Matters of the Heart -Supreme-

Atsushi Hida

Practicum in Journalism

January 27, 2016

Matters of the Heart -Supreme-

                I love shoes, clothes, and bags stuff. I like many brands such as Adidas, Nike, Champion, Vans, The North Face, and Supreme. I am going to talk about Supreme that is my favorite brand right now. Supreme is a skateboarding shop/clothing brand established in New York City in April 1994. There are Supreme shops in New York, Los Angeles, London, Harajuku, Shibuya, Daikanyama, Nagoya that is my home city, Osaka, and Fukuoka. There are six shops in Japan, I have seen the supreme shop in Nagoya, but I do not why that I have never been to any shops. Actually I did not know at all about Supreme before I came the United State. About two years ago, one of my Japanese friends told me about Supreme such as it is cool, they make good stuff, and it is skateboarding/clothing brand. After he told me about it, I research about it and I started to like Supreme stuff. After couple month I had opportunity to go to New York City with my girlfriend and couple our friends. I really wanted to go Supreme shop in New York. I went there and got a cool stuff.

“This is the first item from Supreme.”

That was my first item from Supreme. I really research a lot and I found we could buy Supreme stuff online. But there is problem that popular items or famous items are sold out really fast like in 30 seconds. I was so surprised when I tried to get the famous item online. I could not get it. I hate to lose anything so I research about how can get popular or famous item Supreme online shop and I found it. After that I knew that big day is coming. They were going to release the items that Supreme corroborated with The North Face and it was a jacket and it was so cool to me. I used some skills to get the items. They release some items on every Thursday at 11:00am EST. At the day that they were going to release the items that Supreme corroborated with The North Face jacket, I woke up 9:00am and to be ready to win the jacket. I was so nervous but I finally got the jacket.

“This is the first item from Supreme & The North Face.”

That was second items from Supreme. After that I know how to buy them so I shop a lot. So now I have so many cool Supreme items. Now I am a huge fan of Supreme.

“They are some of my collection from Supreme.”

By Atsushi Hida

     https://youtu.be/jW0E-bAbSf0

Matters of the Heart -My Girlfriend-

Atsushi Hida

Practicum in Journalism

January 26, 2016

Matters of the Heart -My Girlfriend-

                I started to study abroad from June in 2013. At the same time, it was first time I met Yuko Topeka in Kansas. We took summer class for get better English and get used to the American life at Washburn University in Topeka about two month. I was 22 years old and she was 26 years old. I know American people do not care about age so much but I do not why the Japanese people really care about it. I think it is Japanese weird culture. So when I met Yuko and I asked her “How old are you?” She said, “I am 26 years old now.” I was surprised because she looked like around 20 years old. So this is the story that when I met Yuko first time. Actually we did not talk so many first three weeks I do not know why I think we just have no chance to talk each other. At begin of July we went to the bar with some our friends and drank together.

“When we went to the bar with our friends.”

After that my girlfriend and I started to talk in person. Yuko and I started to spend time together such as class, lunch, dinner, and free time. I had a girlfriend in Japan. At the moment I had been dating with ex-girlfriend about five years. She was in Japan and I felt that she does not love me anymore. I think because of long distance. So I decided to break up with her. So I felt like if Yuko become my girlfriend, I will be so happy. After a month I was going to Avila University and she is going to Jonson State College in Vermont State. Couple weeks later I decided to ask her to be my girlfriend. I said “I told you I broke up with my ex-girlfriend, I really like you. Would you be my girlfriend?” Yuko said “Yes I would be your girlfriend, I have been waiting that you said that.” We cannot see each other but we did Skype every night so I did not feel lonely.

“When we Skype.”

There are some reasons that she is important of my heart. Of course I love her so much. And she keeps me smile every time. She always supports me when I feel bad. We have same hobbies that watching movies, cooking, and traveling. We have been to so many places such as New York, California, Florida, Colorado, Tokyo etc.

“When we went to New York City.”

Now I have been dating with Yuko about 2 and half years now. I hope I will marry her after I graduate Avila University.

