. It's okay to call for help if you have already followed steps 1 and 2 because it means you made an effort and gone through some basic steps that can often fix a basic virus or spyware problem.

This article is meant to help save the average user from spending an average of $60 an hour that a techie will charge you to fix viruses on a computer. We are in a recession and many people should definitely try to avoid paying for a techie if they can fix a problem on their own.

I hope something I have suggested here did help, and that you can save some money. If this article is too complicated, or you feel I should clarify some points, please leave a comment. Again, I am not responsible for any losses, computer problems, crashes, mistakes, etc. caused by the advice in this article. It is meant to be BASIC, FRIENDLY ADVICE and nothing more.

Ja Mata Ne!
 See you later,
 Lady Jones

To all you no-justification Anime Haters out there: Watch Before You Judge!

 Okay, I just want to talk about something that's been bothering me lately. People are often inquisitive about my decision to move to Japan. It's fine, because I recognize that wanting to permanently move to a country other than the one you were raised in could seem somewhat unusual to some people, and to be honest, I really like having the opportunity to educate people about Japan.  I enjoy teaching people about a country and culture that they are unfamiliar with, and I am always especially excited to teach people about cultural and subcultural nuances in depth because that's what I'm passionate about. It's why I became an anthropologist, of course! Many people I meet here in the States very much like their home town and can't picture themselves living anywhere else, and I totally understand that.

 What I HAVE been having a hard time with lately, is the following series of comments from some Americans I have met who seem to know nothing about Japanese Animation:
"Anime? Isn't that those Japanese porn cartoons?" or "Anime, that's stupid, isn't that for kids?" (the list goes on, ranging from insults to accusations.)

 This is generally followed by either a large sigh or frustrated sputtering that I struggle to contain (mostly because there are sometimes profanities involved). After all, it is my job as an anthropologist to be understanding (as much as possible, because let's face it, we all have our moments...) of other people's views, no matter how ignorant or un-informed they may seem to me. My job, I find, is sometimes to break down cultural stereotypes and try to bring understanding to others who have been living under a rock and make accusations about things like this with no prior knowledge of the topic to back it up.

 I can understand how a lot of people don't know much about Japanese Animation (Anime is pronounced in Japanese as "Ahh Nee May"). Unless you are a part of the recently rising generation of anime fans in the United States (these are mostly between the ages of 8 and 25) then you are probably not too familiar with anime. There are many exceptions to this, of course, but I find the older the person is that I talk to about anime in the United States, the less likely they are to know anything about it. Of course, this is a natural consequence to the fact that Anime only recently blew up in popularity in the past ten years (plus, the interwebs, because it's awesome), and I am totally okay with explaining to people why I really like a lot of Anime, but insults and biases about an entire medium is just uncalled for. Why? Because it not only shows a lot of ignorance, it also shows that the person is seriously closed-minded. I mean, seriously people, we live in an age where you can get almost any information you need off the internet in seconds, and you can't take a few of those seconds to go look up some more about something you're going to bash insult others about. Really? REALLY?

 That being said, I actually do take the time to explain the following:
 The reason I came to love anime is because the medium is as diverse in style, theme, and topic choice as film.   You can find Anime about nearly any topic, taking place in all imaginable kinds of universes, with all kinds of people, things, and happenings. Anime is only called Anime because it is comprised of animation as opposed to Live Action Filming. This means that you can have any genre you like (and some that are multiple genres put together and brought to you in an all new light!).

Samurai Champloo is a genre-bending thrill ride of Awesome, in my opinion. It was fairly popular in the United States on Cartoon Network for a while, but came nowhere near as popular as Cowboy Beebop.

 Cowboy Beebop is the anime that literally changed my opinion on the medium forever. It was full of such vibrant storytelling, animation, and character development that I loved it more than any other show I had seen when I was 14 (and it is still one of my favorite series of all time). Furthermore, it was about Science Fiction, Space-Cowboy-Bounty-Hunters in the future and the way they told the stories of all the characters involved was often nothing short of poetic, and really pulled you in to the universe. Furthermore, Japanese Animation intrigued me as a child and encouraged me to learn more about the culture it came from. I wanted to know why they were telling stories with much different influences and themes than the ones I saw here in the United States (and, most importantly, I wanted to know where I could find a Kickass Gundam! When is science finally going to give us Gundams?!) But seriously, all joking aside, Anime is a fantastic way to get people interested in Japanese culture. And no, it's not just for children. There are anime series and films designed for all different age groups (some of the ones designed for adults are so violent and graphic by US censorship standards that they would most certainly be rated R in the United States. Maybe even NC-17 in some instances...)

Cowboy Beebop would probably be that fuzzy line between PG13 and R because of all the blood and violence, but I think it's already to be just PG13. Beebop broke out in America on the television network Cartoon Network (back when the block of Anime cartoons known as "Toonami" used to air every night past 9 PM) and is often credited as being one of the most succesful international anime series of all time because it aired during the years when anime went from being a niche interest to a full-blown phenomenon here in the States.

Someone on Giant Bombcast made this about Toonami when Cartoon Network decided to pull the plug on their all-anime block in 2008. I agree, I was quite sad that they decided to can their Toonami programming, as it was a great way to watch new anime series in the US (although I will admit sometimes they didn't pick the best shows of the anime crop for their programming slots. Usually they were very good).

