"Find your happiness with the flower"

If you've ever been to Japan (or ever visited Engrish.com), you'll have seen them. Yes, I am referring to random spattering of English--or at least a random spattering of words and broken grammar that passes for English--which can widely be seen in Japan in advertising and on graphic t-shirts reminiscent of those popularized in the US by brands like Abercrombie & Fitch (thereby plastering across the chests of many a brand-obsessed middle schooler obscurely sexual one-liners). But I do not mention "Engrish," as another opportunity to simply laugh at amusing grammar mistakes and move on. I would like to attempt to point out some patterns in the usage of English as a visual device in Japan; in particular, on clothing.
Common to a large number of the English-spattered t-shirts and accessories in Japan is the same heavy usage of adjectives seen in the image above: "pleasant," "interesting." For a store, this is an obvious choice for branding and the creation of an image, but there also appear to be a large number of so-called "Engrish" t-shirts that do much the same sort of branding for the people wearing them.

Girls walking in Shinsaibashi, Osaka.

Courtesy of JoshJacobson.net

Despite the extraordinarily poor picture quality of the former--due largely to movement, but also to the difficulty of photographing clothes that people are actually wearing--what both of these garments have in common in their use of branding keywords. The wording on both t-shirts has largely positive or attractive connotations. In the case of the first shirt, the lettering reads: "The party/go to/American/casual/style/specific." The second shirt is printed with a smattering of words: "dignity/responsibility/no more/idealistic/kindness/behavior." Rather than coherent phrases or even ideas, these read as little more than strings of random words. However, they do give one a sort of image, if only a vague one, through connotation. For example, in the case of the first shirt, we have, "America," "party," "casual," and "style,"which do not form a sentence, but which do give an image of youth: the parties of American teenagers broadcast in TV dramas in Japan as well as the US. From the image in the dramas, there is something stylish and slighting exotic about the idea.
The second t-shirt has even less coherency, but is even more keyword-y, even in its arrangement of the words as part of the design of the shirt. This shirt, too, has an obscure element of branding, in its apparently random use of words with attractive meanings or connotations (dignity, responsibility; etc).
If these shirts are to be branding items, then, are they a statement about the wearer? Someone who is "dignified," or a "partier"? Unlikely, I think. In fact, it's far more likely many of the wearers of these infamous t-shirts don't bother to read them before buying them, much in the same way many a foolish Westerner has bought an unfortunate personal effect (in the more unlucky cases, a tattoo) printed with embarrassingly incorrect Chinese characters. Indeed, in expressing pleasure to Japanese friends over such surprisingly poetic English slogans as, "Turn to face the sun, and the shadows fall behind you," or, "A man's walking is a series of falls," most of them were considering the words on their clothing for the first time. What is actually written is less important than the cursory appearance of the words themselves. Similar to the Western fascination with Chinese characters (one which does not, it seems, extend with such enthusiasm towards the similarly beautiful letters of the Arabic alphabet, say), in Japan, the Roman alphabet, and English words, sprinkled properly into a Japanese sentence, are trendy.

The above clipping is from the October 2011 issue of popular fashion magazine S Cawaii. The text in the red box encourages the reader to match pleated skirts to become, or appear as a LADY. "Pleated skirt," another English word, is left in Japanese characters, but in this case, "lady" is the buzzword, and is written stylishly in roman characters, which adds emphasis and call attention to the point of the statement. The second clipping also implements a smattering of English to create a more dynamic block of text that draws the reader's eye. In this final clipping, the English is somewhat difficult even to spot.

In fact, the curly font is used as a sort of lacey border to the photo spread in the center of the page. Should one actually attempt to read it, one finds: "...Meeting OLD EUROPEAN. With lady's grace It has gentleman's / Refined vintage small use. It is casual and the tip of a finger. Perfect style that doesn't..."Again, the phrases are nonsensical, but nonetheless have a vague sort of unifying idea behind them. Nevertheless, yet again, the meaning of the words themselves is less important than their contribution to the graphic design of the advertisement. They provide some interest to fill the white, parchment-like space at the sides of the image, and frame the photograph with a cursive-like scribble which is likely meant to reinforce the "old European" theme of the clothing advertised.
Though the particular English in question--and the correctness of its grammar--may vary in its ability to amuse the native speaker and prompt its spread across the internet, in general, its usage in Japan appears to be much the same: for style, for emphasis, for design, and above all, perhaps, for flourish.