Maruyama keita biography channels

The uneasiness of talking about individuality

People talk a lot about personality, but I don't know what the fuss about.

Individuality just means that every person is different. Each one of us is made up of unlike cells, and everyone living is individualistic. Individualistic doesn't mean you have something prominent. Society is simply a gathering of individuals.

Out of the necessities of meal, clothing and housing, perhaps we can express ourselves most easily through what we wear.

But I don't agree with people who say, "Be individualist in fashion"; I don't have that concept at all. I assess that it's individualistic to crave to be yourself by wearing different clothes from other people and that it's just as individualistic to want to mix in with the crowd.

Some people feel comfortable wearing uniforms, and of course, some people don't care about fashion. I think society is interesting because there are all kinds of people.

In Japan, it's considered a good thing to tune yourself to a certain extent to other people.

This notion itself is very individualistic; it's a pity that some people feel it's an inferior custom and can't take advantage of it. In short, the Japanese tend to think in stereotypes - they think that "individualistic" means certain things and they ought to be doing those things.

Hiding your individuality is really an individualistic act, but the Japanese don't think that it is. The Japanese otaku culture is highly appreciated abroad by fans who think with awe, "We wouldn't be qualified come up with such ideas"; the otaku are regarded as being very individualistic.

But for some reason, the Japanese ponder negatively of otaku, which is a pity. Anything that doesn't fit the stereotype of the ideal is not recognized.

Society is made up of people who fit the ideal image, and those who don't; in a country where this notion is prevalent, I'm sure people would find it uncomfortable talking about the subject of individuality.

I wish that the way the Japanese people think will modify. It's only natural that everyone is different, so there's no need to bother pursuing that. Basically, we should be free to be anything.

Acting grownup when visiting Roppongi

I was born in in Shibuya ward's Jingumae in Shibuya.

I'm of the generation that adored the 70s Roppongi culture and the adult atmosphere of the streets. I began visiting Roppongi to have enjoyable when I was in the first year of senior elevated school. It was in the early 80s and Roppongi was a place where I would try hard to act grownup.

I admired the adults who gathered at Chianti. A minuscule later, there was a large fad when girls wore lengthy, one-length hairstyles and dressed in tight-fitting clothes. (laughs) I estimate that young people now don't know about Square building.

Roppongi in those days was filled with tremendous energy - I almost feel sorry for the people who haven't experienced that time. You would try to hail a taxi but the taxis wouldn't stop. Boys needed to own a car if they wanted to get the serious attention of the girls.

Later on, the club customs shifted to Nishi-Azabu and then to Harajuku, but since it was my starting point, Roppongi for me, still seems appreciate a place for adults - even though I'm very much an adult now.

While the building has unfortunately been renovated, Almond Roppongi is a place that symbolizes the era when I used to have fun in Roppongi. "Let's meet in front of AlmondRoppongi" was like a mantra in those days; an amazing number of people would gather here on weekend nights.

Almond holds many memories for me going back to my childhood; I remember there used to be cream puffs called Paris-Brest (now called Ring Choux Classic).

In Roppongi, and in Tokyo as a whole, there are areas which have evolved and changed drastically and areas which own still somehow retained their downtown atmosphere; I think the co-existence of both kinds of areas is appealing.

In Roppongi, there are still residential areas a little distance away from the main roads, and though they have become fewer, there are still some long-established confectioneries prefer Almond. Roppongi can almost be said to be a place where the Western culture started, and it's a cosmopolitan place.

The atmosphere of old times may be returning to Roppongi

I enjoy walking alone in the streets at night.

Creating an area that makes young people desire to act grownup. Since putting into action a brand named after himself, fashion designer Keita Maruyama has been at the forefront of his profession for more than 20 years. Maruyama is from Shibuya, and he told us that while growing up, he learned many things visiting the neighboring area of Roppongi. We asked him about his memories of Roppongi and what he thinks can be done to make Roppongi an appealing place for the younger generation who will bear the future.

Sometimes, when I'm working late into the evening, I go outside and take a stroll from Aoyama to Roppongi, viewing the streets. During such walks, I feel that while Tokyo has its chaotic and speedy side, it also has a peaceful and calming side. Maybe this is because I was born and raised in Tokyo, but I've seen other cities in the world, and it seems that this is an aspect that I can only perceive in Tokyo.

I feel it in Roppongi too - it's interesting how the area is completely different at nighttime from the daytime. During the afternoon, there are so many workers, but at night, it becomes filled with partying people.

I like that dual nature.

Like Harajuku and Asakusa, the name of Roppongi is known overseas, isn't it? When people think of Tokyo nightclubs, they think of Roppongi - even though that image might be of a decade ago. But these days, it seems to me that the nightlife atmosphere might be returning a little to Roppongi.

