Designer Yohi Yamamoto

Have you ever questioned why and how the US government decided to drop those two nuclear bombs in Japan in the World War II? It is still a universal concern while many disapproval have made toward its humanity. In a book that I’ve read recently, from the point of view of an eyewitness, Yamaoka Michiko, the author of story “Eight hundred meters from the Hypocenter”, shows how humanity was exchanged with the ambition of a nation by reviving a heartbroken experience when she witnessed her hometown was destroyed by such a terrific violence in the war.

There have been and still are hundreds of fashion designers in the world. But only a few of them have had any major impact on fashion industry today. And even fewer have revolutionised the fashion industry completely. One of these revolutionaries is the renowned Christian Dior. He reestablished Paris as the centre of the fashion world, and created his name as a symbol of elegance, quality, and modernity. I will be looking into how Dior’s context informed his practice, by using three of his most iconic and popular designs; The Bar Suit, Venus Dress and the Cygne Noir dress. And how these were a direct representation of 1945-1950 France.

In the essay “The Scar,” the author Kildare Dobbs reports the parallel stories of Emiko; a young Japanese girl and Captain Robert Lewis; a U.S. army Captain harrowing events of Aug 6/1945 in Hiroshima, a day that forever changed their lives. Emiko, a 15 year old “fragile and vivacious” Japanese girl lived an hour’s train ride away from Hiroshima, in a town called Otake with her parents, her two sisters and brother. At that time, her youngest sister was extremely sick with heart troubles, her 13 year old brother was with the Imperial Army and her father was an antique dealer. Emiko and her 13 year old sister Hideko traveled by train daily to Hiroshima to their women’s college. Captain Robert Lewis was the co-pilot of the Enola Gay, a U.S.

Born in Vancouver, Canada, in 1935, Joy Kogawa is a Nisei – second generation Japanese Canadian – and a celebrated poet. During World War 2, many Japanese Canadians, including Kogawa, were evacuated and forced into the internment camps. “Hiroshima Exit”, one of Kogawa's poem’, accentuates the devastation of the atomic bombing during the war. A Japanese Descendent visits the Atomic Bomb Memorial Building where she witnesses the horror and destruction from the Hiroshima bombing. It is clear that the war inflicted great destruction, and much damage was attributed to past actions. Kogawa uses personification, conflicts, and symbolism to show that instead of clinging onto the harsh past, one needs to have hope in order to create better prospect in the future.

The non-fiction book Hiroshima by John Hersey is an engaging text with a powerful message in it. The book is a biographical text about lives of six people Miss Sasaki, Dr. Fujii, Mrs. Nakamura, Father Kleinsorge, Dr. Sasaki and Rev. Tanimoto in Hiroshima, Japan and how their lives completely changed at 8:15 on the 6th of August 1945 by the dropping of the first atomic bomb. The author, John Hersey, through his use of descriptive language the in book Hiroshima exposes the many horrors of a nuclear attack.

Mr. Tanimoto consciously repeated to himself “‘These are human beings’”(Hersey 1946), as he attempted to save paralyzed, dying men and women, in the book “Hiroshima” by John Hersey. This nonfiction book was published on August 31 1946, a year after the atomic bombing fell on Hiroshima, Japan. This publication was raw, uncensored, and truthful. John Hersey unapologetically revealed the gruesome damages done by the bombing, while also silencing those who believed that the atomic bomb was a justified attack. Hersey’s brilliant journalism and ability to write this story without bias, is why this book was selected. The author did not want those who died to be remembered as casualties, but as mothers, fathers and children. Hersey wrote this book about the the physical, and psychological impact this bomb had on both survivors and victims of the atomic bomb. There were many historical events that contributed to the cause and effect of the atomic attack; historical events such as industrialization, the trench wars, and militarism. This was not just a simple bomb, but a complex attack on humanity.