 And for those of you out there who don't know, there is actually Animated Pornography in Japan, so the rather crude comment above is not entirely without grounding. The genre is usually referred to as Hentai (pronounced Hen-tai-ee)and yes, a lot of people do watch it. I make educated guesses ranging from "it might be because in Japan pornography must be censored around areas showing genitalia (meaning they are blurred out) or the fact that Japanese people are immersed in a culture full of animated characters since they day they are born." Mascots for all kinds of companies and products are animated characters, and therefore there is probably less aversion to animated pornography in a country with such conditions. (You can feel free to argue with me here, because I don't pretend to be ultra-knowledgeable about this particular point).

I'm not putting a video here, for obvious reasons! If' you're that curious then go look it up yourself!

 The main point I'm really trying to make here is that I don't like when people make accusations and insults to those who love Japanese Animation when they have nothing to back their reasoning up. They've never watched it. They just make assumptions based on hearsay or the people they see watching anime. They merely speak ignorance about the entire medium and therefore end up insulting or hurting others due to their stupidity. Maybe I have just happened to run into a lot of closed-minded people in my life (and apparently Brian has as well, because he has also run into people who spout of this nonsense.). Now, don't get me wrong, I totally understand not liking anime, I just think spreading hate and ignorance around isn't the right thing to do. Make an educated decision! Please!

 What do you think about it? Have you run into people that sneer at you or give you a close-minded opinion about Anime when you tell them you watch it? Or am I just meeting a lot of anime haters in my path?

Signing out for now,
 Lady Lara Jones

Photo from Icanhascheezburger.com, where you can get your daily dose of LOLCats.

Possibly our Last Snowstorm in America and Packing to Move to Japan...

  

This is the pile of books AFTER I had already cut down my "books I can't live without when I first fly to Japan" pile down twice. The worst part is that this pile doesn't even include my Japanese language textbooks (I have two that I use most often - one of which is "Japanese for Dummies" which is an excellent jump start on the beginning aspects of the Japanese Language. The other is a much more advanced text and there is no English in it at all.).

     Drove to New Hampshire to see some good friends from college this weekend, and drove right into a snowstorm. Now, I've grown up in New Hampshire for most of my life, so snowstorms are nothing new to me and I'm usually alright driving in them, but they really do they get annoying. There are times when I am driving down the road at about 30 miles an hour through snow that is pulling my tires all over the road (and my steering wheel with it) and thinking to myself how happy I am that living in Japan means no more driving (at least, in theory, as I will be commuting by train and bus pretty much all of the time.) Last time I was in Japan I was so thankful to not have to drive anywhere. I know some people who go to very large cities like Tokyo from small places like where I am from and they are overwhelmed by how to get around. This was not really the case with me as I quickly acclimated to the train system, allowed myself to have a sense of humor when getting lost (which is totally unavoidable at first but kind of awesome when you find someplace new that is cool and unique), and then ended up really enjoying not having to deal with gas, long distances, or car maintenance/payments.

     I find myself looking around for things that I will again miss when I return to Japan, but there aren't too many. Was driving to work the other day and thought about how my trips to Dunkin Donuts or my 40 minute commute (one way) would not really be missed in particular, but then I saw a beautiful sunset over the ocean on my way home and realized there would be little things to miss here and there as there always are when you leave a place behind. Last time I was overseas I found myself wishing I had brought a better laptop computer and this time I am making sure to bring more things that I want to Japan so I don't end up wishing I had brought something. Brian and I have been working on a list (this is mostly non-essentials) based on my last venture to Japan (plus his input on things he really wants to bring).

     Please feel free to add anything you think I've missed that's super important. Keep in mind that because we are flying (and not having anything shipped due to our being college students), we can't afford to pay for more than one checked bag each. It's expensive! Especially if you go over the 50 lb. limit per suitcase.

 1. A laptop, external hard drives, jump drives, and lots of useful computer software and hardware bits. We were informed by the school that we have to bring Windows 7 (we haven't upgraded our PCs yet) with us so that we ensure we can get it in English for a reasonable price.

 2. Our Nikon and Sony Digital Cameras, and my Video Camera. Without photography or video I am a very unhappy person indeed.

 3. As many DVDs and Playstation Games as Brian and I can cram into those multi-disk holders. We put all our jewel and plastic cases into storage and just alphabetized my disks to a pretty decent amount of organization. All of our disks fit in 3, 100-pack storage cases.

 4. The Playstation 3 and the Super Nintendo, which we just could not to leave behind.

 5. Brian has to make sure he brings plenty of clothing and shoes with him to Japan, because he is 6'4" and absolutely nothing will fit him over there. We are pretty sure we are going to have to send money home once a year to have his parents send him back clothing and/or shoes.

 6. School Supplies like pens, pencils, sharpies, and notebooks, because they are cheaper to buy here then they are overseas.

We are putting our office supplies and other random things into ziploc bags because they really are a great way to pack things into a suitcase.

 7. Curtains, a couple of tapestries, some small posters, LED string lights, and some other little decoration type things (Like my collection of Yoshis!!! I can't leave them behind! Brian got me these for my birthday last year and I love them sooo much).

