Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
Once a year, Associate Professor Hendrik Meyer-Ohle of the National University of Singapore flies his students to Tokyo to shop. Prof. Meyer-Ohle is not a fashionista with too much money and time on his hands—rather, he runs JS2880A, a class on Japanese fashion based almost entirely on fieldwork done in Japanese retail stores.
The Covid-19 pandemic throws a wrench in this arrangement. With restrictions on cross-border travel, Prof. Meyer-Ohle has had to come up with a new way to conduct these field studies. With his friends and collaborators Profs. Kazuo Kikuchi and Takahiro Nishi from Meiji University, they came up with the somewhat paradoxical “Virtual Field Study.”
(Sitting while socially distanced)
In this Virtual Field Study, NUS students participated in various lectures and seminars led by diverse guest speakers: Japanese professor who focused on consumer analysis and market strategy, a professor from University of Victoria, Canada, who taught the Business and Sustainability course, and managers from two famous Japanese brands JUN and Baycrews who explained how they extended e-commerce option in response to Covid-19.
Admittedly, Virtual Field Study cannot achieve some of the things that a typical field study can: it is slower to communicate online, harder to spontaneously form smaller groups, and even communication is more difficult—you cannot make full use of body language in front of a screen. However, this year’s study did generate some unique opportunities. Instead of loosely exploring various unrelated fields, the new strategies that fashion retail outlets initiated under Covid-19 became an overarching theme throughout the study.
Join us as we look into the process of Virtual Field Study, virtually explore Koenji Pal Street and Ura-Harajuku on this very page, and watch the students present their findings on fashion trends in Japan and Singapore.
Schedule
The module was held during the winter break of the NUS’ academic year. It is comprised of a week-long intense in-class study and a final project that continued to the second semester.
Events Highlight
Multimedia Experiences
Using Zoom, Google Maps, YouTube, and Line, students from National University of Singapore undertaking the Virtual Field Study explored shopping streets and shopping malls in Japan, communicated with Japanese professors and students from Meiji University, attended lectures by various guest speakers, and participated in workshops held by famous Japanese fashion companies.
Google Map of Koenji Pal Street. View on Google Maps for more information on individual stores.
YouTube video on Ura-Harajuku.
Final Presentations
At the end of this virtual field study, the class was divided into four groups and asked to undertake final research projects. This year, when choosing their research topics, students brought up more comparisons between Singapore and Japan and discovered that the two countries have very different fashion cultures.
Preparations
Each group was paired with four to five students from Meiji University. Japanese students helped NUS students to complete the field observations, face-to-face interviews, and surveys on consumers in Japan. On the other end, NUS students extracted useful information about Singapore, compared it with the findings from Japan, and analysed the results.
Presentation Day
The actual presentation was held on 1 Feb 2021 in Yale-NUS College. Various students and faculty from NUS and Yale-NUS turned up to listen to the presentations.
Presentation 1: The Appeal of UNIQLO to Young Adults
Topics: Comparison of fashion differences between young adults (age 20-30) in Japan and Singapore, style and market strategy of UNIQLO.
Presentation 2: How Old Are You? A Study of Age-Related Female Fashion
Topics: Comparison of “dressing to age” phenomenon in Japan and Singapore, conflict of individualism and conformity behind age-related female fashion.
Presentation 3: サラリマン: Office Wear Fashion in Japan and Singapore
Topics: Comparison of different office wear fashion in Japan and Singapore during Covid-19, brand analysis, future of post-Covid office wear.
Presentation 4: Fashion of Female University Students
Topics: Comparison of group culture and fashion choices between female university students’ fashion in Japan and Singapore, possible causes of said difference, implications for Japanese society and culture.
Conclusion
It is undeniable that we are living in interesting times, and it is up to us to adapt and grow with it. It is curious to note that the separation made necessary by the global situation may have led to greater cultural exchange, as exemplified by the comparative approach that each group ended up adopting, and even greater collaboration between institutions, with the Virtual Field Study involving Yale-NUS College along with the original Meiji University and National University of Singapore.
Like many great innovations, the Virtual Field Study was born out of necessity. Only time will tell if it will grow to be something more.