If rising humidity, suffocating heat, and rapidly increasing bug count mean anything, summer has officially arrived on Okinawa. While most would rather beat the heat the heat by worshipping central air, going outside is unavoidable. Enter Okinawa’s answer to staying cool and style-savvy— kariyushi wear.
Translating roughly to “happy abundance,” kariyushi is Okinawa’s version of the Hawaiian shirt. Created to entice tourists to purchase local goods during vacation, kariyushi began picking up steam as a local product that combines both fashion and functionality. Anyone who has spent a
summer in Okinawa knows it is impossible to survive outside in thick attire, much less draped in heavy work garments.
Kariyushi employs the same basic look as Hawaiian shirts, but the design, fabric, and colors make this style unique to Okinawa. With details ranging from clown fish to ripened goya to jumping shisa, these gorgeous garments combine vibrant colors and bold patterns to achieve a look that exudes Okinawan chic.
So when you must venture from your climate-controlled oasis, why not sport your own bit of Okinawan style? Local shops have shelves stocked with such garments including those made by the popula brand Mango House. But be forwarned - just because you purchased a tropical shirt on Okinawa, you’re not guaranteed true kariyushi wear. To fall within that exclusive category, the shirt must be created entirely on Okinawa, show local imagery, and have a certified seal. Only then are you clad in true Ryukyuan island style.
2008-06-27
Ryukyuan Island Style
2008-05-16
Kadena Services Weekly Highlights 15-22 May
Need a whiplashing good time?
Latin Comedy Show & Super Latina Night
Saturday, 17 May • Show starts at 9 pm
Tickets on sale at the Rocker NCO Club
$15 • Members
$20 • Nonmembers
Adults only.
Super Latina Night right after the show!
How can you resist?
Pet Adoption Day
17 May • 11am – 2 pm
Kadena BX garden area
50% off adoptions • Call 632-4970
Work it…work it!
Eclectic Style Fashion & Talent Show
Saturday, 17 May • Banyan Tree Club • 634-0644
Doors open at 5 pm • Show starts at 6 pm
Bring the entire family out for a good time.
$5 • Members
$10 • Nonmembers
All you feens hit the greens
Memorial Day Family Scramble
26 May • 7 am – 4 pm
Open to families (two – six people)
$20 per family plus green and rental fees
Winners will be announced on 27 May
Army MWR Events
Navy MWR Events
Log on to www.kadenaservices.com for complete details on all Kadena Services events, programs, and activities.
2008-05-02
Just Nails
10% OFF on the following services:
Full set - 5,500 yen
Fill in - 3,300 yen
Pedicure - 3,500 yen
Manicure - 2,000 yen
Must present the ad for discount
Closed: Sunday & Every Other Thursday
Appointment required.
fashion: Think Pink
Fashion tends to attune itself in the hues of the season. Winter brings out white and glitter (ala snow), and fall takes its cue from trees busy shedding leaves of burnt red and orange. So what does the color palette hold for spring? Take a jaunt through any popular fashion haven this time of year and you’re going to notice a common trend: pink.
For a short time during spring, Japan is veiled in pink buds of sakura, the beloved cherry blossom. While traditionally sakura is deeply symbolic of the beauty and frailty of human life, fashion leaves the metaphor and steals the flower. One would be hard-pressed not to find an overabundance of pink in stores right now. Spring clothing is sprinkled with pink of all forms, from flowers and stripes to animals. And like the blossoms themselves that range from a clear coral to a florid fuchsia, this springy trend applies the entire pink spectrum to its duds.
Pink wear is by no means limited to clothing. Nearly every accessory from mobile phones to puppy finery shows the pink hue. While the West traditionally looks at pink with more feminine undertones, this does not hold true in Japan: pink has found its way into male ensembles as well.
So the time has come to expel the winter drudgery and dive into pink. Pick up some sakura-inspired threads and enjoy the warmer weather while rejoicing in springtime.
2008-04-25
Okinawa’s Top Hot Shops
I’m here to help! E-mail me at carmichaelc@okinawa.usmc-mccs.org
Too Foxy • Ginowan
Ashibinaa Outlet Mall shops • Itoman
Coco Garden Resort Gift Shop • Ishikawa
Shop Innocence • Ishikawa
Nimmari • Ishikawa
ETWS.Hamby
U-plaza jeans • Hamby
All four military spouse gift shops
Prima • Gushikawa and Okinawa City
Vanilla Essence • American Village
Sports DEPO • Naha (Shintoshin)
Kokusai:
Yoshie Inaba
Taiyodo Jewelry
Ryubo/Palette Kumoji Department Store
Mitsukoshi Department Store
Kaisou Originals • (also in Yanbaru)
Bunrindo • (also in Naha Main Place mall and Gushikawa Main City mall)
Chikkyu Zakka • (also in American Village and Yomitan)
In Jusco malls:
Scot Club
Pandero
Comme Ca lsm
CHRIF
A.V.V. Michel Klein
Plaza House Shopping Center:
Roger’s
Pink House
Acute
Locations throughout the island:
Habu Box
San-A
Shima Mura
Uniqlo
2008-04-11
NAILS Da Right Touch
098-926-1050 Open 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Mon-Sat, Closed Sun
on full set valid only from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. MON-THURS
*Full set $45 *Tarot Readings $10
*Fjll-in $25 *Facial $45
*Back fill-in $45 *Wax $10 & up
*Manicure $15 *Bikini Wax $30 & up
*Pedicure $25 *30 minute Body Massage $30
*Two Designs $5
*Soak off $15 Wax for men:
Synergy Gels: *Chest $40
*Gel full set $85 *Back $40
*Gel fill-in $35
*Gel back fill in $55 (No extra charge for French nails)
fashion: The Ryukyu 'Do
Take a quick glance at any hangout popular with Okinawa’s youth, and you’ll see a profusion of
wickedly wild haircuts accented with highlights in every color of the rainbow. In contrast to the tidy cuts worn by most of our base population, these youth (of both genders) sport styles ranging from cutting-edge cool to looking like a weed whacker attacked their head. But where did this hip and funky style come from?
