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Apr 20 2015 20 Comments

The obasan

Obasan noun | o·ba·san | aunt; woman of a certain age; battle-axe?

the Japanese obasan

Categorized: Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Colu says

    4/20/2015 at 11:26 am

    Lol. Battle axe for sure. There’s nothing worse than kansai obasan, especially Osaka :). Great picture. Perhaps only foreigners like us will appreciate this

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/20/2015 at 3:48 pm

      I can well imagine Osaka obasan being more vocal. A lot more vocal!

      Cheers. Yes, I guess so. Something you mention without realising that it’s very much a japanese thing.

      Reply
  2. AF says

    4/20/2015 at 12:16 pm

    This photo reminds me of my sempai. When I met her she was 10 years older than us (I was 24 and she was 34) at college and was already a psychologist having worked previously and was known among her friends as a traditional “psychology student” because unlike her friends “she only smoked cigarettes”. Now she was at a medical school and liked to return from university back home with me, giving rides at her car and offering some gifts here and there… One day she said, “I will find you a good girlfriend” (I wonder what “good” meant) and I forgot the matter for some months.
    .
    One day, after we went to a dance club we were by car taking people to their houses and a japanese girl that I did not know gets out of another car in front us, cyrcles my car and asks to lower my window. So I obeyed and she gave me the only kiss of the night. And nobody understood but I thought deep in my mind “This probably smells like sempai’s plot and she accomplished whatever she wanted”… “Darn it, she must be having fun, for sure.”
    .
    And in the end, the lesson I learned from japanese girls is that japanese people like to do secret things, hidden from everybody else eyes. So, whenever I see it I remember that a long list of invisible ways hide below the surface, or in other words, a whole different world in fact. Actually my old sempai clothes were similar to this woman’s clothes with some sort of wild animal skin or jaguar fur pattern on at least one accessory made to look like having animal skin (shoe, purse, hat, etc…)
    .
    Sempai was really “wild”. Because everytime I said, “Please semapai, you have a japanese boyfriend, so every time you give me a ride/lift just leave me one block away from my hotel for I hate the gossip from the hotel people”. And she responded “I would love if this happened, this is just what I want. And you can sleep with me in my bed too.” (<Sempai having fun like a doctor who likes the clinical case)
    .
    Also luck did not help, one day during christmas she laughed a lot because the gifts were mixed so that people did not know what they would get. But the gift that I had bought was a magnifyng glass that ended up in the hands of her japanese boyfriend. She laughed wildly and I can only imagine what ideas went through her head (hahahahah)
    .
    So, in my mind, I will name this photo "The Wild Felling".

    Reply
    • AF says

      4/20/2015 at 1:53 pm

      *”The Wild Feeling”*

      Reply
    • AF says

      4/20/2015 at 1:58 pm

      **”Senpai”, instead of “sempai”

      Reply
      • Lee says

        4/20/2015 at 3:57 pm

        That’s great the photo brought back so many memories. Your senpai sounds like a real character. Are you still in touch with her?

        Reply
        • AF says

          4/20/2015 at 8:58 pm

          Yeah, you are totally right. By now I think that you are probably used to see folks in japanese society that show their thoughts according to the way they wear. She liked contrast so much that after college she picked her giant tiger fur patterned dog and desired to move to thousands of miles away, then she found an ocidental looking husband (a university professor), became a college professor herself, had kids and decided that the couple should move again for another far away place located thousands of miles from the previous city. Then I lost her in the map but I do hope the guy gets a motorcycle and a pair of sunglasses to make her happy.
          .
          The last time she was working with radiology (which is a kind of photography work too). She told me once she hated the pressure that her family put on things like social rules and clothes with all the bias and prejudice. Senpai was a rebel and was really cool at that, like a Coke ad, she was living the dream, the “american dream” to the core.
          .
          In the end that shirt on the lady from your photo reminded how much personality a single object can have.

          Reply
          • Lee says

            4/20/2015 at 9:56 pm

            Always interesting what triggers memories and feelings. Glad this was a good one. And with her rebellious streak, I’m sure your senpai is enjoying herself somewhere!

            Reply
  3. John says

    4/20/2015 at 1:45 pm

    The love affair between old ladies and animal prints continues unabated.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/20/2015 at 3:58 pm

      Haha, it does indeed!

      Reply
  4. Al says

    4/20/2015 at 4:27 pm

    Love it! I really hope you didn’t upset her too much!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/20/2015 at 7:43 pm

      Well, she didn’t say anything, so I guess not!

      Reply
  5. Matt Talbot says

    4/20/2015 at 10:42 pm

    Your man with the ‘BAG’ sign – someone should really buy him a stick.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/21/2015 at 1:14 pm

      I think a stick comes with promotion!

      Reply
  6. Andrew S. Mooney says

    4/21/2015 at 4:19 am

    Goodness, Bet Lynch is alive, well and living in the Ginza.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZDpEddSjc

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/21/2015 at 8:08 am

      Ah, good old Bet. Can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that similarity, especially with her being such a famous character in my youth. A wonderful blast from the past.

      Reply
  7. Hans ter Horst says

    4/21/2015 at 8:41 pm

    Looks like a true obatarian to me, she is going to tell people just how it is!
    BTW, 3000 yen for a bag sounds like a bargain 🙂

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/21/2015 at 10:21 pm

      She is, whether they want to hear it or not!

      Ueno is definitely the place for a bargain, but perhaps not for what it says on the label!

      Reply
  8. Paul says

    4/29/2015 at 9:52 am

    3,000 yen for a bag like that? Speak to the hand mate!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/29/2015 at 10:12 am

      Old bags are often a bit pricey.

      Reply

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