Neil Campbell's Blog: I Was a Child Model (in Japan)
Hi. I’m Neil Campbell. You’re probably wondering, “Who am I?” Well, I don’t have time to deal with your existential crisis, pal, so while you’re busy introspecting, I’m just going to introduce myself. Although, who knows? Perhaps I needn’t do so. Because if you lived in Japan sometime between 1988 and 1990, and you were an avid consumer of children’s clothing catalogs, you may already recognize me:
In the summer of 1988 (AKA “The Summer of Cocktail ”), my family moved to Camp Zama, Japan, just outside Tokyo. In short order, we discovered that blonde-haired, blue-eyed kids are in heavy demand as models in Japan. Now, this may strike you as odd. Why wouldn’t Japanese people want to look at pictures of Japanese children in their catalogs? By holding up blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasians as the ideal of physical beauty, doesn’t that belie a national sense of physical self-loathing? Well, in the words of myself at age 8, “Who cares?! As long as the bourbon keeps flowing and the checks keep growing, I don’t give two figs about any nation’s collective self-image! Now bring me two fingers of rye and sit on my lap, my dear!” (I was a precocious child.)
Over the next two years, I found steady work as a child model. Mostly clothing catalogs, with the occasional TV commercial. If it sounds like I’m bragging, well, I am.
The no-pants, raincoat-over-buttoned-up-shirt, holding-my-boots-instead-of-wearing-them look is one that I still rock today.
Of course, as the saying goes, all good things must come to a finish. In the fall of 1990 (AKA "The Autumn of Avalon" ), my dad accepted a job at the Pentagon, we moved back to Virginia, and my modeling days came to an abrupt end. I quickly went from up-and-coming hotshot model to … sigh … burnt-out former model.
Still, though, just as Charles Foster Kane had his Rosebud to serve as a symbol his lost childhood innocence, I’ll always have my … Weathercock.
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i LOVE the no-pants with raincoat look. it’s my favorite for spring.
You have nice legs.
hilarious
Oh, how I loved the Autumn of Avalon. I still can’t pass a pile of brown leaves without thinking of Armin Mueller-Stahl.
amazing. What are you holding in the weathercock picture? I hope it’s an even smaller version of you.
You are a pint of adorable!
I’ve been looking for a “Weathercock” shirt for years..I’m just gonna say this. You know how to sell clothes.
thank god
hahahahahahaha
Oh my God, it’s you! Do you remember, the 21st night of September, 1989, the grand opening of The Sushi Thigh Pie club?
I was one of your biggest fans. I bought you a shot of Saki, and you signed my left elbow. Guess what? It’s still there. No, I didn’t do anything creepy like having it tattooed on me. I just haven’t washed it since then.
It’s nice to see yo... more >
I read Japanese, and that “catalog” clearly says,when translated, “Young boy for sale. Loves to drink. Hates pants.”
deja vu. I too was a child model. I lived in Yokohama which is a bit south of Tokyo. I think its the 2nd largest city in Japan. Anyway I too am blond with blue eyes and from 1990 when I was 10 to 1993 I lived with by grandmother who was an American widow of a Japanese citizen. I was in numerous catalogs along with other Caucasian kids but there were some Jap... more >