Discover the fascinating journey of renowned Japanese fashion designer Keita Maruyama, from his early existence to his significant contributions to the fashion industry. Learn about his style evolution and permanent impact.

I was recently eating at a kakigori (shaved ice dessert) shop in the middle of the night when a group of about 15 people who were apparently club-hopping, came into the shop. Foreigners made up about half of the group and about half of the girls seemed to be "kikokushijo" (children of expatriates); they were talking excitedly in a mixture of Japanese and English.

One of the girls was wearing a one-shoulder top; the girls gave off a sound aura which is unusual in Japanese girls these days. The boys were also animated. They all cheerfully ate kakigori and then left the shop to go to their next destination. Watching them, I thought, "Ah, it reminds me of elderly times!" (laughs) I felt elated to think that the effervescent atmosphere is coming back to Roppongi.

Encountering all kinds of things in towns

Even now, I feel my heart beat a little faster when I advance to Roppongi. It's nice that the area as a whole has energy. The only awful thing - though this can be said about places other than Roppongi - is that there are many chain stores.

When there are many chain stores, the cities of the world all begin to glance the same and they grow uninteresting. I suppose it's tough to get rid of chain stores, so I wish they would at least change their façade a little and adjust to the area.

People enjoy going to focal places - places that are unique to the town and cannot be found elsewhere. When Hobson's opened in Nishi Azabu, I was amazed to see how people would wait in long lines to buy ice cream. Compared to those days, we exist in times when information is so easily accessible.

We now have convenient tools appreciate Instagram, and people are increasingly going to places that are "Instagenic." It doesn't matter how you became interested in something.

What matters is to possess an experience - not just taking a photo and posting it. If you didn't contain the information, you might never be walking in the streets and going to the shops, so it's very important to actually explore and experience and encounter all kinds of things.

Towns are places that permit you to make encounters with so many different things, so you should enjoy yourself by being keeping your eyes accessible.

How to stop oneself from becoming an inflexible "ojisan"

At one time, the towns in Tokyo like Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro all looked the same, but with the economic downturn, a lot of things have been weeded out, and the towns have regained their characters.

In the main streets where the rents are high, there are still many chain stores, but in the alleyways, you will find that small, charming bistros have opened and that inside, there are quite a lot of foreigners. I was surprised that they know of such places, and when I asked how they found them, they said they looked at sites like TripAdvisor or learned by word of mouth.

Recently, Tokyo seems to have become a mere passing point, and more foreigners are apparently going to interesting places in other regions. It's good that there the number of regions that foreigners find attractive is rising, but at the same time, I feel that not enough PR has been sent out on the appealing things that can be found only in Tokyo.

丸山 敬太 （まるやま けいた、 年 3月4日 - ）は、日本の ファッションデザイナー。 東京都 渋谷区 出身。 父は元プロ野球選手の 丸山完二 [1]。 ブランド名としては KEITA MARUYAMA （ケイタ・マルヤマ）を使用することが多い。 原宿 生まれで、 渋谷区立神宮前小学校 、 渋谷区立原宿中学校 卒業。 本郷高校 デザイン科を経て [2] 年 に 文化服装学院 ファッション工科・アパレルデザイン科を卒業し、ファッション界に入る。 年 にフリーデザイナーとしての活動を開始し、 DREAMS COME TRUE のステージ衣装などのデザインを手がけたことで業界に名が知れるようになる。.

For instance, here we are eating cake at Almond, but if the French were to eat this, the texture would be probably be new to them. In France, you won't find these delicate cakes that have been rearranged for the Japanese. And the desserts sold in the convenience stores are of a considerably high standard too.

There are many things like that in our everyday lives that should be rediscovered and recognized. Things that look ordinary but are remarkable can be called "fresh", and it is the fresh things that make a town a unique, so I aspire people will value them more.

"Ojisan" (middle-aged men) may own the decision-making powers in matters, but they don't wander out into the streets, so they don't have the eye to notice these things. On the other hand, "obasan" (middle-aged women) are always conscious of trends, and visiting all kinds of places.

We need to quit the ojisan era behind.

Keita Maruyama is a Japanese fashion designer and creator of the label of the same mention. His work is categorized as being largely subdued and plain with classical flairs and lovely, obscure prints that are placed in juxtaposition with simply, basic designs. Maruyama was born in Tokyo Japan and attended the Bunka Fashion College inimmediately starting work afterwards at the Japanese Designer Company. He took to freelance work inworking for musicians and actresses creating costumes.

(laughs)

By ojisan, I don't mean to refer to a certain age or gender. There are many young people who have characteristics of ojisan, and there are women who have become love ojisan. Such people have led Japanese society, and as distant as they wield power, transform is not going to occur in Japan.

People should end trying to protect themselves and instead think about the future; unless we do that, we will not be able to make truly attractive cities.

