Dutch photographer Desiré van den Berg has spent the past seven months traveling around Asia. She lives in Hong Kong at the moment, but when she was in Tokyo, back in December 2013, she met Hina, a 23-year-old who works at a trendy Tokyo boutique called Baby Shoop. Hina's shop has the tagline “Black for Life.” She describes its products as “a tribute to Black culture: the music, the fashion, and style of dance.”
Hina's appearance is also loyal to what the Japanese call "B-style"—a contraction of the words "Black" and "Lifestyle" that refers to a subculture of young Japanese people who love American hip-hop culture so much that they do everything in their power to look as African American as possible.
I called up Desiré to find out more about her time photographing Hina and her gang.
VICE: How did you meet Hina?
Desiré van den Berg: She appeared in a documentary about B-style a couple of years back, which I happened to watch. This is what got me interested in the culture. It took a lot of effort, but I eventually got in touch with her on Facebook, through other B-stylers. I said I wanted to take photos of her, and she actually thought that was pretty cool. It was all a bit of a hassle, though, because Hina and the other B-stylers didn't speak a single word of English. We needed a translator both to make an appointment and at the actual first meeting, too. ... continue reading>>http://www.vice.com/read/b-style-japan-desir-van-den-berg-photos
Hina's appearance is also loyal to what the Japanese call "B-style"—a contraction of the words "Black" and "Lifestyle" that refers to a subculture of young Japanese people who love American hip-hop culture so much that they do everything in their power to look as African American as possible.
I called up Desiré to find out more about her time photographing Hina and her gang.
VICE: How did you meet Hina?
Desiré van den Berg: She appeared in a documentary about B-style a couple of years back, which I happened to watch. This is what got me interested in the culture. It took a lot of effort, but I eventually got in touch with her on Facebook, through other B-stylers. I said I wanted to take photos of her, and she actually thought that was pretty cool. It was all a bit of a hassle, though, because Hina and the other B-stylers didn't speak a single word of English. We needed a translator both to make an appointment and at the actual first meeting, too. ... continue reading>>http://www.vice.com/read/b-style-japan-desir-van-den-berg-photos
Video shows how what some Asians perceive as "black lifestyle" has become very popular, cool, hip and trendy. More and more Asians, particularly in the metropolitan parts of Japan and other Asian countries are trying to emulate this "black lifestyle" trend. They do it through dress, style, look, hair and whatever they feel best exemplifies black people. Many go as far as tanning and darkening their skin and they freely admit that it is done specifically to appear more "black".
A pale skin resembles beauty in Japan, but that no longer doesn't count for everyone. Hina lives her life according to the 'B-style', or the 'black lifestyle'. This includes going to the tanning salon regularly to become as dark as American hip hop artists.
A pale skin resembles beauty in Japan, but that no longer doesn't count for everyone. Hina lives her life according to the 'B-style', or the 'black lifestyle'. This includes going to the tanning salon regularly to become as dark as American hip hop artists.