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TRENDY IN TOKYO
Tokyo’s teens are setting trends around the world

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Want to know what’s trendy worldwide? Take a look at the teenage girls in downtown Tokyo. Japanese teens are no longer setting the trends in Asia only. Their fads are being embraced all over the world.

Japanese cars and electronics have long been popular worldwide. But in the past 10 years, many fads in the U.S. have been Japanese imports, too. Tamagotchi, Pokemon and photo-sticker booths were only the beginning. Japanese-style anime (animated cartoons) and manga (comic books) are also gaining a huge following in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Between 1992 and 2002, Japan’s cultural exports tripled, from US$5 billion to US$ 15 billion. Japanese manga is partly responsible. Manga is now so popular in the U.S. that it was recently called the fastest growing sector of pop culture.

Other countries are embracing Japanese trends, as well-everything from video games to the latest street fashions. Hello Kitty, for example, is showing up all over Asia and Europe. And recently, U.S. celebrities like Cameron Diaz and Mariah Carey have also been seen with Hello Kitty merchandise.

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Why Japan?

Why is Japan increasingly becoming a global trendsetter? It’s largely due to Japan’s bored consumers.

Babson College marketing professor Ken Matsuno says that Japanese consumers “have an incredibly short attention span.” This puts great pressure on companies to continually come up with a new product-any product.

All these new trends aren’t coming from the whole Japanese population, but from the young people. “High-school girls in Japan are the key to any trend,” says Stuart J. Levy, founder of American manga publisher TOKYOPOP. “They are the center of pop culture today.”

But high-school girls aren’t the only ones driving Japan’s trends. Japan’s growing leisure class also keeps manufacturers hurrying to develop the next fad. These consumers are mostly young career women who still live with their parents. Whether buying the latest cell phone or the newest Hello Kitty accessory, these women spend big to stay in style.

Older Japanese adults, however, tend to stay away from constant change. That leaves Japan’s fickle youth to determine what’s hot and what’s not-at least, until pop culture starts looking elsewhere for the newest trends.

WORD BANK

Embrace (v) 欣然接受；拥抱
When Rob moved to Germany, he really embraced the culture. Germany feels like home to him now.

Following (n) （集合名词）追随者；拥护者
The band Tension has a large following among Asian youth.

Export (n) 出口；输出品
Ecuador’s top export is bananas, followed by shrimp and oil.

Merchandise (n) 商品
Pokemon merchandise is easy to find in store.

Consumer (n) 消费者
This car is expensive, but has proven very popular among consumers.

Attention span (n phr) 专注期
The kindergarten teacher changes activities frequently because of his student’s short attention span.

Accessory (n) 饰品；配件
Leyla’s favorite accessories are her silver watch and earrings.

Fickle (adj) 易变的；无常的
Katie is very fickle. She has a different “best friend” every week.

Photo-sticker booth (n phr) 大头帖摄影亭
Esther and Rebekah stopped in a photo-sticker booth to get their photo taken.

Sector (n) 部分；部门
Senior citizens are the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. population.

Leisure class (n phr) 有闲阶级
People in the leisure class usually have plenty of money to spend on whatever they like.

翻译Word Bank请按照日期分开回复 每日翻译均奖励

posted on 2005-05-04 14:33 apple 阅读(1693) 评论(1)  编辑  收藏 网摘收藏