Media Type : Book | Rating : 7.0 out of 10 | Read on : June 1^st, 2004

Released : January 6^th, 2001 | New & Used Book Price : $20.37 & $20.25

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One ways to find out more about the different fashion trends going on around the world is to search through the internet. You can find thousands of personal sites and hundreds of business sites which portray this information with pictures. Another way is to read a book which covers this topic. “Fruits” is one of those books, aiming to tell the reader a bit of what goes on in Japan. This is a photo book with small captions; the book contains only pictures from the very first pages. Each page has a picture of either a single person, or a couple. Along with that photo is the information related to the picture; the name of the person, their age, their fashion statement and what they like. You will see over 250 pictures, all of people in different dresses. The book can be a good book for anyone interested in learning the fashion trend in Japan, or trying to learn more about fashion designs themselves.

One of the biggest mistakes one can make by going through the book is to assume that everyone in Japan is dressed like the way they are shown in the book. That is far from the truth. I do not know if the author wanted to simply portray different fashion statements people portray in Japan, or whether he wanted everyone to think that Japan is like that. Even within the book itself you can see people in the background, scores of them, with normal clothes. If you look hard enough, you will see camera men surrounding some of the people in the book, giving you the impression that they were probably modeled or chosen from the crowd to wear the dresses. Majority of the clothes are direct from top-notch designers; it would be very surprising to see if everyone in Japan could afford them, specially young high school students.

Overall, this is an interesting book to view [not much to read except the ages of and statements from the different people], and then again, it was not meant to be read, but to be viewed. This book would be a very good photo book for anyone. The photos are colorful and very crisp, clear and above all, very fresh. As long as you do not fall into the trap of looking at this book and thinking about everyone in Japan and everyone from Japan based on what the main modeled people in this photo book show you, you will enjoy it a lot. Otherwise, it will only create a typical stereotype thinking within. It is surprising that many so called “critics” hail this book as a mirror of everyone in Japan. Even then, this book is good on its own, displaying many things which you never imagined people would wear and now that you see people wearing it with confidence, you will love almost everything you see. This can be a good book to give to anyone who craves for fashion statements [not literally, though].