Body/Comm Spring 2012 Poster Workshop: Beauty in Contemporary Japan

Beauty in Contemporary Japan was once again taken up by students of "The Body and Communication in Japan" class during a recent poster workshop session. Students balanced academic sources and their own observations of beautiful women and men (both were assigned as homework) in their creative endeavors. Common themes included youthful cuteness, thinness, light skin (from products and through genetics via the popular half Japanese phenomena), small faces and big eyes (and various methods to accomplish these goals), shorts to emphasize/create long, shapely legs, fingernail art and accessories. See each poster for more details. Students will next take up fashion and other forms of body ornamentation (tattoos, body pierces) to explore the ultimate question of how body image and presentation contribute to communication.

Click here to see posters from previous semesters.

Spring Break is Over - Let the Hanshin Goods Begin!

Some might argue that the taste of spring in Japan is ume (plum) or sakura (cherry). VAOJ begs to differ with these stereotypes, at least for the year 2012. This year the taste of spring is a light cheese paste sucked out of a plastic tube emblazoned with the Hanshin Tigers logo. I found this at my local supermarket yesterday and took it as a good sign. Hanshin fans are concerned this year about our local team due to a new manager and aging/injured players. But the early release of the cheese (undoubtedly to be followed by a plethora of other Hanshin-ized products) combined with the Tigers' defeat of the visiting Seattle Mariners during an exhibition game yesterday bring warmth to our hearts despite the continuing cold temperatures outside. This warmth is especially welcome for me after spending spring break in Japan's 48th prefecture and tropical paradise, Hawaii (look for "Japanese" Hawaii pics on this blog in the next few days). Visual Anthropology students are well into their blogs (see links to the left below) and JSL Study Group members are signing better than Obama. Once midterm exams are done and the cherry blossoms are here, things will only get better. Enjoy Spring!