In case you were wondering, these were the Yoshis we used in our Wedding Centerpiece. I was the Red Yoshi and Brian was the Green Yoshi. I really need to get my pictures back from my friend Laura who was the photographer at our wedding because I still haven't been able to post anything here on the blog (or facebook). We had a beautiful outdoor wedding in New Hampshire with an Indiana Jones theme and other geeky references thrown in. It was the best day I could have asked for.
And while we're on the topic of Yoshis, here is my favorite yoshi commercial from the US.

 8. Books....ah books. They are heavy, expensive to ship, and as an anthropologist and geek I own WAAAAY too many of them and don't want to part with them. Since we do not currently have the money to ship books, however, I will be picking only a few from my already reduced pile and bringing them over in our checked baggage.

     There is some other stuff but really those are the major things. We've been planning the move for about six months now because it is our sincere hope that after being in school for a couple of years we can get jobs in Japan and possibly just not come back to the states. (Fingers crossed... a lot). Have you traveled for a long period of time and had issues with packing your belongings into one suitcase?
 Signing out,
 Lady Jones

More Cosplay and Harajuku Photos (to go with my previous post)

Hey all,
 So apparently, Blogger has locked me out of my last post and won't let me edit it because there is probably too much in it already. I've decided to upload more cosplay photos here instead so that you can still see them.
 Again, I would love for everyone to reply to my cosplay post and let me know what you think. Just look at this post as the Photo-tour of Harajuku/Cosplay to go with your thoughts.
 Thanks everyone!
 Lady Jones

Harajuku Station is pretty much a copy-pasted German design. I think it's rather cute. The bathrooms there often serve as last-minute dressing rooms for cosplayers who hope to get out of their house without their family seeing their costume. This was a busy Sunday morning in 2006 (JLG 2006).

To contrast the last photo of Harajuku bridge I put in my prior post, here is a photo of that same bridge on a weekday when everyone is in school or at work. Crazy how empty it is in comparison!

A Western Girl (probably American) asks these two Fruits Fashion enthusiasts if she can have her picture with them. When asked, they said their inspiration for their outfit was the American cartoon series, Strawberry Shortcake. (JLG 2006)

Super cute fashion sense, and they were very nice to let me interview them as long as I did! (Sometimes I have a habit of interviewing for too long and I feel bad about it afterward.) (JLG 2006)

Across from Harajuku Bridge and the entrance to Yoyogi Park, you will head across the street towards the Snoopy Store and the path will lead you to the famous Takeshita Dori (Takeshita Street).

Heading down Takeshita Dori, you can already see all the stores filled to the brim with young shoppers looking for great discounts and cutting-edge fashion. This particular shot, aimed down the street below the sign, is commonly taken by travel photographers. (JLG 2006)

One of the stores down the street, Mighty Soxer. My favorite part about this store is not just its fabulous selection of cute leggings, stockings, and socks - it's actually the store's motto, "With Beautiful Smiling Face." 'Cause using English is cool and trendy, you know? (JLG 2006)

Seriously, their legging selection is super awesome. It's great for a dancer like myself because I'm always in need of new leggings. (JLG 2006).

Harajuku Daiso is one of the growing-in-popularity 100 Yen Shops around Tokyo. I'm a big fan because it's one of the few places I can actually afford to buy some dishes. While it's true that most of those dishes will be made from cheap plastics, I can't really afford to be picky. Besides, most of the stuff in this store isn't half bad. Much higher quality than US Dollar stores for sure. (JLG 2006).

This is a silly shirt. I mean, I can understand why it would be "cool" or "motivational" but I think it just comes off as sounding pretty silly. Again. English is trendy/cool...right? (JLG 2006)

A packed-to-the-gills, discount jewelry store. By the looks of it, most of this stuff was imported from China and Thailand, but it's an inexpensive way to pick up trendy goods. (JLG 2006)

Every bit of 80's and 90's clothing you can think of has made it into this store. It was amazing how much vintage and used clothing you could find in Harajuku that would be sold in America for pennies at a yard sale. Here it sells for 20 - 30 bucks per article of clothing, and it makes me wish I saved all my cheesy 80's and 90's clothing to sell here in Harajuku. My favorite bit in this photo, by the way, is that dollar bill pinned to the vest on the right. I don't know what makes it cool, but sure, why not? (JLG 2006)

Crepe Shop!!! Weeeooo! I have to admit I love crepes. I especially love the dessert crepes. MMMM Strawberries and Cream...or Blueberries and Cream! (Great, now I really want one...) Crepes are handy because you can cruise around and shop with them in your hands and they're not too messy. (JLG 2006)

Another dessert favorite from the area - This is a green tea ice cream cone with bean paste and other fun Japanese accents. It's from the 31 (Baskin Robbins is called the 31 in Japan). (JLG 2006)

Another American-style, vintage clothing store in Harajuku. This one sold clothing my mother wore pretty much every day in the 70's. Each article ran anywhere between 10 and 200 dollars depending on its "rarity." (JLG 2006)

