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November 29, 2023
 

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Samuel Thomas

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Samuel Thomas
Samuel Thomas is a fashion writer and lecturer in fashion media at Bunka Gakuen University. He regularly contributes to The Japan Times, among other publications, and provides consultancy services to industry clients.
For Samuel Thomas's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jun 17, 2023
Japanese fashion can no longer afford to play hard to get
Is Japan’s air of aloof mystique still enough to convince foreign audiences to invest in Japanese fashion?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 6, 2023
AI will revolutionize Japanese fashion — just not right now
ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence engines are coming for everyone and everything, but the whims of the fashion world might be an unlikely bulwark.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Mar 11, 2023
March’s biggest fashion drops are mired in nostalgia
When fashion isn"t just cyclical but unimaginative, it"s a sign of a deeper issue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 11, 2023
Now in NYC, 2nd Street is banking big on old becoming new again
Another year of subdued New Year sales; another retro fashion retailer expanding overseas.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jan 7, 2023
Will Japan's pop culture and fashion spheres ever find common ground?
Japanese fashion and pop culture and both international forces, so why can't they seem to walk in step together?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Dec 10, 2022
At 2022’s close, all quiet on the crypto fashion front
Digital currencies have had a difficult end to 2022, but what does that spell for fashion brands who pushed them all year?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 5, 2022
Japanese bra-makers place bigger spotlight on smaller sizes
Japanese women's breast sizes are increasing, but undergarment options for those on the smaller side remain low.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Oct 8, 2022
Mending fashion’s threadbare relationship with sustainability
Another season gone and another round of promises from designers the world over to become more eco-friendly dashed.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Sep 10, 2022
As fashion giants pass, the new guard prepares to pick up the torch
Issey Miyake and Hanae Mori have left big shoes to fill, but it's not yet clear who might take up the mantle of the next face of Japanese fashion.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Aug 13, 2022
Dog days of summer bring grab bag of fashion fixtures
A departed legend, gaming deals and disrupted shows u2014 summer's end is full of news for fashion watchers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jul 9, 2022
To catch a counterfeiter, Japan's fashionistas turns to Fake Busters
With hundreds of thousands on the line, it pays to know if your jewelry is authentic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jun 11, 2022
Can unlikely friendships kickstart fashion’s lackluster recovery?
Breaking down brand barriers may be the only way forward for Tokyo's couturiers
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 14, 2022
Fashion’s retail revolution: What’s old is new again
As pandemic precautions appear to ease, retail fashion grapples with a return to business as usual.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Apr 9, 2022
Tokyo fashion week not as fashion-forward as hoped
Not even a whou2019s who of Japanese designers could overcome the uneven adoption of emerging tech at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Mar 12, 2022
Online status: If you build a virtual world of fashion, will they come?
Brands are seeking to replicate traditional models of scarcity in a metaverse where true abundance is possible.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 19, 2022
Expressing gender: Fresh approaches to unisex collections
A diverse fashion market is one that is broad enough to include everyone.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jan 29, 2022
NFT fashion collaborations: Virtual fashion, real demand
Consumers experiment with an NFT project that taps into Harajuku nostalgia from the 1990s.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Dec 11, 2021
Retail therapy: Fashion outlets in battle to fight fatigue
Stores adopt a few innovative measures in a bid to prize open the wallets of domestic shoppers with overseas customers still shut out of Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 14, 2021
Shop to your heart’s content, without a staff member in sight
If youu2019ve ever felt Japanu2019s customer service was too much, contactless shopping is on the rise. Meanwhile, pop culture-capsule collaborations vie for the title of u201cmost shocking.u201d
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Oct 10, 2021
Anime aesthetics blur the line between real and virtual fashion
As some brands dip their toes into NFTs, others turn to nostalgia-with-shock-value to sell both real and virtual clothing.
Wasabi effective in improving memory of elderly: study
A research has found that hexaraphane — a component found in wasabi — helps improve the episodic and working memories of elderly people.
Japan is enticing for digital nomads, but visa hurdles remain
Akina Shu has visited around 50 countries as a speaker and ambassador on the digital nomad lifestyle since 2020.
How a dictionary came to spark outrage among the web’s otaku
Yoshiko Koide sits in a classroom at Nagoya College where she teaches a Japanese-language observation seminar.
Nature-focused theme park to open in Okinawa in 2025
A rendering of the new Junglia theme park scheduled to open in Okinawa in 2025
Bedbugs are spreading in South Korea and China. Is Japan next?
A bed bug in Paris in September
How a dictionary came to spark outrage among the web’s otaku
Yoshiko Koide sits in a classroom at Nagoya College where she teaches a Japanese-language observation seminar.
Japan is enticing for digital nomads, but visa hurdles remain
Akina Shu has visited around 50 countries as a speaker and ambassador on the digital nomad lifestyle since 2020.
Japan to start trial of over-the-counter sales of morning-after pills
Customers look at products on display outside a drug store in Tokyo on Friday. As part of a trial, 145 stores nationwide will be allowed to sell morning-after pills until the end of March.
Bedbugs are spreading in South Korea and China. Is Japan next?
A bed bug in Paris in September
Tasting the 'Zen of coffee' at speakeasy-esque Cokuun
Hidenori Izaki, one-time winner of the World Barista Championship, brings coffee to new heights at Cokuun.

Podcast

An official shot for this year’s lineup for NHK’s annual “Kohaku Uta Gassen.”
Things get warmer with Xi; Johnny’s get the cold shoulder

Longform

Yoshiko Koide sits in a classroom at Nagoya College where she teaches a Japanese-language observation seminar.
How a dictionary came to spark outrage among the web’s otaku
By Thu-Huong Ha and Yukana Inoue

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