Looking pale and loving it...in Japan

I have written before about how young Japanese people look.  Today, I will tell you one of their secrets.  Can you guess from the photo of my good friend above?  (By the way, this photo was not staged.  It's several years old.)  My Japanese friends say this horror of the sun is a fairly recently phenomenon and certainly contributes to maintaining youthful Japanese skin.  It has also spawned a plethora of sun-resisting fashions.  You will often see women wearing long white gloves even while driving just in case some rays are reaching them.  Recently, the face visor has gotten popular, especially for women riding bicycles.  As my Japanese friend said, "It looks like Darth Vader is coming toward you."  One fashion for which I am very grateful is the scuba-diving-type bathing suit.  All of us moms who take our children to the swimming pool get to cover up every inch of our aging bodies while at the same time being on the cutting edge of fashion.


While perhaps Japanese are going to the extreme these days to avoid the sun, this has certainly always been a hat-wearing culture.  Little children must wear hats to school, for example.  Also, something that isn't recent is the obsession here with having white skin.  Many of the skin care products promise to "whiten" your face.  In Japan, the whiter and paler the better.  On the other hand, Americans see pale as sickly and a nice tan as healthy.  My sister loves to make fun of my lily-white legs in photos, but honestly, it's a relief not having to worry about getting a good tan every year.  Instead, I can just be myself and look anemic.


So, where is the marketing opportunity in all this?  Well, for any hat-marketers out there, I know America is a tough market for hats. I won't wear one even though it's totally in fashion here.  There is just something in me that doesn't like a hat.  But here you will find a very different market.  What about cowboy hats, for example?  They work on the range and in the desert.  Certainly, they can ward off the sun here and help keep everyone looking young.  Let us help you round up some customers...www.noah-digital.co.jp/english