CNBNews

  Commentary by Hank F. Miller Jr. 

"Because I want to make a statement, "says the girl."And my statement is that I am unique, which my choice of fashion demonstrates."So that was her answer. 

And the question? Why the Bulgaria watch, the Louis Vutton bag, the Christian Dior blouse and the flirty whiff of Chanel? Why--little Miss College Student--Why the obsession with so many brands? 

Then this unique girl flashed a Max Factor smile, turned and took a seat with her classmates--each dressed almost the same, "all decked out in very expensive high class brand name gear. 

"Cheek to cheek chick. True, not all Japanese coeds come packaged in so many labels. And many more can better afford Hello Kitty than Hanae Mori. Still, in Japan there exist a sizable number of young females who do not leave their homes for school or work without at least one designer item in their ensemble. 

Some say these women are to brand goods what hot air is to ballons that may be true. The fashion industry might not crash without them, but neither would it fly so high. 

The well--heard figure is that one third of the world's brand items are produced by Japanese.Chuo Avenue in the Ginza is but one of many Tokyo spots where the fashion boutiques line up like models on a walkway. Not that the shops are packed. Subtract both the window shoppers and the tourists and Chuo Avenue might echo with the remaining footsteps. 

Yet somebody is buying. For along with the boutiques come pawn shops specializing in used brand goods. Further evidence includes women bedazzled in fashion. 

Or perhaps in well--fashioned fakes. Regardless in Tokyo even some college freshman wears Prada--or at least what looks like it. So much so that girls selling themselves--so called enjohosai--in order to keep up with the Takahashi, fashion--wise have long been passe. Even a boom of one-of-a-kind goods reflects against the trend it is backing--the national passion for brands. 

Why? Is it as simple as peer pressure, like the coed who insists she is matchless, despite being matched by all her friends? Or is it--as is often argued--just a middle class lust for luxery? Granted, I don't possess much fashion sense myself. I wear no brands at all, unless you count the stains of French wine and the German mustard on my cuffs. Typically, I leave my house with holes in my sweaters and socks, my wife Keiko permitting such shabbiness only because she says the openings go so well with the one in my head. But my holey head sees more to Japanese status--seeking than fashion.  

Snobbery Japanese--style operates on a number of levels, with one fine example being the--gakureki shakai syndrome, where advancement in life is tied to university rank. 

To get to the top, you have to start at the bottom, but in the ideal scenario the steppingstones in between are embossed with the names of elite schools, from kindergarten up. Society then presents pecking orders for almost every endeavor you're a better company man if you work for let's say Mitsubishi,Soni,Toyota or the like than if you get paid by any place with a lesser--known shingle. You're a better stewardess if you can serve tea for let's say JAL, you are a better clerk if you can dot i's for the Ministry of Finmance, you are a better ballplayer if you can shag flies for the Tokyo Giants. And so on.  

Perhaps this is the root of Japan's designer crazed world. The idea is not that man makes the clothes, but rather that proper form demands a good fit of class."Was I your fashion statement then?"I ask my wife, nothing that too many a foreign spouse is a retreat from "Japanese--ness." "Was I your moment to buck the trend?"She tells me she thinks differently. That she instead sought a ritzy brand name from overseas. So that's how she got me. Words that make me blush. Until her next line.  Which is? 

"Now--those pawn shops. Where are they again?"  

Warm Regards from Kitakyushu City, Japan 

Hank F. Miller Jr.