Halloween Post: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Halloween is always a non-event here, but if I ever had the opportunity to dress up, there is no doubt in my mind that I would choose to be a Harajuku girl. I have been obsessed with the idea ever since I was a high school student in Japan, buying glossy fashion magazines each week with bubblegum titles like 'POPTEEN' and 'Cawaii'. I couldn't understand the articles very well, but I loved looking at the street style pictures, all of which revolved around this mythical place - Harajuku.

Like many visitors to Tokyo, this year I was overwhelmed by the culture, colours and citizens of the real life Harajuku neighborhood. We went on a Sunday, hoping to catch a glimpse of the infamous fashion scene on display at Jingu Bridge - but were disappointed, as it was raining, and none of the Harajuku kids came out to play. The Harajuku girl remains as elusive as ever in my mind; a pastel, lolita dream.

Takeshita-dori, Harajuku's famous shopping street

The quintessential Harajuku girl can be embodied in one young Tokyoite, a 19-year-old who goes by the stage name of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. She started out as a fashion blogger, and became a model after being scouted outside a convenience store in Harajuku. She went on to have her own range of fake eyelashes, and eventually started a singing career, with a string of infectiously catchy hits - including a song describing the benefits of wearing fake eyelashes - contained within her debut album titled 'Moshi moshi Harajuku' (Hello Harajuku).

Her music videos are, to put it bluntly, batshit wacky. One minute she is dancing cutely, brandishing a lollipop, the next she is vomiting eyeballs. In another scene, she runs gracefully down a street in pink platform boots, with a piece of toast stuffed in her mouth. It's all a visual tribute to the Harajuku she hails from, in the most extreme, expressive way possible.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Image credit: http://kpopchaz.tumblr.com/

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is the perfect Halloween style icon. It's fitting that she has released a new music video in time for the holiday, aptly titled 'Fashion Monster.' I love her. I hope you do, too.

Three Days in Seoul, South Korea

I'm standing on the subway in Seoul, awkwardly clutching the hand ring, and trying not to make eye contact with the old man sitting down in front of me, who is, for some reason, staring pointedly at me. He says something in Korean. I smile apologetically and ignore him. He tries again, more urgently. This time he begins making strange hand gestures. He is rubbing at his crotch furiously and grunting out words I don't understand. Then he points at my crotch, gabbering away and moving his fingers up in a sliding motion. What? Mortified, I look down. Oh. My fly is undone. I deal to the problem, and the old man chuckles, and sits back, satisfied.

This, I thought to myself, would never happen in Japan.

During my three day trip to Seoul - barely a two hour flight away - I experienced a glorious culture shock whirlwind of language, food, people and culture. It all happened at once. Less than two weeks ago, Ryan, one of our friends and I decided spontaneously to go to Korea. We bought cheap flights on the new budget airline Peach, booked accommodation on Hostelworld.com, and armed ourselves with the Lonely Planet Seoul travel guide and a 'Survival Korean' language book. Then we were off.

Walking through Hongdae, the university district where we were staying, at midnight on the Wednesday night we arrived, I was surprised to see almost everything was still open, and people were everywhere. Neon lights with hangul characters twinkled invitingly, rainbow-coloured pamphlets advertising clubs, restaurants and shows littered the ground. The smell of barbecued meat and kimchi wafted outside through open doors, followed by the sweet scent of squeezed lemons as we walked past one of the many lemonade stands dotted around the nighttime streets.

The people were open, too. Young couples walked around holding hands, making out, not caring who was watching. Crossing busy roads, people weren't afraid to touch you, in order to jostle past. The older men and women working the street vendor stalls gossiped away as they stirred big, bubbling pots of orange topogi, and twirled sticks of vegetables and hot dogs into vats of oil. As we lined up for a hot dog, the woman at the stand used her spoon to nonchalantly fish a hair out of the topogi pot. It didn't seem to matter.

Night scenes in Hongdae

Sipping on homemade lemonade served in a plastic bag.

It was three days filled with shopping. We saw the workings of Seoul's famous markets, Namdaemun and Dongdaemun, with their mazes of streets and stalls selling all sorts of treasures. Ryan took up haggling as a sport. The reaction would always be the same - the salesperson would give a long, pained sigh, and glare, before pulling out a calculator and typing out the new price. I guess you have to be careful not to rip them off too much - at Namdaemun, we saw two Korean men get into a loud fist fight over a pair of women's underwear, which attracted a curious crowd of onlookers. I loved the Migliore malls - multi-storeyed malls found at the edge of the markets filled to the brim with clothes, of all styles, qualities and prices. It was a completely different style of shopping than I'm used to. No changing rooms, and if you saw something you liked you had to get it immediately, otherwise there was a high chance you'd never find it again. It turned shopping into a risky adventure.

