Aside from the ongoing argument between supporters of creationism and Darwin's theory of evolution, I feel that human beings are experiencing evolutionary changes in modern society.
With a food self-sufficiency ratio of just 40% and a low agricultural population accounting for only 3% of the total population, it was in the midst of such disastrous circumstances in Japan that "gals" in Tokyo's Shibuya began to "evolve." You can no longer find the "ganguro (black face)" and "yamanba (mountain hag)" gals who were once frequently highlighted in the media. The gals of Shibuya are now advancing toward farmlands beyond Shibuya's famous scramble crossing intersection.
Shiho Fujita is a former gal and the president of "SGR," a company engaged in gal-related marketing that is leading an agricultural promotion project from a young perspective - or rather a "gal perspective" - by coming up with such ideas as "Shibuya rice," "agricultural experience tours for gal mamas" and "trendy farm clothing." She is aiming at self-reliance and energizing agriculture focusing on young Japanese through alliances with models and gals who are influential with teenagers. She proposes innovative approaches to agriculture that are only suited to gals purely as a business. Fujita, who started her own business and is advocating a "gal revolution" in an effort to reverse prejudices against gals, is on the verge of making steady progress in the project by leveraging her business acumen and gal power.
Fujita decided to embark on an "agricultural revolution" following her success in the "gal revolution," after feeling saddened at the sight of abandoned farm land. She feels that if she is able to reduce abandoned farm land, she can increase Japan's disastrous self-sufficiency ratio as a result. To meet this goal, she wants to increase the number of young people in the agricultural population.
In an effort to rectify mistaken beliefs about agriculture, she invited charismatic gal models to join her in taking part in rice planting in May. She is now jointly growing rice with farmers in Akita prefecture, the place where the "Faithful Dog Hachiko," a landmark statue in Shibuya, was born. Fujita is so devoted to the project that she even grew bug repellent herbs in Shibuya and transplanted them around the rice fields to "reduce the use of agrichemicals." She is planning to sell the rice online as "Shibuya rice," in addition to selling processed food such as rice balls, after harvesting the rice October. She announced the Shibuya rice project at the largest fashion event targeting teenagers in the Tohoku district, where Akita prefecture is located. In this manner, she never misses an opportunity to make a strategic approach to the young.
In addition, she partnered with apparel brand tenants in fashion building "109," the Mecca for Shibuya gals, to develop fashionable farm clothes that can be worn in everyday life. This effort is aimed at dispelling the "rustic" image of farm life and enlightening young people about agriculture by promoting gals, who are supposed to be more trend-conscious than anyone else, wearing "trendy" farm clothes. She is also planning agricultural experience tours, in which so-called "gal mamas" can participate with their children.
She also indicated that another key mission of the project is to use agriculture as a vehicle to promote accurate information about food to the younger generation. In addition to correcting the myth among gals and other young people that "rice makes you fat," which spread partly due to low carbohydrate diets, she is intent on sending a message that speaks of the importance of food while educating the younger generation by leveraging the influence of gals as opinion leaders.
It has been more than ten years since the gal subculture first appeared in Tokyo's Shibuya. It is not that these gals learned how to survive in a town where everything is oversupplied and quickly disappears, but rather that they have adjusted well to the times and evolved by themselves. It won't be long before they start getting tanned through farm work, rather than at the tanning salons they currently depend on.