By Atsushi Hida

https://youtu.be/_fNY_y18Upw

My Final Feature Story

Atsushi Hida
Introduction to Journalism and Media
December 5, 2015

My Final Feature Story “Coming-of-age Ceremony”

                The second Monday of January is "Seijin no hi" (Coming-of-age Day) in Japan. People celebrate this day to welcome the young men and women, who have turned or will turn the age of twenty during the current year, as new members of society. Ceremonies are held in every city, town, and village. The people who have reached the age of twenty get the right to vote and also allowed to smoke and drink in Japan. Depending on the area in Japan, some ceremonies are held at hotels or even at Tokyo Disneyland, as it is for those in Urayasu City in Chiba Prefecture. Normally we will attend the Coming-of-age Ceremony of your hometown. Similar to an alumni association, you get the chance to meet some friends you haven’t seen in a long time. That is good point. At the ceremony, one person acts as a representative of the new adults and presents their goals, and the mayor of the city will give a speech. After the ceremony has finished, it is common for everyone to go drinking with their friends because we can drink from twenty years old in Japan.
The girls prepare a kimono known as “Furisode” for their coming of age ceremony.

“There are some of examples of “Furisode” from http://www.furisode-chiba.jp/”
Also the men prepare a kimono known as “Hakama” for their coming of age ceremony. It is common for men to wear a suit to their coming of age ceremony. Some of men will wear a kimono with “Hakama”. We can rent “Hakama” for men at a kimono rental shop. We can rent them for around 1000 dollars. The ones that stand out at the Coming-of-age Ceremony are not the boys, but the girls in their “Furisode”. Sometimes we will even see someone wearing unique clothing that looks like famous characters such as Iron Man, Batman, and Star Wars characters etc.

“These are some of example of “Hakama” from http://www.5298higuchi.com/original125.html”
But most of men just wear suit so my best friends and I did wear suit and I did not see any people who wear “Hakama” at my coming-of-age Ceremony. I was going to wear “Hakama” but it was too expensive to buy it or rent to it and I knew that I would not wear “Hakama” after Coming-of-age Ceremony so I decided to wear suit. 

“This is from my Coming-of-age Ceremony. It was January 10, 2011.”
Kimono such as “Furisode” and “Hakama” are the traditional clothing of Japan. The special feature of “Furisode” is the long sleeves. “Furisode” give the most spectacular impression out of all kimono types. “Furisode” are worn by unmarried women only. Nowadays “Furisode” are the most prestigious dress for unmarried women to wear. Wearing “Furisode” at a coming-of-age ceremony symbolizes a fresh start in your life. It also symbolizes getting rid of the bad and attracting the good. The patterns of each kimono have different meanings, symbolizing prayers and wishes. For example, a “Sakura” pattern is worn when wishing for the woman to always shine brightly. However, most of Japanese people these days are not that familiar with these traditional meanings. On the day of the ceremony, girls will visit a beauty salon to help them put on their kimono and they make up girls’ hair.
One of my friends told me that while it is nice that we don’t have to wear kimono all the time nowadays, that also means that when we wear one we get very tired. Many layers are worn, and the “obi” is tied very tightly. On the day of the coming-of-age ceremony, you can see many girls wearing gorgeous “Furisode” around the town. Some people purchase their “Furisode”, and some rent one. For a “Furisode” on the cheaper side it would cost around 100,000 yen for a full set. 100,000 yen means 1000 dollars. But a higher class “Furisode” can costs millions of yen so it can cost10000 dollars. But we can rent “Furisode”. The cost of renting a kimono depends on which kimono you rent. Renting a “Furisode” usually costs around 1000 – 2000 dollars, but if you are not picky you can probably find one for around 500 dollars. It is common to have pictures taken at studio wearing your “Furisode” on the day of or the day before the ceremony.
                So Coming-of-age Ceremony is supposed to be formal, and traditional ceremony but some people think that it is like a party. So after Coming-of-age Ceremony we always watch the news that talk about problem of Coming-of-age Ceremony every year. I found a video that is showing us about Coming-of-age Ceremony. There are some funny or stupid people in Okinawa, Japan. I interviewed couple of my friends “What do you think about one of unique Coming-of-age Ceremony in Okinawa, Japan?” 

“This is John Schwarzel when I interviewed him.”

“This is Jonathan Mason when I interviewed him.”

https://youtu.be/cIqZ487rBOc

By Atsushi Hida