JRHS Writing BLOG

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Camouflage Garments in Japan

Fashion designer Aya Tsukioka has come up with a solution to street crime. The November 3rd issue of World magazine features a small tidbit about “camouflage garments” in Japan. Despite the fact that the crime rate is declining in their small Asian island home, Tsukioka has created a few pieces to protect pedestrians from assailants. These pieces include a red skirt that turns into a Coca-Cola machine doppelganger, and a children’s backpack that unfolds to look like a fire hydrant.

There are probably more practical solutions to street crime. But Tsukioka reasons, telling the New York Times, “It is just easier for Japanese to hide. Making a scene would be too embarrassing.”

Though wanting to protect your fellow countrymen (or women) is always a good thing, I’m not so sure this would be effective. World magazine says the life-sized vending machine-skirt would come in handy when running down the street, fleeing from a strange man. But, I think that if you were trying to get away from a possible rapist, you wouldn’t really have time to stop and unfold your skirt.