When Waseda University student Eri Tamazawa ran into a couple from the United Arab Emirates dressed in traditional attire on campus three years ago, she was astonished at how beautiful the clothes were and it made her realize how little she knew about Arabian culture.

"I was dumbfounded," Tamazawa, 21, said in an interview. "Until then, I only had an image of deserts and camels when it came to Arabian countries."

The experience led her to organize a fashion show — Tokyo Arabian Night — featuring traditional and modern Arabian clothes, kimono, and fusions of Japanese and Arabian designs.