I've noticed something odd over the course of the past couple weeks: maybe it's just Hakodate, but Japanese people seem to love the playboy bunny. I've seen the stylized rabbit logo on everything from sweater vests to necklaces to the kneesocks worn by local schoolgirls. (There is even a mini-shop of playboy merchandise at the local shopping center I visited yesterday.) I mentioned the phenomenon to my host mom, and she suggested that perhaps the bunny just fit in with the general culture of cuteness and not everyone even knew its significance.
playboy sweater vest?
playboy clutch
Also, shopping in Japan reinforced to me that I'm no longer considered particularly small /vertically challenged, since I had to go up a size to wear Japanese clothes. (In fact at 5'1.5" I'm not far from average --I'd probably feel tall if it weren't for all the other gaijin HIF-ers.)
Japanese clothing seems to lean more to the extreme... the stores seem to show either loose-fitting hippy-wear, neon skater-punk, or uber-frilly bow laden confections, and then there are tons of pretty conservative blouses and skirts for the hordes of young women filling secretary type positions as ORs (office ladies). I also found a pair of shiny neon pink spandex leggings that practically screamed Safety Dance, and since they were on clearance I couldn't help but oblige their wish to make a debut at that annual 80s dance fest.
On a completely unrekated note...
On a completely unrekated note...
Witness Jamar and Philip making the trek to HIF--the hill is so steep that there are stairs built into the sidewalk...
... eleven flights of them, to be climbed every day we have class.
The Playboy bunny also looks like the "v sign" people often make in pictures. Do you think that's part of it?
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