The answer appears in the archives of a highly popular 1990s FujiTV series called “Scissor Series.” Featuring top Tokyo stylists dueling in real time to produce the most superior style, the show made a star of hairdresser Masayuki Aoyama, whose flamboyant razor-cutting techniques (relying on angled cuts to give depth and movement) quickly became all the rage. In the hundreds of salons that dot the fashionable Tokyo wards of Shibuya, Harajuku, and Minato-ku (these three wards alone boast more salons than the entire L.A. metro area), clients clamored for copies of Aoyama’s cuts. The trend quickly spread throughout the country and to the Ryukyus as well.
If you’re feeling the need for strands that stand out from the crowd, Okinawa has no shortage of ‘hair-makes,’ where able stylists can do your ‘do (and makeup, too). Keep in mind, Western hair is usually much thinner than the average Japanese strand (which can be up to five times thicker), so that outrageous style you seek might not turn out quite as expected. Not ready to commit to a cut?Then local novelty shop ETWS has just the thing for you - wigs of the most popular Japanese haircuts. These pieces from maker Lapin d’Or come in an array of styles (such as the “Mushroom Layer” and “Asymmetrical Fringe”) for both men and women, and range in price from Y6,OOO to Y8,2OO. Great items for a costume party or a Friday night out (for the truly brave), for just under $75 you, too, can have a Ryukyu ‘do.
2008-04-04
fashion: made to shade
This sun-blocking accessories trend has been going strong for well over five years, and shows no signs of letting up; according to The Japan Times, the market is estimated at 35 billion yen annually, and has expanded 10 percent annually for the past five years. Parasols and umbrellas treated with anti-UV coating (which purportedly filters out 90 percent of the sun’s damaging rays) are consistently top-sellers, as are one of the more peculiar anti-UV garments, the “ray sleeve." Like a long, fingerless glove, ray sleeves cover bare arms from above the elbow to the knuckles, while still leaving fingers free. Many are chemically treated with SPF and are available in an assortment of colors and styles.
With summer right around the corner, UV-busting accessories are available right now in most stores, and for every budget, from Y300 for floral ray sleeves at Daiso, to Y10,000 for name-brand parasols at Mitsukoski. But for many women, price points don’t matter: “In Japan,” says one Tokyo shopper “appearance is everything."
2008-04-03
Fashion: SUKAJAN Attitude
Source: "The Source" (an "Okinawa Marine" insert)
Story by Carrie Carmichael
Photos by Mike Daley
When it comes to sukajan — those silky, ostentatiously embroidered baseball-style jackets, famously known as the souvenir of a Far East tour — people either love them, or hate them. Fans revere them as unique (and sometimes awesomely cheesy) examples of Japanese craftsmanship and Western style; foes simply consider them too tacky for words. Whatever your sentiments, you can’t deny that it takes attitude to wear one.
Also known as “Yokosuka Jackets," sukajan were first popularized during the post-World War II era by military members stationed at that mainland base. (The term sukajan is a contraction of “-suka,” from “Yokosuka,” and “jan," meaning jacket.) In later years, the jackets were adopted by yankees of a different nature: gangs of flashy high school drop-outs, who trolled the streets of Tokyo on motorbikes. Like James Dean’s beat-up leather jacket, sukajan were the ultimate tough-guy accessory.
Over time, however, the bad boy image associated with sukajan dissipated, and lately versions have been popping up for everyone (or everything): children, pets, even cell phones. Girls’ pink and white Disney sukajan are available at San-A; pet versions — sporting Far East Tour motifs or Japanese pro baseball logos — have been spotted at OPF (Okinawa Pet Food) and Pet Club Ocean. Ralph Lauren even featured a ridiculously bright blue, red, and yellow silk satin sukajan in his 2008 Resort Wear collection. But if you don’t want to look like a poseur, take advantage of your location and get the real deal at any local embroidery shop.
2008-03-21
fashion: Nail art
Readers, we want to know what you think of nail art!
E-mail your opinions to thesource@okinawa.usmc-mccs.org
The answer rests in the skillful hands of the nation’s world-renowned nail artists (“nailists”). Witness a nailist deftly creating miniature masterpieces with a minuscule brush, and you’ll soon realize that this art differs drastically from the airbrushed variety seen in the States. The Japan Nailist Association (JNA) is greatly responsible for elevating what could have been just a passing trend into an artform, by requiring the most extensive training in the world. Study of the discipline is so respected, it is even offered alongside classes in architecture and web design at some Japanese schools. The result is 30,000 licensed manicurists operating at 8,000 salons nationwide, and an industry worth 100 billion yen (about $900 million) a year.
There’s evidence that Japanese nail art is finally taking off across the pond. Celebrity trend-setters like Fergie and Gwen Stefani have been spotted with fashion-forward nail designs. But are most American women ready for exotic “nail chips” encrusted with gems? Top nailist Megiimi Furukawa thinks so, because ultimately Japanese nail art celebrates feminity. “The greatest appeal of nail art lies in its way of allowing women to be feminine. Even a light manicure makes women conscious of their feminine demeanor."
