Designers and clothing retailers are spotting what has previously been a niche trend now gaining widespread popularity in Japan, drawing a growing number of fashion-forward customers from within the country and overseas: T-shirts.
Not just any old T-shirt though, the objects of desire are designs that reflect an aspect of Japanese culture printed in kanji, hiragana and katakana — the funnier and quirkier the message, the better.
"I'm looking for a foreign girlfriend," reads one shirt prominently displayed by the entrance of a boutique in Tokyo's fashion hub Harajuku in Shibuya Ward, grabbing the attention of passers-by — Japanese and non-Japanese alike.