Body Line sells Gothic and Lolita clothing similar to the iconic "Baby the Stars Shine Bright" from the internationally successful film, Kamikaze Girls. I was able to find a black and purple flower, gothic-kimono, outfit for myself here, and it actually fits quite well despite me being a size 6-8 and usually having a hard time finding clothing in Japan. (JLG 2006)

Takenoko is....well....an interesting store. It's kind of a costume shop, but it also parallels along that "other kind" of costume shop, and by other kind, I mean fetish shop. So you can dress like a magician's assistant, a cheerleader, or pick up a lolita-maid outfit. It's all up to you! Quite the interesting mix of stuff in Takenoko. Notice the little "No Photos" sign in the middle. Well, sorry, but I needed this for research. Science demands it! hee hee. (JLG 2006)

Teens hanging out near the Harajuku Bridge. (JLG 2006)

Some Westerner (shown on the left) gives a strange looks to these Visual K Cosplayers. Contrary to what he was probably thinking, these guys were really nice. (JLG 2006)

More views of the bridge. (JLG 2006)

Last photo for now! Look for more soon.

Exploring Cosplay. Excerpts from my undergraduate thesis.

Probably the most common question I am asked after a person learns that I have spent time in Japan is, "So what's up with cosplay, anwayays?" (or something to javascript:void(0)that extent.) Indeed, cosplay peaked my interests many years back so much so that it drove me to write my senior thesis in Anthropology about it. So here it is folks: some excerpts taken from my undergraduate thesis about cosplay. Although I have expanded my research since my senior year, I would like to note that this thesis is copy written and therefore, PLEASE do not attempt to use any part of these excerpts OR photos without my permission. If you would like to cite it please contact me at my email. ladylarajones@ladylarajonesadventures.com

What I would really like to know is what other cosplayers think about some of the conclusions I have made. Do you think there is something more to cosplay? Or is it just another fun weekend out? Read through and then respond to the questions at the end. Also: Please note that I was not able to upload all of my photos due to slow internet, I am working on adding them over the next couple of days. Please be patient as they will not all be immediately available.

 Thank you,
Lady Jones (aka J.L.G.)

A young male cosplayer (shown center) plays the part of a member of the Visual K Band "The Gazette" (Copyright JLG 2006)

This thesis is the written product of an ethnographic project that will give the reader everything they need to know in order to obtain a basic understanding of the cosplay youth culture phenomenon from Tokyo, Japan. When possible, the author has used photography to further illustrate concepts and images that are difficult to describe with narrative alone.

            Why I became an observer of Otaku

I attended my first Anime convention in the spring of 2005. Anime Boston was still a small convention at that time, growing and gaining popularity alongside the new waves of anime coming over and being distributed by large corporations for the first time in such volume. Anime, for me, had been a kind of media that stood out and grabbed my attention amidst a sea of cartoons that attempted to either sell merchandise or comply with a series of guaranteed money-making criteria. Since I wasn’t Japanese, Anime did not (outright) seek to grab me as a consumer, and I appreciated it as a new media. I had first watched anime on Cartoon Network when I was in middle school in the late nineties and was drawn in by its unique art and animation styles, along with plots, themes, and ideas that would never have come out of an American production company. As a casual viewer I started picking up titles here and there, looking for things that were well-translated (a more difficult pursuit before major corporations in the U.S. starting distributing anime) and appealed to my then-teenage mind. As time went on I started reading about Japanese culture and history and grew interested in the more nuanced understanding of anime. I soon found myself analyzing films and series for content, theme, and inspirations from Japanese society, historic contexts, religious myths, and international influences. Around this time I began studying anthropology at Franklin Pierce College and found myself at Anime Boston with a group of students who told me conventions were the “thing” to attend if one was a true fan of Anime and Manga.

When I first walked in the door I saw a group of students in their late teens dressed as characters right out of an anime I had seen on television only a few days prior. I opened my eyes in disbelief and wondered how they had acquired such costumes in America. “Did those people go to Japan?” I asked my friend. She laughed and replied, “No, those are just cosplayers. They just make costumes for conventions like these.” Immediately I was curious about this idea. It reminded me of science fiction conventions and Renaissance Fairs. After taking numerous pictures and asking people casually about cosplay at the convention, I returned to my dorm room and browsed the internet for information about cosplay. What astounded me was there were not many authoritative sources to go to for information about this brightly colored movement. All I could find were young people talking about cosplay in forums and on blogs, all referring to Harajuku, Japan, and the mysterious cosplay communities. Little did I know that my initial curiosity about cosplay would take me to Tokyo for a summer, and spark a series of hypotheses that I would eventually develop into this senior thesis. 

Thesis Statement

In this thesis I hope to give the reader a more encompassing picture of cosplayers and their lives, one that does not yet appear in books or on the internet, in such a way that unravels the mysteries and social contexts that cosplay surrounds. I will describe cosplay and then go on to explain this phenomenon. My hypothesis is that cosplay, like many costuming cultures before it, is a hobby that is pursued for many reasons – including escape, artistic expression, and fun!

Does Japanese cosplay emerge in response to a stratified society that places immense pressure on its youth to succeed? Does it manifest itself in relation to anti-corporate movements? What part does identity formation play in this? Why would people identify with such a vibrant, artistic expression if not to escape and at the same time make a social statement? I will answer all of these questions in this thesis.

