Fortunately, I could get college experience both Japan and America, so I am going to talk about the differences of college girls between Japan and America in this article. I will tell you guys in advance that this is completely my opinion, so please don’t think this is everything. Plus, I am talking about colleges in Tokyo and California in this article.
Okay, let’s get started!!
1. Clothes
I like colleges in America because I can go to school with a sweatshirt, jeans, and beach sandals!! When I was going to college in Japan, I had to be more fashionable and change styles every day. I think I spent more money for clothes in college in Japan than here. Honestly, when I started going to school and saw many students wearing sweatshirts with their college name, I was like “Wow…, what is that…?” But now, the sweatshirt looks cute and I felt stupid to spend so much money for clothes when I was a student in Japan. Because we go to school for studying, not for a fashion show!
2. Makeup
It is not just for college girls; in Japan, most women are forced to put on makeup when we go outside. I remember that some of my friends wore glasses and medical masks in school because they did not have time to makeup in morning and were feeling embarrassed to go out without makeup. After I started working for this company I applied for, they told me that women employees had to put on makeup, and I even got trained in how to do makeup suitable for the office. But here, who cares? Nobody says anything if we do not put on makeup when we go outside. No boys say anything if girls come to school without makeup.
3. Part-time job
It sounds ridiculous, but a Japanese student who works part-time as a Starbucks barista would be considered “popular” among his or her peers. It was like a status. Plus, almost all of students are working in typical places such as restaurants, cafés, and grocery stores in Japan. On the other hand, college girls in California have more choices like on-campus/off-campus jobs and internships. I think it’s a good opportunity that students can attend events and do marketing for on-campus jobs. I wish universities in Japan also had something like that too…
4. Relationships
In my opinion, college girls in U.S are more open to talk about relationships. They do not hesitate to talk about it and introduce their boyfriend/girlfriend to other friends. In Japan, some of my friends had boyfriends in college, but I had never met them. It was like a taboo to talk about relationships too much. I remember that a girl in my university was kissing and snuggling with her boyfriend, and literally all students had started rumors about how they did some inappropriate things in school. However, it is probably Japanese culture things.
Through this article, I wanted to say that girls in the U.S are free to be a girl. I mean, I know they are still feeling a lot of things but compared to Japanese girls, the case of Japan is kind of extreme. In Japan, we feel peer pressure, for example, to have to wear fashionable clothes and put on makeup always. To be honest, I was always afraid what others think about me in Japan, although it was not important. However, after I came here, now, I am feeling that Japanese girls should be themselves, not copying other girls.