Model Behavior

One of the random perks of being in Japan is that there's a surprising demand for modeling.  Little white kids, to be precise... it's still funny to be considered an exotic look here.  About a dozen Tokyo modeling agencies come down to our base twice a year to sign up new kids, so we decided to give it a try last spring.  We waffled back and forth a lot trying to discern whether modeling would have a positive or negative impact on the girls.  So far it has turned out to not be an issue.  It would be a much different story if they were older, but for right now they just love the idea of going on an adventure (most shoots are up in Tokyo) and getting to wear fancy clothes.  We haven't told them about the money each job makes, and look forward to showing them the savings accounts they started as kids when they're older.

Madeleine was actually the first of the girls to get a job back in July.  She got to bounce all day on a little plastic horse toy, and appears in about 3 seconds of the commercial.  She had a blast, of course.  The number of adults required for a short kids' toy commercial was pretty entertaining, and I enjoyed watching the backstage production aspects of creating a commercial.

The storyboard of the commercial

I imagined this guy's job to be pretty fun.  :)

More bouncing!  And rain!

Now if this isn't pampering, I don't know what is.

Actually, a great deal of our day was spent in the dressing room waiting for the main girl to stop crying and do her shots.  It was a rather sad peek into what child modeling can become, as it appeared the mom wanted to participate more than her daughter.  Madeleine actually acquired some of her shots (that's the back of Madeleine's head at 0:02)  But it was a fun day and the commercials turned out pretty cute!

(the 15 sec version is pretty much the same)

Elena has also had a few small jobs, although of course she doesn't think they're small.  :)

The first was for a women's fashion magazine called Very, and it was her first experience having someone curl her hair.  She felt very much like a princess.  

The shoot itself only lasted about 30min, and she appears in the corner of two pages.

Elena also had another short shoot for a clothing company called Mifara.  I enjoyed the random moccasins and feather headbands.  :) She'll be on their website for the duration of their winter collection (see here).

Overall, it's been a fun experience.  I doubt that we'll ever get to the point where this occupies a great deal of our schedule, but the girls enjoy the occasional diversion.  One of the challenges I've appreciated is the need to stay on top of all the potential job and audition emails, it's good practice for my organizational skills.  It's also been a fun way to get out and experience Japan, meet new people, and use some of our Japanese phrases ("Hajimemashite"- Nice to meet you).

Looking forward to more adventures!