Introduction to Theory

Social construction theory (also known as social constructivism) states that everything we know is based on the mental construction of our reality, which emerges from specific historical and cultural contexts. This means, in turn, that our positions in a culture, a time, and a place affect what we know.

“These meanings are varied and multiple, leading the researcher to look for the complexity of views rather than narrow the meanings into a few categories or ideas. The goal of research, then, is to rely as much as possible on the participants’ views of the situation. Often these subjective meanings are negotiated socially and historically. In other words, they are not simply imprinted on individuals but are formed through interactions with others (hence social constructivism) and through historical and cultural norms that operate in individuals’ lives” (Creswell 2007: 20-21).

 I will answer the following questions that social construction theory poses: What is cosplay and what are the properties that make it up? Who wears these costumes and how are they made? How is cosplay constructed, both literally and figuratively? Why are things made in certain ways and what do they express? Finally, what are the historic and social contexts that have created the perfect environment for cosplay to exist in?

A Brief Introduction to the life of the Youth of Japan and Cosplay

Japan exists as a dichotomy, a society that struggles for a balance between those who uphold strict social standards and values, and a people who are trying to be unique and understand themselves as individuals in a place with very few foreign citizens. Less than 1% of the total population of Japan is foreign, yet vast amounts of outside influences come into Japan through the various routes of our globalizing world. Japan, in turn, insulates itself by making technologies specific in such a way that they can sometimes only be produced in Japan, protecting their market and insulating them against outside corporate control of any kind. Donald Richie referred to this process as becoming “uniquely Japanese” (Richie 2000: NP). Furthermore, the people of this fairly young nation state (solidified in the late 1800’s) are fighting to understand their national identity alongside their government’s attempts to finally detach Japan from the last remnants of American occupation. “Tokyo’s civic identity has been formed and reformed by fluctuating cycles of disaster, exodus, growth and change; and the social system – if there could be said to be only one – has created buffer zones and boundaries to help deal with such things” (Knafelc 2004: 13).

(Shibuya: JLG 2006)

Japanese students within their strict society are under tremendous pressure to succeed. Japan’s current population is estimated at around 127.5 million with 14 million of those people concentrated in Tokyo alone (State Dept. NP). (See Figures 1-1 and 1-2.) This means that in a country only slightly smaller in size than California, people must compete aggressively for jobs and educational opportunities. Schooling and placement exams are a matter of extreme stress and concentration for young people until their early to late twenties, depending on how far they pursue their education. The expected course of action after school is to find a company that will hopefully give lifetime employment and job security, but lately Japanese youth have been more reluctant to follow in their parents’ footsteps. 

In Harajuku, Overlooking the famous Harajuku Bridge that leads to Meiji Jingu Mae Shrine on the far side. (JLG 2006)

Understanding and Defining Cosplay

Cosplay (コスプレ, kosupure) is a contraction (or portmanteau) of the English words “costume” and “play.” It is, more specifically, a Japanese subculture that focuses on dressing as characters from manga, anime, video games, Japanese live action television shows, fantasy movies, Japanese pop music bands, and sometimes pop culture icons from other countries.(See Figure 2-1 and 2-2 to see a youth cosplaying as the video game character “Link” from the Zelda Video Game Series.) Cosplayers gather in Harajuku and many other places to see others’ costumes, show off their own elaborate handmade creations, take lots of pictures of one another and in large groups, and participate in costume contests that have become so big that prizes can range from a free cell phone to a trendy boutique gift certificate. Magazines and fashion designers scour these streets, taking photos of cosplayers and the like, hoping to catch the next big wave in fashion and to in the future make profit from these pioneers. (See Figure 2-3 which displays a photographer on the Harajuku Bridge.)

(Photographer on the bridge. Possibly a scout? JLG 2006)

Cosplay has been called many things: an art form, a youth clique, a social event, a designing process, detachment from society, or even just something to do out of boredom. All of these things can be true, at least in part, but the essence of cosplay is that it is a form of expression for young people in the Japanese subculture that practices it. Alongside this expression is fruits fashion, also known as extreme fashion, which sprung up in Harajuku around the same time as cosplay. These two movements are important to understand both independently and together, because in many ways the members of both groups often overlap in various ways. Extreme fashion is the idea of creating an outfit that protests corporate fashion trends and is instead “initiated by the wearer” (Aoki 1). (See Figure 2-4 of some Fruits Fashion known as Kawaii “Cute” Overload.) Cosplay, specifically, is the act of dressing up as a character, person, or creature from an anime, manga, movie, music group, or other Japanese pop culture genre. People who cosplay “take on the role of” their character for an entire day or weekend. The construction of the costume is done by the wearer and involves very little purchasing of items from stores if one is considered a “core” practitioner. (See Figure 2-5.)

Cosplay in Japan is a matter of being a part of one of the tribes that have formed in relation to its practice. In Tokyo that means going to Harajuku and joining one of the many groups or cliques hanging out by Meiji Jingu Mae every weekend. (See Figure 2-6.) One must become an insider to even get the slightest glimpse into a cosplayer’s life during the week, to go behind the bright makeup and hand-crafted clothing they wear, and the identity they take on as their own each weekend. Most cosplayers who are considered core members of a group have several outfits that they have spent tedious hours carefully crafting to perfection. The looks they create are a direct representation of the ideal they wish to express. It is an original response to societal pressures; a visual art form of expression that manifests itself through the idea of becoming another person through an outfit, makeup, and alternate attitude from normal, everyday life.    

