7/19/2007

Japanese Department Store 日本のデパート


The night I arrived my home, I was over exhausted. I was up more than 25 hours straight. I took a hut bath and went to bed immediately. It felt nice to be home for sure.
(Japanese) 家に着いた夜は疲労困憊って感じでした。25時間以上も起きっぱなしでいたもので。すぐにお風呂に入って寝ました。家に帰ってきたぁって感じがしました。


The next day, I went to two different dentists'.
After seeing the second one, I had lunch at the Takashimaya department store, next to Matsuyma-city station. I was a bit surprised how expensive department store's food was. Since I had not been to a Japanese department store for awhile, I was curious to see what kind of things were there; I looked around.
(Japanese) 次の日は早速歯医者へ。歯医者をはしごしました。
その後、歯医者さんの近くにあった松山市駅に隣接する高島屋デパートの地下でいくつかお惣菜を買ってお昼としました。高くてビックリしましたが。ついでなので、日本のデパートが久しぶりで珍しくて、ちょっと見て回ってみました。


Again, I saw mannequins that did not look like Japanese, wearing yukata which is a Japanese summer kimono.
(Japanese) また日本人ぽくないマネキンが浴衣を着ているのを見つけました。


Even a child's mannequin is not Japanese. Don't we have Japanese-looking mannequins? I am not against using Euro-American looking mannequins. I just noticed that it explains why Japanese girls (and boys, too) try to look like these mannequins. I think that we are often unconsciously brainwashed by the society. It is too natural to us and is totally part of our lives, so it requires effort to look at it. Let's remember the beauty of Japan while admiring and accepting beauty of different cultures.
(Japanese) 子どもまで。とてもかわいいですが。日本人っぽいマネキンは無いのかしら?別に欧米のルックスのマネキンを使用することに反対の気持ちがあるわけではなく、ただ日本人の子達がこのマネキンをモデルにそれに近づこうと努力することが理解出来る様な。私達は気づかない所で、小さい頃から社会のあり方に洗脳されているところってあると思う。それらがあまりにも自然に自分たちの生活に溶け込んでいるものだから、それを改めて見直すのには、ちょっと努力が必要。日本人の良さも忘れずに世界の美を誉めて受け入れていきましょう。


Beautiful yukata. I love looking at kimono and kimono accesories.
(Japanese) きれいな浴衣。私は着物や着物の道具を見ているのが大好き。











I like mekabu (seaweed).
(Japanese) メカブが好きです。おいしいね。


Japanese vending machine. It's easier to use than America's one. In America, vending machines sometimes eat my money but do not give me what I want to eat.
(Japanese) 日本の自動販売機。アメリカのものに比べて使いやすい。アメリカのはお金だけ自販機に食べられて、私が食べたいものを出してくれない物が時々ある。

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Akari, your blog make me miss Indonesia. The story about the manequins made me laugh and I think you're right. A few year ago when I was in jakarta with one of my American friend we went to the mall, and she said how come I dont see any Indonesian manequins and even the models on the posters are westerners, then she also said "they should put Indo. models instead, because black hair and brown skin are pretty". Enjoy your trip, & I'm enjoying all the photos. - Ratih -