MUNI THE BOSS

Bijin Trends: Beautiful Real Women online calendar a hit
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William AndrewsPublished: August 10, 2010Posted in: DIGITAL LIFETags: Web 2.0, Women
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There’s been a real trend for “bijin” (beautiful girl) recently. This isn’t the professional model bijin but rather the “amateur” type, ordinary girls.
It’s no secret that we’ve taken, ahem, pride in reporting on this blog about the Bijin-Tokei, apologizing beauties website and provincial lasses being “saved” by cosmetics.
Visitors to regions around Japan perhaps have picked up the Bishoujo Zukan free paper, which is comprised entirely of (modest) images of local beauties. Or Tokyoites might well have browsed Kanban Musume (Shop Sign Girl), a site that introduces stores and eateries recommended by the women working there.
The latest manifestation we’ve come across of this is the Bijo Goyomi, or “hot girl calendar”.
Every day (except weekends) showcases a new beauty from somewhere around Japan — a real, ordinary girl, that is, not some airbrushed model! There are some examples above.
That basically is the gist of it. Though there are some widgets and a ranking (you can vote for your favorite), it seems to just come down to one thing — we like to look at pretty girls. And though the selling power of Shiseido et al’s fashion models is undeniably still very strong, Japanese consumers/web users are definitely seeking something more down-to-earth and realistic in these recession days, even if just for escapism.
Bijo Goyomi started in late 2008 but, according to J-Cast, its page views have steadily increased in recent months and currently stand at a million a month.
It also has a Twitter aggregate site, ShunkanBijo.com (Instant Beauty).

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ABOUT THE AUTHORWilliam is Editor of JapanTrends.com and a Project Manager at CScout Japan trends and innovation consultancy.
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