- Title: Japanese 1920s enthusiast re-lives era of vinyl turntables, cloche hats
- Date: 26th January 2018
- Summary: ASAI AND KORI IN JAPANESE TRADITIONAL WEDDING DRESSES IN PHOTO
- Embargoed: 9th February 2018 08:06
- Keywords: Modern Girl Kayo Asai Haruhiko Kori retro lifestyle 1920s antiques
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0037ZQZWBD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Stepping inside Kayo Asai's house is to travel back in time to the 1920s.
She plays records on her vintage turntable, communicates with the outside world on her rotary telephone, and reads her collection of over 10,000 vintage magazines and books.
Everything in her house in Tokyo was made in the 1920s and 30s.
The kitchen is fitted with an ice-cooled non-electric refrigerator and she cooks with a gas cooker that would be more appropriate in a museum.
Even her massage machine - a popular household gadget in Japan - was made in 1910.
Asai says she's a fan of the 'Modern Girl' during that time, referring to westernised Japanese women who were more liberal and independent, compared to the norm in Japan at that time.
For Asai, 42, they were the epitome of "cool", which is why she dresses herself in vintage clothes, a cloche hat, and a bob hairstyle reminiscent of the era.
Asai says her obsession with the 1920s started from when she bought her first vintage silk dress of that era 13 years ago, and she has since been in love with the 'Roaring Twenties'.
Her 55-year-old husband, Haruhiko Kori, shares her passion for antiques and the more deliberate lifestyle of the past.
Asai hopes to spread her love of the Roaring Twenties, when people not only indulged in new styles of dancing and dressing, but rejected traditions and - in Japan at least - pushed for more democracy. She even launched a group called "Japan Modern Girl Association" in 2007, where more than 200 similar-minded members hope to celebrate the 1920s well into the 2020s. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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