Scenes at the Namdaemun market

Myeong Dong was Seoul's equivalent of Harajuku, teeming with fashion, and popular chain stores such as Forever 21, H&M, and Uniqlo. All sorts of interesting people could be found here - from young men in full army uniform on dates with their girlfriends, to Korean nuns - there were so many churches in Seoul, neon crosses visible on the skyline in every direction. A guy dressed in a dog costume, advertising a dog cafe. A girl in a Minnie Mouse costume, advertising a cat cafe. There were beauty and skincare shops, which Korea is so famous for, absolutely everywhere. At Skin Food, The Face Shop, Missha and Holika Holika, I bought baskets full of face masks, creams and lotions. These shops smelled amazing - most memorably, Holika Holika smelled like soda, as it had just released a new range of soda-scented beauty products. They also gave out handfuls of free samples and testers with your purchase, which was another incentive to buy things.

Myeong Dong shopping area

Looks a bit like Harajuku, don't you think?

Cat cafe this way.

We visited the ancient palaces Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung, exploring the grounds and admiring their teal blue floral designs that almost looked like something out of the flower power movement. At Gyeongbokgung, we were lucky enough to witness the changing of the guards ceremony, which saw a procession flamboyantly dressed traditional soldiers marching with flags and musical instruments. The palaces were spectacular, nestled within the cityscape. They contained wide, sparse spaces and gardens, a contrast to the bustle of the inner city.

At Changdeokgung

Design on the palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Changing of the guards ceremony

On Saturday we had wanted to visit the weekly Hongdae Free Market, held at a playground and run by arts students from Hongik University, but unfortunately it was cancelled because of the dubious weather. We found ourselves hanging out at the playground anyway, enjoying warm pies from a food stall while watching a boy band film an amateurish looking video, which was attracting quite a crowd. Even in the grey weather during the day, the colours of Hongdae were vibrant, the atmosphere was electric. As well as being a centre for arts, Hongdae is the birthplace of Korean punk music - you can see it literally written on the walls, with graffiti everywhere, posters promoting Marxism, and murals featuring a gorilla wearing headphones, with 'fuck the system' written next to it. Strangely, amongst all this anarchy was also a bright pink Hello Kitty themed cafe.

Playground in Hongdae - home to the Free Market

Boy band shooting a music video

Hello Kitty Cafe

Seoul was an interesting escape from Japan, but I have to admit, it was a relief to come back to the comfort of a language and culture I can kind of understand. I will definitely be going back to explore Korea in the future, but until then I will put on my face masks and listen to K-Pop... and make sure my fly is done up at all times.

Summer Fashion in Japan

I have class at 9am every morning, and this is my typical routine: wake up at 8am, grab a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, slap on some make up, and check Facebook while eating breakfast. I leave my apartment at 8.45am, just as the Kandai-mae train pulls into the station, unloading about half of the student population. I join the mob of students, and we all snake our way up the hill to Kansai University.

Outside the Library at Kansai University

I always feel really inadequate during these daily walks to university. See, it's not like back home in New Zealand, where students wear leggings, puffer jackets and jandals to class (hell, I've seen people in pyjama pants). In Japan, university is the equivalent of a Nicki Minaj concert. Everyone looks fabulous. The walk up to Kandai is a sea of leather, lace and sequins - and that's just the boys!

I'm joking. Sort of. Japanese boys are noticeably fashion conscious. They will regularly wear suits to class, and snappy, expensive looking shoes. And the hair. We have a hair salon on campus, and I was in there one day waiting for Ryan to get his hair cut. There was a guy sitting next to me who had the most perfect locks I have ever seen. No idea why he needed to get his hair re-done. He kept fiddling with it as he waited, looking at himself adoringly in the mirror, tilting his head at different angles and making a pouty face. He was clearly obsessed, and I'm willing to bet he spends more time in that salon than in class.