The Historic Context of the Cosplay Sub Culture

It is said that cosplay became popular in the late eighties, but no one is sure why the trend first got started. It is pretty much impossible to get only one answer from anyone about the roots of cosplay in Japan. Some say it was because Star Wars and Star Trek conventions had brought with them to Japan people dressed as characters. In turn there were Japanese who took the idea to a whole new level. Others say it was initiated by the trendy new wave fashion artists on the streets and a natural result of fashion experimentation.

Some people argue that Nov Takahashi (from a Japanese studio called Studio Hard) specifically coined the term “cosplay” as a contraction of the English-language words “costume play” while he was attending Worldcon in the 1980s. It is said that he was so impressed by the hall and masquerade costuming there that he reported about it frequently in Japanese science fiction magazines and further encouraged cosplay as a way to promote anime series in Japan. (Cosplay 2007: NP). He has said in public appearances that he worries some people become too obsessed with costumes, and have less enthusiasm for the series itself, but still promotes cosplay avidly. Again, this point is debatable, even though Takahashi himself said he invented the word, since cosplay is a word made by combining two words, something that happens quite frequently in Japan. Karaoke and Pokemon are also words made by combining two words together.

Where to go and what to do: Introducing Harajuku

 TCVB said this of the famed Harajuku District in Tokyo, Japan, “Fashionable Harajuku is the perfect soft-landing in Tokyo with its cosmopolitan air and some of the best of traditional and modern Japan. Most people associate the name Harajuku with the Champs Elysees-like zelkova-lined avenue called Omotesando and a couple of nearby back streets, notably Takeshita-Dori, a cut-price fashion avenue teeming with teenagers.” (See Figure 3-1 for Takeshita Dori.)

Harajuku started out as a main contact point between Western and Eastern culture during occupation-period Japan until the 1950’s. Western clothing was suddenly available to the Japanese in bulk, and it would soon affect styles and fashions being worn by the residents of that area.  Although Western clothing was commonplace by the 1920’s, “Japan’s attitude to western clothes has been unfettered by the accompanying rules of class and status that clothes in Europe have been soaking in for hundreds of years (as indeed has Japan’s own system of indigenous dress). This, coupled with the country’s rapid postwar modernization into a hyper consumerist society, has led to an evolution of yofuku that sometimes looks nothing less than spectacular to the eyes of the westerner” (Keet 8).

Harajuku has been the name of the area around the Harajuku Station on the JR line within the Shibuya ward of Tokyo for many years, but did not achieve its current icon status until around the mid-1980’s. At the time Omotesando had been closed to traffic on Sundays (a “pedestrian paradise” known as Hoko-Ten in Japanese), and so the area in and around Harajuku seemed the perfect place for teens to go hang out, watch performances by young musicians and dancers trying to get their start, and where teens would exchange new ideas and concepts that would develop a myriad of youth subcultures unique, for many years, to that district alone (Aoki 1).

It became, by way of exchange and interaction of Tokyo’s young adults and teenagers, the spot for cutting-edge fashion in the nineties when teens initiated for the first time in shaping fashion the way they wanted it to look and feel rather than following designated trends that are so pushed in a capitalist society (Aoki 1). This fashion movement and the cosplay subculture have made Harajuku a special community for the many teens that travel there on weekends or afternoons once they are done with school or work. It is important to note that this community primarily gathers on weekends, particularly Sundays, and this is reflected in the entire community with businesses in the area closing by 9 P.M. on weekdays and staying open sometimes until the early hours of the morning on weekends. (See Figure 3-2 for what Harajuku Bridge looks like during weekday work hours.)

Harajuku Today

The youth of all social circles come up and spill out from Takeshite Dori (pronounced TA-KEH-SHTA-DO-REE), the street commonly known for its designer shops and fashions found no where else in the world. Takeshite Dori forms the edge of the Harajuku community and is also where businesses attempt to market to the local cosplay groups who hang out up the street. There are boutiques that specialize in socks, t-shirts, cosplay accessories such as wigs, mismatched outfits for the fashion movement, American vintage clothing from the 1970’s, and even stores that sell random accessories or jewelry. (See Figures 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 for stores on the street.) Many western businesses like McDonalds, Doutor Coffee, and the Wolfgang Puck Express restaurant also dot the street.

When you pop back out from Takeshite Dori and cross the street towards Harajuku Station, leaving behind you the Snoopy Store and the Fashion Movement, you are immediately taken in by the sights of Harajuku Bridge. The main passage from the metro and JR lines to Meiji Jingu Mae Shrine, the sidewalk over Harajuku Bridge and across from Yoyogi Park is loaded with groups of teens who have set up parade blankets and strewn out their belongings on them to hang out for the day. Here, and especially on Sundays, you will commonly see the cosplayers and extreme fashion movement teens side by side: a few girls dressed in frilly Lolita Maid outfits trading candy or a few guys in Punk or Gothic garb trading cigarettes out across the blankets. They will look up causally from time to time, but are generally facing away from the large crowds of tourists from Japan and around the world who are making their way through this diverse setting to see the Shrine or Harajuku’s youth culture, UNLESS they are posing for pictures, which I will talk about more later on. Most often they are also listening to or watching someone playing guitar, singing, or dancing.

