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ローハスクラブ著『日本をロハスに変える30の方法』はロハスの理念に基づくビジネスモデルを紹介している。
発売元：講談社
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Trendy Japanese #9:
LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) |
* 2005/11/16 配信 ALC Newsletter No.24(ALC
International Marketing 発行)より
* クリックできる語句には、語注がついています
Some of you may already know what LOHAS means. LOHAS stands for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, and it means any lifestyles that are healthy and eco-friendly. LOHAS first became popular in the U.S., and it has been gaining attention in Japan since Junko Owada, a consumer specialist, introduced LOHAS in a Japanese newspaper about three years ago. What is interesting about LOHAS is it's just an overall concept and each person can practice LOHAS in anyway she/he feels comfortable with. That is probably one of the reasons why LOHAS has attracted many people including those who had not really cared about environmental issues before.
We now see TV commercials for cars, electric appliances and so on that emphasize the eco-friendliness of the product as well as its efficiency. People practice yoga instead of having a massage to maintain their health from the inside of their body. The mail-order catalog "eyeco" shows all kinds of products from kitchenware to clothes that are eco-friendly, and has attracted many readers since it was launched last year. Masaki, a fashion model and designer, is popular among young women for her clothes and lifestyle both of which are based on the "simple & natural" concept. Antique furniture, collectibles and kimonos are now gaining more and more attention especially among younger generations──they seem to have a lot of interest in good things from the past.
Of course, interest in the global environment has been increasing all over the world and not just in Japan. And besides that, we have been experiencing an economy that is not too bad nor too good since the bubbles burst a long time ago, and that may be the reason why LOHAS is attracting so many Japanese. We don't feel the need to buy new things only to brag about them and then throw them away anymore. Instead, we can now enjoy making the most out of what we have by taking care of it. And when people do buy new things, many of them now consider whether the product is eco-friendly or not as well as its price and performance.
As mentioned before, there are no rules to how LOHAS should be practiced. It's up to each person, and the most important thing is that people feel happy about their lifestyles and so can living that way for a long time. They keep practicing something because it's fun──this seems to apply not only to LOHAS but to everything. "I keep studying English because it's fun"──I hope more and more Japanese will think this way.
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