So are you dressed as a geisha or an ugly slut in bathrobe with horrible makeup? I can’t tell because geisha doesn’t look anything like that and that isn’t even a kimono.
[tl;dr rant] on cultural fetishization, contexts and “the real japan”
a coursemate recently wrote a post on their current, gradual transition from Major Weeaboo Otaku to Growing Connoisseur Of Historical, Artistic, Aesthetic Japan. the former phase annoyed me enough while it was there (it involves, among other things, speaking Japanese about two octaves higher than one’s normal voice, much like an anime character) but this seemingly more learned and ‘appreciative’ phase about what they consider to be “the real Japan”* actually troubles me much more. Anime-oriented otaku are easy to spot and deal with. this is far harder, because, much like hipster headdresses and other visual cultural appropriations, they’re founded on the premise that they’re simply appreciating the culture! why should that be such a bad thing?
it’s not like the entire post is something i want to burn down (though it makes me cringe a bit because i see so much of myself in that, especially when i first went to Japan and started getting into Haikus And Nature And All That Stuff… though eventually it became all about the food.) but there’s a kind of attitude here that i cannot clearly elucidate - perhaps fetishizing is the best word - but is expressed most clearly in this quote from the post:
Things changed when I went to Japan for the first time in 2006. I was utterly astounded at the beauty of the place. I loved the food, I loved the people but most of all I loved the aesthetics. I spent two days at a culture school learning the art of tea ceremonies and calligraphy, learning to play the koto and the biwa and studying flower arranging… All whilst wearing a kimono. [insert text about kimonos]….All the same, it’s a real experience that I recommend you seize if you get the chance. It really gets you into the mood and it makes you not only look but feel Japanese, too.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with appreciating another culture or being interested in it. Hell, I see shades of myself in that post: I also do B.A. Japanese. I do think Japan is a rather beautiful place, I am interested in reading about Japanese culture, I love Japanese food and I am quite fond of a good ukiyo-e woodblock print myself. And I watch much more anime than the average person. But that last sentence really, really pissed me off. There are so many things wrong with that sentence, as well as the second half of that quote.
What most outsiders consider “Japanese culture” is actually “tourist culture”. Kimonos get trotted out on special occasions and by the more traditional older generation in some areas, but it is most definitely not representative of everyday Japan (in fact, Uniqlo would probably give you a better idea…). Tea ceremony, the koto, the biwa, ikebana - all traditional arts that, yes, do have immense value, historically, aesthetically or otherwise but that’s not “the real Japan” at all. Like most traditional arts they’re not considered to be particularly relevant to daily life in Japan, esp. for the younger generation.
If we’re talking “real Japanese”, most “real” Japanese people aren’t doing seiza for 3 hours a day doing tea ceremony or sticking flowers in a vase. They’re doing things the rest of us get up to: going to work. going to school. making money. doing homework. having relationships. falling in love. falling out of love. having arguments with their significant others. travelling. being depressed. being happy. shopping. blah blah blah. all in different kinds of Japanese contexts, because Japan isn’t one monolithic culture, yannow.
But to the last sentence. Why should wearing a kimono be necessary to “get you in the mood”? You know what that implies? That stepping into another culture and exploring it is a mood - something you can change and put on and supposedly experience and pretend to understand. A kimono, even if you happen to be white, will make you look and feel Japanese. Really? What does it mean to “feel Japanese”? I can’t tell you, I’m not Japanese. But if you asked a bunch of random Japanese people, would they all give you the same answer? Would it be something definable that you could describe in a couple of sentences? Are all Japanese the same? FUCK NO. (Rhetorical question is rhetorical.) I’m fairly sure most Japanese people wouldn’t consider putting on a kimono as expressing their true Japanese-ness. or go for tea ceremony to realize how truly and authentically Japanese they are. (Most of the ones I know have said that they find it really fucking boring. And that kimonos are really bloody cumbersome to wear, omg gimme my jeans and T-shirts NAO.)
Of course, context is relevant. It would probably have been pretty rude to refuse to wear the kimono if they offered and insisted that you put one on, especially at culture school. However, to treat the wearing of a kimono as something to be donned for a particular mood to make you “look and feel Japanese” is really fucking insulting, appropriative and objectifying. Because that implies that a culture is something that can be contained within a day or two of cultural activities (sanctioned by the government to support the dying traditional arts, no less…) and wearing a really uncomfortable kimono for a bit.
