Japan Fashion: Hippie

If you see anyone with a head band in Japan they are probably not in fact hippie; rather, they are more likely to imagine themselves as some sort of fashion icon of the modern pop culture.

Hippies in Japan are not the same as we envision them in America. They are not the bright colored dread-locked unwashed masses listening to the Beatles with rose colored glasses. In Japan they stick to a more natural sense of the word. Actually it is just that, natural. Hippies in Japan carry about themselves a natural style and air.

Here they are the ones adorned in plain cotton, linen, or hemp clothing in plain but interesting fashions. There is no extravagance to their clothing and the cloth itself is typically not overly processed or synthetic. They often wear naturally dyed clothing (Japan is famous for indigo colors, often called Japanese blue) that does not have any shiny or superfluous accouterments that many of their societal counter parts might possess. Their clothes are a bit more loose, though not in a baggy sort of way...more like if a breeze were to happen by, their clothes would billow a bit in it. They don't stick to the skin in the slightest and have an extremely simple, natural air about them.
Hippies here often like to fashion their own simple clothing and are rather adverse to the color-techniques of the  pop culture. They pride themselves on being pretty simple. Though oddly they still seem to remind me a lot of hipsters in America. Not that they were the big glasses or the stupid clothes that they think are ironic or fashionable, it is just that they do like to grow their own food here, and they do like it organic, and that does make them judge others a little bit. Oh I don't mean in a bad way, but the majority of people who like organic food, especially if it was wrought with their own hands tend to be a tad bit more reserved than most. You will not find them bumping around in the bustling downtown Umeda with shopping bags all over their arms, and in fact you might not hardly find many in that area at all. I have found the majority of them frequenting craft fairs or located closer to the suburbs (whatever that might mean in Japan) or inaka. There are quite a few who live in Kyoto as it is a large culture hub in Japan, welcoming every aspect of society.
I find that their style often draws imagery to Buddhism with their very peaceful manners and composure. It probably is no help that they are most likely Buddhists themselves (what with a country that is for the vast majority Buddhist). Their careful thought process is another tell tale sign. Let me back up and tell you that I am mostly referring to an older crowd when I make these remarks. For the last half year I sat next to someone in the office who was more or less (with lots of Japanese mal-translations and broken English) a self described hippie. Our conversations were few, but I did glean quite a bit from her.
And as a last piece of fashion advice for Japanese hippie-ism, is that jewelry is extremely minimal and simple in taste. Sandals are largely preferred because of the calm composure they keep; they see themselves in no rush and as such have less of a need for tennis shoes. And lastly headgear, hats and these cloth tube-like hat headband variations are also worn, where many Japanese, especially women will not often wear hats, unless it is a sun hat, but more on that later.

  

These last two are more fashionable than most but also
 younger than most. Still, the baggy, flowy style is still the same.