Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen

The following was published in the Sunday Times on 4 November 2007:

Sunday Times 4 Nov 2007
Playing With Oneself in Tokyo
by Colin Goh

So I was recently in Tokyo for the Tokyo International Film Festival, and I really must thank everyone out there who sent the Wife and I your congrats on our very unexpected win.

In this regard, I was amused to note that many of you sent us virtual drinks. While grateful for the generous (?) sentiment, I must admit that, in this age of Second Life and online avatars, I did spend a few seconds wondering whether it was advisable to drink while driving down the information superhighway…

Now ordinarily, like most of you, I would have found the preceding statement not just corny, but retarded. After visiting Japan and witnessing the commingling of fantasy and reality, however, I’m not so sure.

It began when a friend very kindly volunteered to show me around the Akihabara district. Many Singaporeans like to compare Akihabara to Sim Lim Square on steroids, as it’s a mecca for electronic gadgets. To do so would be a gross understatement. ‘Akiba’ (as it is often abbreviated) not only sells doodads that aren’t available in most countries, it also has stuff most people haven’t even thought of yet, and probably never will. (An electronic stress toy-cum-keychain that simulates popping bubble wrap, anyone? No? How about a scotch tape dispenser cum USB hub?)

Akiba is also, in some ways, a window into the modern Japanese psyche, and some of what you’ll see can be pretty disconcerting. At the Rajio Keikan building, for instance, you can find toys for sale that go way beyond Hello Kitty and build-it-yourself models of Mobile Suit Gundam. On several floors, you can buy the little collectible figurines that are often sold in plastic spheres from coin-operated dispensers. Except the figurines include not just the usual robots and cute animals, but also cute animals and realistic plastic depictions of their poop, and schoolgirls in various stages of undress.

Perhaps the strangest of all was the entire floor devoted to dolls, including life sized ones. Here you can buy clothing for your dolls – not just gowns, dresses and shoes, but also eyes, hair, teeth, and breasts. In one corner, a mother and daughter team was sitting down with a consultant, the daughter unfurling a portfolio of drawings to show exactly what she wanted in her new acquisition. There were also guys browsing through the selection of angel wings and lingerie. (I guess Victor, and not just Victoria, has a secret.)

For some, collecting is not enough. The ‘cosplay’ phenomenon, where grown people actually dress up as anime characters, was evident everywhere on the streets too. Sometimes collecting and cosplay collided, as in Doll@Cafe, which is like a love hotel (those convenient Geylang-esque quickie joints), except you’re booking some, ahem, quality time with anatomically accurate mannequins. Sex doesn’t come safer than this. There are also email services where you can sign up for regular cutesy-but-raunchy emails from a virtual girlfriend (probably crafted and sent out by some sweaty, pimply dude from his laptop).

I guess at the heart of all of this is some form of struggle with identity in a world whose boundaries and mores are not just tested by globalization, but also cyberspace. The desire to create or immerse oneself in imaginary worlds is a confused assertion of self.

How can dressing like a character from Sailor Moon be an assertion of self, you ask? It can be if you really, really like Sailor Moon so much that you’re not content to just watch it, you want to claim a part of its world for yourself too.

Some essays have described such blending of fantasy and reality as ‘creative’. I guess, but it’s also a retreat from the stresses of regular life. In an online gaming universe, you may be a macho warrior rather than the speccy nerd you are in ‘real life’, but how empowered can you really feel, when you’re actually hiding?

Tokyo has always been a trendsetter for young people worldwide, and it may very well be auguring our future: one where our energies are devoted to the ephemeral – like cosplay, deciding on your doll’s couture, or building your zombie army on Facebook – rather than more pressing issues, like world hunger and climate change.

Actually, we’re already seeing it now – many of us are only too happy to sign online petitions, but less willing to do on-the-ground campaigning and lobbying, the kind of efforts that actually bring about change.

Creating imaginary friends sounds cool – but really, isn’t it just playing with yourself?

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