Now, I’m not Japanese and I can’t claim to be a spokesperson for Japanese culture or people. I don’t believe that it is necessarily wrong for a non-Japanese person to put on a kimono or enjoy wearing in certain contexts. But I do believe that it is really, fucking, necessary to examine exactly why you’re wearing that kimono. Especially if you’re white, and you come from a culture that has historically and presently does appropriate all the fucking things from every fucking other culture. Especially if you’re doing it so you can pretend to know what it feels like to be a person from another culture without having to relinquish your own privileges that you, as a non-Japanese, have in Japan and don’t actually have to suffer: because the same cultural rules that everyone else has to play by don’t apply to gaijin, especially white non-Asian gaijin, in Japan.** It’s okay, it’s expected for non-Japanese people to get things wrong.
This whole thing reminded me of one of my other coursemates, who told me that for our third year abroad in Japan, they - and I quote - “don’t want to go to some shitty place like Yokohama. it’s all like concrete buildings and shit. i want to see the real Japan, you know, somewhere like Kyoto with all the temples and stuff.” I quite like this person sometimes, but I really wanted to punch their face right there and then. Modern Japan, which is As “Real Japan” As You Are Going To Get In The 21st Century, is all about the concrete buildings. It’s narrow alleyways and tall skyscrapers and tall office buildings and wires and konbini (convenience stores) and stuff. Most temples, on the other hand, have a 50% tourist population.
Of course one can like the aesthetics (whatever that means, Japan had lots of different art movements throughout history with very different senses of aesthetics…), the food, the culture, whatever. And you know, if that’s your reason for Why You Love Japan, whatever. But, for the love of the remaining bluefin tuna in the sea, don’t make Japan out to be this beautiful oasis of zen and harmony and nature, or this calm lake of traditional arts where the essence of Japanese-ness can be expressed in a kimono-clad girl serving tea ever-so-gracefully. Even if you don’t mean to, that sentence right up there says pretty much everything. Come on: shit’s more real than that.
*said person actually acknowledges that people’s ideas of “the real Japan” will of course differ. but i don’t think there is, or can ever be, a single Japan at all - woohoo, distilling an entire nation of peoples into several concepts and ideas underlining an entire culture. whoop-dee-doo.
**if you’re Asian, particularly Southeast or East Asian, it’s kind of expected that you will assimilate better, particularly in normal schooling contexts or work contexts (i.e.: non-exchange student, working for and in a Japanese company in Japan, etc).
Thank you. I wear kimono and it’s not to make me feel Japanese. It’s simply because I love the aesthetics and the art. I hate seeing people trying & failing to wear a kimono but act like what they wear make them more Japanese. I go to matsuri all the time and I see people who wear something that looks like a kimono just because, oh you know, we’re going to a matsuri and we might as well try to look Japanese. But they don’t even bother to research or learn what the real kimono is, how to wear them, etc.
What a kimono is not:
- It is not a word for a general Asian outfit.
- It is not a word for a long flowy thing with big flowy sleeves and a potentially crossed collar with a ton of gaudy, shiny designs on it that looks Asian.
- It is not your shitty polyester bathrobe thing you got online that they make 1000 of to trick people who have some kind of interest in kimono, but don’t take a little bit of time to study it. (This is not to say you can’t get kimono online. Go to www.Yamatoku.jp/classic or www.ichiroya.com)
- It is not a Chinese Cheongsam. JAPANESE AND CHINESE ARE TWO DIFFERENT CULTURES PEOPLE.
- It is not a Korean Hanbok.
- It is not a random, long drapy thing that a model is wearing.
- It is not just some general robe with a wide belt.
A kimono is a Japanese traditional outfit, that is very specific in design and takes a lot of LEARNING to wear. If you’re going to be interested in Kimono at all, at least attempt to study the way it looks and its anatomy.AMEN.
AND IF YOU CALL HANFU OR HANFU-INSPIRED CLOTHING A KIMONO THEN I WILL MAUL YOUR ASS.
Wafrica is ” the conversation between two ancient, strong and sophisticated identities: japan and Africa. The Conversation is about the beauty of weaving strands of our stories together”
(via fuckyeahwafuku)
This is one of the most gorgeous kimono I’ve ever seen. The ribbon pattern and colors are perfect. It’s much too short for me though.
(Source: kimono-yukata-market.com)