It's the girls who really fascinate me. They get so dressed up for class. Almost all Japanese girls wear painful looking high heels to university each day. And when I say high heels, I mean sky-high stilettos that are made for clubbing. I just love the thought process behind these choices. 'Ooh, history class today... I know! I'll wear my Jimmy Choos.'

I'm quite happy wearing my converse sneakers. But if I wanted to, I could upsize to a scary looking platform sneaker. I'm having Spice Girl flashbacks so bad right now.

Summer trends in Japan are easy to pick up on, mainly because girls in Japan follow them religiously. Magazines just have to say the key word - for example, 'DENIM' - and suddenly, like magic, everyone is wearing something denim. Denim shirts, jackets and dresses are huge right now.

Another trend that a lot of Japanese girls are wearing are 'tattoo tights'. These are stockings that have tattoo designs on them so it looks like you have tattoos on your legs. Funky and rebellious!

Something interesting about summer fashion in Japan is that a lot of it is aimed at preventing exposure to the sun. While western countries find a suntan attractive, Japan (and Asia in general, I presume) see pale skin as highly desirable. Instead of fake tan, they sell skin whiteners. When it's a hot, sunny day, many women will actually carry umbrellas to shade themselves. I've even seen girls wearing face masks, the sort people wear when they have a cold, to hide their faces from the sun.

Surprisingly, one sun-smart accessory that hasn't caught on is sunglasses. I hardly ever see Japanese people wearing them. I asked my friend why, and he said sunglasses are seen as something that only 'Yakuza, rich people, and gaijin' wear. I wondered if I was being rude by wearing sunglasses, but my friend assured me no, I wasn't, but I was just acting like a stereotypical foreigner.

What a tourist.

I recently donned a pair of (ridiculously huge) sunglasses on a trip to Nara. It was a really sunny day, so I thought, why not. There were a lot of middle school students on a field trip in Nara that day, and my sunglasses became a topic of fascination. A group of boys came up to me, and one of them said 'Gaga, Gaga, I love you!' Then two groups of girls asked in giggly English if they could take photos with me. Oh, it was awkward. And I'm still not sure if being compared to Lady Gaga is a compliment. But hey. Sometimes it's fun to live the life of the rich and famous.

Osaka's Amerika-mura and the American Dream.

Leave through Exit 25 at Namba Station, and walk straight ahead for about five minutes - past the Korean Embassy, Citi Bank, and the Apple Store. Turn left down a dodgy little side street. And hey. Wassup y'all. You're in Osaka's own little America-town.

Amerika-Mura

We all have our own versions of the American Dream (mine involves Nashville and meeting Taylor Swift). Osaka's Amerika-mura fuses fast food chains, fashion, hip hop culture, and popular American iconography. The American flag is everywhere. So is Uncle Sam. There is even a Statue of Liberty.

American flag = everywhere.

Mini Statue of Liberty.

I'm not gonna lie, it's tacky. Chris Brown, Eminem and Bruno Mars blast at full volume in every shop. There are more tattoo parlours in Amerika-mura than I have seen in all of Japan so far. Male shop assistants wear beanies, baggy jeans, and have attempted to grow goatees that look more like pubes than facial hair. I saw at least 3 people walking their little chihuahua dogs through the streets - in one case, both the dog and the owner were wearing matching bright pink Adidas tracksuits. Ridiculous. Paris Hilton. I blame you.

Tell me, who looks good in a sequinned American flag bikini?!

Shop names also get lost in translation in their attempts to use the 'cool' English language. Would you really want to buy clothes at a place called 'Gross'? Or 'Mingy'? Or 'WOMB'?!? And is a hip hop shop called 'Brown Sugar' borderline racist?

The one redeeming factor of Amerika-mura is that, right in the middle of it all, there is a little concrete 'park', where you can sit and people watch. Because it is the people who frequent this place that makes it really interesting. Like Harajuku is to Tokyo, Amerika-mura is Osaka's centre of youth rebellion. For teenagers, Japan is a tough place to be. School sucks. Your parents are strict. You feel pressured to fit in with your friends. The emphasis is always on the good of the group - your class, your family, society. Amerika-mura is one place where you can be an individual - wear what you want, do what you want. Just be yourself. Maybe for the Osaka teenagers who hang out in Amerika-mura, that is their American Dream.

Man checking his phone casually. Wearing amazing outfit.

Girl with pink hair sits outside Womb.

Youth congregating in Ame-mura.

Graffiti murals at Ame-mura.