Cosplayers also come together to attend conventions, concerts, and public gatherings devoted specifically to cosplay. Every year there are cosplay conventions in Japan, and anime, video game, and sci-fi conventions also support the cosplay community. The world’s largest and most famous convention, Comiket (also known as Comic Market), is still held in the Odaiba Area of Tokyo, Japan bi-annually. Dojinshi, or fan produced manga, that cannot be found anywhere else in the world due to their rarity are sold here. Cosplayers from around the world often spend months or even years making costumes to wear to this convention. Cosplay parties held at amusement parks, nightclubs, and cafes now draw followers to new parts of Tokyo and greater Japan to interact with the ever-growing group.

Discussion

Construction and Creation

Cosplay is certainly a construction, and it has several fundamental properties, as well as nuanced components, that make it whole. Each cosplayer makes a conscious choice of what to express by picking a character and “look” to cosplay in their selected community. That community varies, depending on the location and age of the cosplayer, but the general idea is that being an accepted insider is one of the many keys to being a successful cosplayer. Each member will probably also choose a subgroup or category for their inspiration, whether that be Lolita, Goth, Anime, Manga, Visual K Rock, Hip Hop, Fruits Fashion, or Kawaii Overload (cute overload) (Macias and Evers 2007: various). (For an example of Visual Kei Cosplay see Figure 5-1.) One will note that many of these subgroups exist in their own right and are not distinctly a part of the cosplay community. A member of the hip hop group becomes one because they wish to be a part of that community every day, whereas a cosplayer of someone from the hip hop community is only doing so for a weekend (or other short period of time) to express an ideal they do not actually live in their everyday reality. When they dress up they take on not only the full appearance, but also the complete personality of that person or thing. In a way they are like actors playing parts in their own version of a community-wide, completely improvised play.

In Character

Many of the youth cosplay community can often be seen shopping and hanging out with other cosplayers who are also acting “in character.”  Examples of being “in character” by cosplay enthusiasts are similar to actors on a stage. Their actions could include making trademark facial expressions, or memorizing lines to say and reciting them out to people who pass by or interact with them. (See Figure 6-1: In Character “Aname.”)

An example of playing “in character” I witnessed while in Japan in the summer of 2006 that I found particularly interesting was a couple of girls dressed up like Strawberry Shortcake, a female character from the now-classic American children’s cartoon of the mid 1980’s. They had even memorized several lines from the show in English and spouted them out to me when I interviewed them. They were acting spunky, caring, and lighthearted just like Shortcake herself. They told me they had chosen Shortcake after purchasing a purse that had her drawn onto it. They found copies of the cartoon episodes online and watched several before making their outfits.

Making the Outfit

Creating the actual outfit one will wear is the most time consuming process of being a cosplayer. From start to finish it is an intricate process that begins with designing a pattern that must be sewn. Sewing often is done with a standard sewing machine, but intricate and delicate parts of an outfit must be hand-stitched. If one cannot make a part of a costume (which is a surprisingly rare occurrence with the amount of information available online guiding cosplayers to make virtually anything their costume needs) then items are often traded with other cosplayers or bought only under extreme circumstances. A frequently purchased item is the wig because they are so difficult and costly to make without proper supplies. This system of making clothing by hand and trading it with others is shocking to some adults who simply didn’t understand why their children suddenly wanted to learn how to sew, an art that is certainly not used much anymore with clothing being so readily available at low cost to the consumer. Cosplayers feel a kind of loyalty to their craft, however, and for the most part will refuse to spend any money on the pre-crafted designer cosplay clothing you can find in Harajuku specialty boutiques like Body Line and Takenoko.

Accessories are usually the most difficult part of a costume to make or complete with accuracy. Many anime characters wield weapons and thus it is difficult to create an accurate replica of a sword or gun without actually knowing how to do metallurgy. Most cosplayers will use a kind of synthetic material to create the weapon and mold it by hand. (See Figures 7-1 and 7-2 for complicated craft items.) Hair dye and styling are also an extremely important part of completing a character, with Japanese youth finding ways to shed traditional hair color for any in the rainbow. Neon hair colors are especially popular along with spiky hair styles that defy gravity with gels and sprays that are similar to glue in texture. Contact lenses of various colors (all over pigment or iris cover only) are also used to complete a landscape image.

So Who Are These Cosplayers?

Based on my observations, I have found that most cosplayers are between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four, making it a primarily-youth based subculture. Since most of these people are students, it is easy to see how cosplay is the perfect weekend escape from exams and stress (See Figure 8-1 for a crowded Harajuku weekend). Japanese students attend school six days a week, often also balancing a part-time job and/or an extra-curricular activity with a social life and time with the family at home.