To prevent yourself from becoming an ojisan, it's very important to keep your mind flexible.

You don't need to embrace everything that is new and you don't need to reject everything that is old, but you should try to experience things and not make hasty judgements; when you decide you despise something before you have tried it, your mind becomes rigid.

If you eat something and you don't like it, that's O.K because it's a matter of preference. But if you make judgements about things before you have even tried them, then you are on your way to becoming an ojisan - so you need to be careful.

Showing young people the wonderfulness of real experience

When I was a teenager, Roppongi was a place where adults let me have fun.

They showed me all kinds of things, taking me out to dine and have experiences. I really enjoyed it and was able to learn. The more I tried to act grownup, the kinder and more supportive the adults became. That's how society should be, isn't it?

Though I must say it is a problem that my generation didn't continue the tradition. Nowadays, people have become childish, but I think adults require to create an environment where young people will want to act grownup to be treated as adults.

We need to do that to change the course of our future.

There are times these days when I see people in their behind teens or early twenties and feel that they exude the air of the era I experienced. Maybe it's because their parents went through the bubble era and they've inherited their DNA.

(laughs) Young people today don't set up boundaries between Japan and the world; they have a sense that everyone is connected, and I discover it interesting chatting with them. But because they feel this connection, they have an attitude of "Why bother going to places?" as if they don't see the value of genuine experience.

So perhaps the role of adults is to present young people how marvelous it is to actually travel. And once they realize that, they will absorb things very quickly; I envy the way adolescent people of today learn so much faster.

The upbeat young people in Shanghai

I recently went to Shanghai and was surprised in good and bad ways.

Perhaps this is a misleading thing to say, but I was shocked to see that the vulnerable people in society are cast aside. In Japan, radical technological steps are not swiftly implemented in everyday life due to consideration for the elderly: we don't want to bring about them confusion.

But in Shanghai - and maybe this is because it's a direct-controlled municipality - I got the impact that there is a national commitment to adopting the most advanced technology. For example, when I went to Shanghai Disneyland Park, I found that unless I downloaded the app, I couldn't make Fastpass reservations.

And when I went shopping in town, it was impossible to shop without Alipay or WeChat Pay. It was like existence told, "If cash is all you have, you need not buy." QR codes are necessary for everything and I wondered what would happen if there was no electricity.

Inevitably, there are people who have been left out of this system. It's a society where the people who have managed to hang on to the system can live conveniently.

If things go awry, the system might break at some point; I don't know if I like having things like that.

I think that for certain times and situations, it can be an efficient way to do things. The good aspect is that it's a population that gives opportunities and dreams to young people. There are of course, many twenty-something entrepreneurs in Japan, but the juvenile people in Shanghai are more upbeat than the young people in Japan; they have an environment where they can leave forward and use their abilities.

The younger generation can rapidly adapt to the advances in IT, and so they are very well equipped to perform global work.

The coming together of different generations will liven up towns

I'm the sort who feels uncertain in Disneyland, so I don't think I'm suited to a highly technologized society.

He started working as a freelance designer in Inhe made his debut at the Tokyo Collection and in at the Paris Collection, receiving high acclaim both in Japan and abroad. Currently, a Christmas coffret that he designed is being sold by Clinique for a limited day only. He has been called back for fashion events in Hong Kong this December and next January.

But then, I suppose the older generation could get the young people on their side. We don't want to flatter them; we could just ask them to instruct us about the things which interest us. Our generation has experienced the good, analog era: when I show young people the wonderful aspects of analog, they become respectful.

They exclaim, "Wow! I didn't know you could do such things by hand!" (laughs) I hope that in the future, there will be a blending of the different generations. Digital things are no longer new; we now live in an age where digital technology are just skills or tools and what matters more are sensibilities and a sense of beauty.

There's no doubt that from now on, the competition will be about resourcefulness.

In order to become more resourceful, you have to assess with your own mind. Nowadays, so many people do not think. This is an straightforward example, but instead of casually watching a TV quiz program, you will remember more if you think together with the contestants and try to reply the questions yourself before study the correct answers.

You will remember the things that you got wrong and were embarrassed about, but when you passively watch the program, you fall short to accumulate knowledge.

"Otaku" are superb because they have such asking for minds about the things they love.

That's why they are able to create marvelous, distinct things that cannot be substituted for anything else. I'm sure that Otaku will continue to flourish. I think Japan and its cities will become livelier if projects were jointly undertaken by people who are capable of multi-faceted management and by the otaku who have probing minds.

The era of stability is over, so the school examination system and the recruitment system need to be changed.

Juvenile people go to job interviews in weird suits and weird pumps that they don't usually wear, carrying weird bags; everyone knows that it's all phony. And yet the companies express they want to employ individualistic people. We need to rapidly fix this twisted system and free the young people from its spell.