Straw Bags Go Upmarket | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Women all around town can be seen carrying straw bags, whose cool, light appearance is perfect for the summer. Though the bags have been in fashion for a number of years, their popularity this year is unprecedented.

Showing Some Skin | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Young Japanese women are walking the streets in highly revealing styles, from bare-back dresses and tube tops to low-rise hot pants and super-mini skirts.

Monotones for Fall | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
As fall deepens, young women's fashions are turning black and white. The key is a touch of chic: for instance, a white shirt coordinated with a black vest, a black pleated skirt, and black and white half boots.

Girls Want Curls | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Curly hair is back in style. Women from their teens through thirties are styling their tresses in big, soft waves an effort to duplicate the cute, feminine hairdos currently featured in the fashion magazines, including on popular model Ebihara Yuri.

The Feline Look | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
More and more Japanese women are sporting a makeup look popularly known as nekome (cat's eyes). Sultry, feline-looking eyes complement the Victorian fashions and the fur and other luxurious materials that define this winter's fashion.

Knee-Length Cardigans | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
This winter, many fashionable women have been sporting knee-length cardigans. The long button-front sweaters are finding favor among a wide range of ages, from teenagers to women in their forties.

Black is Back | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
For nearly a decade now, trendy Japanese women (and a considerable number of men, too) have been coloring their hair various shades of brown or blonde. But this winter, black hair is back in style.

Return of the Tiger | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Onitsuka Tiger, Japan's first sports shoe brand, has been revived after almost 30 years and is enjoying immense popularity in Europe and elsewhere.

Chic Yet Casual | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
All around town women can be seen sporting a velour jacket with knee-length shorts. The outfit is perfect for the office as well as after-hour and weekend outings.

White is the New Black | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
White garments currently abound at boutiques and women's apparel departments. White blouses and dresses with frills and lace, full skirts, and other clothes with a feminine touch are particularly popular.

Maritime Chic | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Nautical fashion is gathering force as a spring and summer fashion trend. At department stores and boutiques, classic navy-blue pea jackets and sailor shirts are displayed beside lineups of roped belts, accessories shaped like anchors and seashells, and other maritime-inspired items.

Spring Flowers | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
This spring, cute, romantic dresses are the favored fashion items among the young women in their teens and twenties who populate the boutique-lined streets of Tokyo's Harajuku and Daikanyama neighborhoods.

Thrilled with Frills | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
The fresh breezes of early summer have brought with them a vogue for feminine styles. As part of this trend, clothes embellished with lace have become popular.

Empire Babydolls | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Just in time for the hottest days of summer, a new style of skin-baring camisole known as the empire babydoll has caught the imagination of Japanese women.

Jeans from Japan | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
A high-end Japanese jeans brand with a vintage sensibility is building a fan base among discriminating denim wearers all over the world. Evisu Jeans are readily identified by the stylized seagull logo painted on the back pocket.

Foot Covers Uncovered | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Foot covers and half socks made their debut as accessories designed to alleviate such problems, and they were an immediate hit because they were so effective. This year an assortment of covers in different colors and patterns have been marketed, and women are showing them off as fashion items in their own right.

Harking Back to Victorian Times | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Victorian-inspired fashions trimmed with lace and frills are all the rage this fall and winter as Japanese women look to achieve a classic, feminine look.

Wild Yet Refined | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Until last year, long boots with simple designs that gave the legs a sleek silhouette were all the rage, but this year lavishly ornamented or Wild West-inspired boots are flying off the shelves. The new must-have footwear is being adopted in different ways by women in different age groups.

Global Success? It's In The Bag | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
The designer label Samantha Thavasa sounds American or European, but it was actually born in Japan, where young women who cannot resist the brand's handbags have carried it to success.

Psychedelic Revival | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
The psychedelic fashions that were all the rage in the United States from the late 1960s through the 1970s as young people engaged in various forms of social protest have made a comeback.