In her novel When the Emperor Was Divine, author Julie Otsuka presents the long-lasting effects that isolation and alienation have on a person’s self- image and identity. During WWII, Japanese-Americans living in the United States were forced to move to isolated and horrific internment camps. The US government ensured they were separated from the rest of the country. This even included their own families. When the Japanese-Americans were allowed to return home after the war, the result of the isolation they experienced created irreversible damage. They continued to experience alienation, often making it impossible for them to recover emotionally, mentally and financially. Otsuka uses characterization to bring to life the traumas of the war and the effects it had on her characters, the girl, her mother and her father.

Before John Hersey’s novel, Hiroshima, Americans viewed Japanese as cruel and heartless people. This warped perspective caused the majority of American citizens to feel complacent about the use of the atomic bomb against civilians. Americans, in many ways, were blinded by their own ignorance to notice the severity of the destruction suffered by not only the city of Hiroshima but, more importantly, the people who lived there. The six testimonies in Hiroshima illustrate the strength and optimistic attitude of the Japanese people. In this essay, I will discuss the feelings towards the ethics surrounding the use of the atomic bomb, next I will look at two testimonies and how their lives

The crises to which this work responds was the total annihilation of Hiroshima and the aftershock experienced by those left

The most significant theme in John Hersey’s book “Hiroshima” are the long- term effects of war, confusion about what happened, long term mental and physical scars, short term mental and physical scars, and people being killed.

In the book Hiroshima the author illustrates this city’s most tragic point in history as well as its residence’s lives before, during, and after the horrific drop of the atomic bomb. The pain of over one hundred thousand lives were compressed and expressed through six different stories told by this reporter. The extreme range of direction their lives take can be seen by the contrasting examples between Miss Toshiko Sasaki and Dr. Masakazu Fuji. Toshiko Sasaki began as a clerk before the bombing happened; she was deeply into her family and even had a fiancé. On August 6th of 1945 the bomb

Fashion is everything to society and the media. The fashion industry has transformed into a necessity in the life of people. Everyone wants to look good, feel fabulous and feel as if we belong with everyone else. The envy and desire to wear certain things and look a certain way all come, from wearing the latest fashion handbags, accessories, dresses, shoes, and the list goes on. But, when is considering fashion into an individual’s life going too far to the extreme? Many do not consider the whereabouts of fashion materials and how the environment is affected by the mere existence of certain garments. Some may believe these objects grow on trees. But that is clearly not the case. Even though it would be nice. The fashion industry as a

The fashion industry is rapidly growing and constantly generating new fashion trends almost weekly. Fashion for some may seem ridiculous and unnecessary; but fashion is not just a meaningless usage of article of clothing or farcical materials sew together for coverage. There is more to fashion than meets the eyes, fashion is precious and significant. It is a reflection of self-image, it speak the ream about who we are and how we review ourselves. Not only is fashion the reflection of self-image but also the reflection of our history as Coco Channel have said, “Fashion is not something that exist in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Fashion

Fashion is a form of expression and with its ever changing ideas and trends it explores and creates an array of identities. As Bennett, A. (2005) states “Fashion…provides individuals with a key means through which to manage their identities in the context of everyday life”. I wish to explore how fashion has developed to which identities can be created by oneself and what is around in everyday life and culture that may influence choice in dress. Is fashion a form of agency or structure? I will continue these ideas around gender and in particular fashion photography and how in which gender is represented within the popular mainstream media. Looking at if fashion photography plays a role in challenging gender roles, and therefore creating new ideologies of identity. Or, does fashion photography intertwine with the rest of media in its representation and stereotyping of both genders? Helmut Newton will be used as a case study and the interpretation of his work. This study will also look at the theory behind androgyny and continuing by also looking at dandyism and if these concepts are being constantly played with in the fashion media.

To discover the traditional beauty of a Japan which is disappearing; to emphasise the importance of industrially produced clothes by using synthetic materials; to demonstrate the secret beauty of Japanese women. I am striving to create clothes which give paramount importance to the movement of the body. Rather than fashion that one puts on, I want to produce fashion that one takes off...for that is where the beauty of man’s primitive spirit is found. (Tokyo Vogue p44)