Sensei Kai making sure everyone observes the rules
The first movement that began in the U.S. around the turn of the second century was the ideal that it is actually cool not to smoke cigarettes. From what I have observed for the short time I have been living here is that smoking is becoming less tolerated and citizens are becoming more educated about the negative effects of the fire stick. According to one of my professors at Kansai Gaidai, it was only 7 years ago that students were still allowed to smoke in class! I can’t even imagine this. Having lived most of my life in the conservative state of Utah, my view of this is probably even more skewed than most living in America where smoking in a classroom is one of the biggest implicit rules. According to current Utah laws on smoking, it is prohibited for any person to smoke inside any enclosed public area or private building or offices. In Japan, I have noticed that most indoor areas are smoke free however, outside there are still a large majority of students puffing smoke near CIE and at the basketball courts.
The second movement that occurred in the U.S. possibly far before smoking became unpopular was the fad of a tan body. It is still seen today as a sign of youth and health in America where many choose to “fake bake” or lather on tanning lotion. However, in America, people are beginning to understand the long term negative effects of this sought after body color. Depending on skin type, one can have as much as a quadruple risk of skin cancer when they are older if they choose to receive extra UV rays when they are younger. In Japan, I am noticing a movement towards the tanned body. This tanned body is also usually accompanied by blonde or brunette hair and Ugg boots which are a whole different can of worms. The second picture shows a tanning salon not too far from Kansai Gaidai. This is the only tanning salon I’ve seen in Japan to date, but I have a feeling that within the next decade they will start to reflect the U.S. more and more to the extent of seeing tanning salons popping up on the streets more often than hair salons. I have gone by this shop a couple times now and have never seen anyone walk inside or come out however I’m sure it is used by a few university students.
These are only a couple examples of globalization of Japan from the U.S. It will be interesting to see if this trend of so called copy-catting will continue or could the table turn and one day we might see the U.S. beckoning at Japans door to see what new cool fad they can catch
First of its kind in Hirakata?
I used to think that when it came to smoking, japan lagged behind the US by 20 or 30 years via convergence theory. In the 1970s it seemed that most people in America smoked. These days the number of people who smoke has certainly decreased due to health concerns and new smoking bans in public. But Japan doesn't seem to be "catching up" to America as I had predicted. I still see many young men and women who smoke. It seems the only way the Japanese will stop is by making the price (through various taxes) too expensive. But The Japanese government by doing so might be shooting itself in the foot as it owns a substantial amount of the Japan Tobacco company.
ReplyDeleteStudents weren't smoking in class at Gaidai 7 years ago, or even 12 years ago when I was a student. There were designated smoking areas, as there are today...
A tan body in Japan back in the old days meant that someone was poor and had to work outside. White skin indicated wealth. But this too changed as young women began traveling abroad - a tan indicated wealth the ability to have leisure time. Tanning as a fad really came from Amuro Namie, a singer from Okinawa. Gyarus and Yamambas took the tan to extremes. So I am not sure that tanning was an emulation of America. A possible exception is the more recent fad among Japanese hip-hop fans to appear "black."
Globalization is a two-way (or more) street. It seems that Americans are looking to Japan for the newest cool fads...