It should be said, however, that there are hundreds of reasons people give when explaining why they choose to cosplay. Many people simply enjoy being part of such a fun and diverse group that accepts people no matter who they are, and has found a place to call home in Harajuku. While it is true that having fun is very important to a young person, and most young people will tell you that’s what it’s all about, it is easy to see that social expression is the deeper (often subconscious) meaning to this group’s intentions.

 “It is the sheer variety of styles to be found here – some in the form of fast moving trends, others belonging to little pockets of devoted followers of a subculture scene – that makes Tokyo fashion quite unlike that of any other city in the world” (Keet 2007). Truly Dr. Keet has here appropriately defined the unique concept that is Tokyo’s fashion scene. With so many options available, making a conscious choice of what to wear reflects a deep commitment to the ideal it expresses. One says a lot by projecting visually their ideal image, especially in a city like Tokyo where standing out among the suits and business attire really makes a statement. (See Figure 8-2 and 8-3 for youth and adult mainstream crowds.)

Tiffany Godoy also has some excellent words to apply to Japan’s youth expressions. “Japan’s youth culture has always evolved in relationship to what preceded it, with the kids – typical of youth everywhere – seeking a new identity separate from the one dictated by standard social norms” (Godoy 2007).

Fashion as an Identity Marker

In Victoria Chambers’ book, “Kickboxing Geishas: How Modern Japanese Women are Changing their Nation,” she describes to us that fashion takes a very important stance in expressing oneself in Japanese culture. The old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” seems to take no place in Japan. To go further on this idea, Chambers’ quotes Donald Richie, famous filmmaker and writer of Japanese culture for western audiences, as having said that “the surface truth is always the real truth. This is something that all Japanese people believe. You proclaim it, you put it on your name card and that’s who you are” (Chambers 31). This explains, Chambers says, why “there’s no such thing as casual Fridays at Japanese companies and why, if you are hiking in the countryside, you will see whole Japanese families dressed up like the Swiss Family Robinson. It’s not just a costume; those are their “hiking clothes” (Chambers 31-32).

So where does this idea of surface truth apply to cosplay? Since cosplayers are trying to stand out among a sea of those “dressing for their environment,” as Chambers put it, (meaning, in this case, salarymen, school uniformed teens, and others conforming to the masses) cosplay can be seen, in a way, as youth members creating a new environment, and then dressing to fill it appropriately (See figure 9-1 for the quaint Lolita). What is most interesting is that this environment takes no definite shape or style, and therefore possibilities of inhabiting it are seemingly limitless. There are a few social codes that go along with being a cosplayer, but really it’s all about the individual. In part, cosplayers did not have to work very hard to find a place to house their environment. Harajuku has been the place for fashion experimentation since the mid 1950’s. It was only natural that there would be room for cosplayers among the Fruits Fashion, the Goths, and the Hip Hop Crew (See figure 9-2 for more Visual Kei cosplayers). When cosplayers moved in, there was a natural space made for them on Harajuku Bridge for them to make a statement. What is special about cosplay is that it cannot fit any one category or definition socially. In many ways it is a hybrid of categories and definitions.

There lies a very important point: cosplay as a hobby can be an escape, but can also be a very important social statement in a country where a movement similar to the American social upheaval of the 1960’s has not yet really taken place. Women’s rights are just now being expanded and pushed past their social boundaries in Japan. Rather than a glass ceiling, Japanese women call their boundary a rice-paper ceiling, and in many ways that ceiling is tougher to break through than any other modernized country in the world. So here, in Harajuku, we find a lot of young women who are growing up and at the same time telling society in their own way that they don’t just want to fall into place when their rights are limited, and further more they will refuse to do so. Chambers makes a very important point about fashion in relation to women in Harajuku in her text:

“Gwen Stefani sings about the Harajuku girls and their “wicked style.” But Harajuku is also an anthropological petri dish of young women and how they are choosing to react to all the changes in their lives. From the thirty-plus-year distance of our own American women’s movement, it’s difficult to remember how many women were terrified of equal rights. In Japan you can see that same kind of “fear of flying” at work, in strangely theatrical, uniquely Japanese ways” (Chambers 32).

Fashion has always been a way to make a statement, and cosplay takes this concept one step further. In Japan, fashion trends are frequently initiated by individuals who were undergoing drastic changes in their simultaneously changing surroundings – the teens. Shoichi Aoki, who pioneered the magazine Fruits (which covered extreme fashion movements and experimentation in Tokyo) calls this idea, “fashion initiated by the wearer” (Aoki 2001). It makes sense that this happens because teens around the world are not given a voice of authority. Teens recognize their lack of an authoritative voice in society, and in turn they both subconsciously and consciously act out against their constraints. What better way get attention than dressing extremely, listening to loud music, and hanging out in large groups?

My thesis goes on from here, but really I just wanted to include these specific excerpts to prompt the following conversation. I want to know what YOU think. Personally, I feel that cosplay is a hobby that means something more than just making a costume for a convention. I think the root of the larger cosplay community means something more on both artistic and personal-expression levels. But I want to know what American cosplayers and Japanese cosplayers think about my conclusions. Is it something more? Or is it just a fun weekend out? Is there subconscious meaning beneath it? Or is it just another fad?

 I truly believe there's something more here, but I want to hear what you think.

 Patiently Waiting and Hoping for some constructive responses,

 Lady Jones