Fashion and Culture Notes from Japan!

Toei Animation Collaborates with Japanese Fashion Brand Uniqlo for Exclusive T-Shirt Line!

This broke on Friday, and we would have posted something that evening, except that we were finishing up a little background research on it. Toei has signed a creative and interesting deal with Japanese fashion brand, UNIQLO. UNIQLO has been in Japan for over 60 years, but has experienced a growing popularity in the world market in the last few years. The brand's feel is casual/trendy and is noted for its affordability. In Spring 2010, UNIQLO will launch a unique line of T-shirts featuring a bunch of Toei Anime properties. The T-shirts will be sold in UNIQLO boutiques in France, Russia, United Kingdom, the United States of America, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and South Korea. We were curious of whether Sailor Moon was going to be included, considering that the franchise is experiencing a resurgence in Japan and Italy. Toei Animation probably finalized this deal through their Japanese office, but the press release was in fact posted on their European site (and nowhere to be found on their Japanese site) and featured a quote from Mr. Kanji Kazahaya, the General Director of Toei Animation Europe. He commented "We are very pleased to conclude this deal with one of the major International apparel retailer". By proposing this new range, we will give our anime fans the opportunity to enjoy fashionable T-shirts of Dragon Ball, One Piece, Galaxy Express 999, Dr Slump and Saint Seiya very soon." And judging by the entire list of titles on the release it looks like it's probably going to be a line of T-shirts for men only. So, unfortunately FUNImation, it doesn't look like Sailor Moon is going to be included on this line, and the rest of us gals who want to have that Galaxy Express 999 or Dragon Ball T-shirt, have to once again shop in the mens section of a store. Congratulations to Toei though on this deal and we look forward to seeing the results of this collaboration!

Ladies, Here's How Not To Scare Men?!

This is only peripherally related to Sailor Moon, but since we occasionally report some strange cultural tidbits from Japan, we thought we'd include this. Ameba posted a story expanding on an older post found on a general advice-about-life site called Nanapi. This is a list of nine gestures/mannerisms that women are suggested that they use to make men less frightened of them. It is all about crossing the body (without turning yourself into a pretzel). Take these with a grain of salt, ladies!

1.When holding your cell phone, women should hold it in their right hand up to their left ear. It is more womanly to cross your arm in front of your face, and the article makes special mention of a famous pose by Sailor Moon, where she also crossed her arms. We've pictured the pose here, and we have even had an esteemed male fan pose in the same way. We don't think either of them makes any man less frightened?!

2. When you are in the midst of writing, or finishing writing, you should give a little twirl to a lock of hair on your right side with your left hand. This apparently looks sexy and is often a pose featured in fashion photos.

3. When putting on or taking off earrings, you should use the opposite hand. This makes you doubly feminine, according to the article.

4. When speaking, turn your body approximately 45˚ towards the person you are speaking to. When you gaze towards the person this way as you turn your body slightly, it evokes femininity.

5. When you walk, remember to cross your legs like an X just like the female models on the runway. When men walk on the runway, they do not cross their legs and walk very straight (and why does this matter?).

6. Cross your legs over and over. Men find this sexy.

7. When you touch a person, use the hand that is farther away (ex. Right shoulder with the left hand). This emphasizes femininity and also gives a sense of intimacy.

8. Always pick up dropped items with the opposite hand. Men tend to pick up from the waist and the same side. Women on the other hand, should not. This seems a little impractical.

9. When shaking hands, you should always have your arms and legs crossed. This is the ultimate body crossing gesture, but a man may treat you to a date if you scold him like this during a meeting.

Again, take these with a grain of salt, but this definitely ranks up there on our list of bizarre places we've seen Sailor Moon mentioned! Staff member The Me, who was also just as irked by this as you are, offers this:

How about this tip: Just act natural and don't waste so much energy trying to impress the nonexistant average.