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Kawaii Golf Fashion
25/APR/2009 on air

Japanese golf athletes are vary fashionable these days. They are not only an athlete but also a girl who enjoys fashion even while they play golf. Momoko Ueda is the most fashionable golf player in Japan for the past two years, and the golf wears or even the pierced earrings she put on have been sold well. The socks with little bonbons for example, are so cute that men and women in the U.S say they are kawaii every time she wears them in the U.S.

This influenced ordinary girls who have never played golf. They started to play golf because they are more interested in the cute golf fashion! Golf casual is already established as a genre of fashion. But what’s so fascinating about golf fashion?
“We can wear the colorful clothing or mini skirts that we would not wear usually.” That’s true! There are several golf fashion magazines getting popular, too. “Regina” or “Rakuen Golf” are relatively new magazines that focus on golf apparel.

Speaking of golf clothing, it used to be boring. Simple polo shirt, culottes, and they would not look much different from men’s clothing. But look at what’s happening to golfing fashion for girls these days! Deco golf club set for 30,000 yen (300USD), deco golf bag and metalic golf balls, etc. are all kawaii and attract girls without fail.

A major nail salon also developed a cute ribbon or heart shaped golf marker from an ordinary plain plastic one. Girls would love them while they play golf, but even when they don’t, these cute markers can be used as accessory to cap, for example.

Mr. Ikki and Beni-chan arrived at a golf clothing maker named “Keita Maruyama on Green“. It’s a hot brand of golf wear that targets girls in their 20s who maybe interested in playing golf. Romantic golf wear especially designed for adult women are so cute! Dog shaped golf ball bag, gloves with beautiful nails showing off, and etc. are some good samples.

The point of making kawaii golf wear is to have the back print of the shirt looks cute, because people will look at the player from the back while they wait for their turns. That’s why a heart mark is at the shoulder. One more very important thing for women golf players is the uncomfort from the mini skirt. But what if the mini pants are behind mini skirts? We don’t have to care too much about men’s eyes.

Kumiko Kaneda a.k.a Kinkumi does not look like an athlete but rather look like a Gyaru. She is a Gyarufer (Gyaru + Golfer). She brings as many as 60 pieces of clothes and she spends good time to select the very motivating coordination for the game.
Why does she have to do that much? She spent hard time for the past 10 years about what she put on when she played golf. It was only 3 years old when she started playing golf. Her dad taught her. At the age of 11, she entered professional game for the first time.
She looked pretty successful, on the other hand though, she couldn’t fully enjoy golfing because she didn’t like the golf wear she had to put on at that time. She was fashion-conscious teenager, just like all the other girls. She just couldn’t tell anyone in her class that she played golf, because of the boring golf wear.
“I didn’t like myself when playing golf. It was the time I had to kill myself. I had to kill a sense of myself.” says Kinkumi. “At the age of 15, I went to the U.S to have belly button pierced some time before the tournament and my belly button kept bleeding 2 days…People around me got mad at me, then.” She won the tournament and her carrer as a golf player seemed very successful since she was young. But the Japanese golf world, being strictly formal and traditional hated her piercing on the belly button. She however didn’t give in to this pressure against her, and here she is today!
“I didn’t think it was a genuine belly button piercing, I was so shocked when I knew it was so, but on my second thought, it’d be better than tongue piercing.” says her dad.

Mar. 2009 Nike contracted Kinkumi because they estimated her possibility and enthusiasm for fashion.

In Roppongi, Tokyo golf bar is hot among young men and women. Golf gokon or group dating at a golf bar looks fun and nice! This is one of the latest trends in Japan after Karaoke. With 8000 yen per hour, we can play virtual golf course. “I liked it because we feel very close each other even though we spent only a few hours!” says the participant. Golf gokon is a good place for men and women to meet and fall into love?

Then who is behind this boom? It’s Kishida-san who made “choi waru oyaji” boom some time ago.
He is a chief editor to LEON, a magazine targeted 40+ aged single men who want to stay cool and popular among women even aged. At Kishida Channel, he introduces cool golf items that make middle aged men look well.
The golf club decorated with rhinestones for professional use costs 850,000 yen (8500USD) each. 10 sets were sold in the past 5 years. “A new fashion genre is created, that is golf fashion!” says Kishida.

Kirin’s Opinion:
I’ve never played golf and never been interested in it, but I deeply understand the feeling that I may wanna do that if I can wear kawaii clothing. To me sports sometimes give me hard image, but when they are combined with kawaii clothing, that’d be motivating me a lot!