Subcultures of Japan. Abstract Japanese subcultures

(Japanese 顔黒 or ガンガン黒 black face according to researchers and exclusively black according to ganguro) - gyaru fashion trend. The ganguro's appearance may be the most extreme and striking among the gyaru, if one considers the mamba as part of them. Considering the widespread confusion between ganguro and gyaru in general on the Russian-language Internet, it should be noted that ganguro is only a movement among gyaru, such as himegyaru or kogyaru, and not the main subculture.

History and basics

Ganguro appeared in the 1990s and immediately began to distance itself greatly from traditional views of the Japanese woman. Their main features are a deep tan, bleached hair (from just blond to silver) and bright clothes. Like most Japanese subcultures, shoes with large soles are popular among ganguro. While the ganguro style generally doesn't cost a lot of money, tanning and makeup can be very expensive. One of the most important reasons for the emergence of ganguro is the enormous popularity of the singer Namie Amuro. She introduced the fashion for tanning, bleached hair and the skirt + boots style, which largely determined the foundations of ganguro.

According to researchers of Japanese pop culture, ganguro is a protest against traditional Japanese ideas about female beauty. This is a response to Japan's long social isolation and conservative rules in Japanese schools. At the same time, many young Japanese women wanted to be like the tanned California girls they saw in American films or hip-hop music videos. For these reasons, the media has a negative perception of ganguro, as well as the entire gyaru fashion in general. They are often considered crazy and promiscuous, or even compared to the mountain witches of Japanese folklore.

A tan

First of all, ganguros are known for their deep tan, so strong that they can often be confused with mulattoes. For this, they often become the object of criticism from Japanese hip-hop musicians, who nickname the ganguro “black wannabes” (Russian: I want to be black, close in meaning to the Russian “poser”). For example, Japanese rapper Banana Ice noted that Japanese hip-hop culture is original and does not seek to copy African-American culture. He dedicated several songs to this topic, where he ridicules and criticizes ganguro and that part of the Japanese hip-hop scene, which he considers “black wannabe”.

Yamamba and mamba

But even though ganguro is a radical version of gyaru, ganguro have their own radical movements. They are usually called yamamba, but in this moment We prefer to use the shortened version マンバ (Japanese mamba). They stand out with much deeper makeup, often to a literally black face, and hair of even more radical colors. But among the mambas, it is believed that ganguro is only their “light version”, and comparing them with ganguro can be considered an insult. Among them you can also meet guys, in this case they will be called Center-gai (Japanese: センター 街 Sentāgai) for the love of all ganguro for the Shibuya area.

If earlier Japan was famous for its high aesthetic taste with deep symbolism running through almost everything - from kimonos to tea ceremonies, today Japan is famous for its oddities. It is in this country that you can see a giant robot on the street, a machine selling dirty laundry, and men dressed as maids working as waiters.

We will tell you about the 10 strangest subcultures whose homeland is Japan.

1. Gyaru

Today's gyaru have earned the nicknames "making parents cry" and "degenerate schoolgirls" for breaking traditional Japanese taboos and embracing Western values. They stand out for their frivolous behavior, positive thinking, love for bright fashionable clothes, special ideas about the ideals of beauty.

Decor is Japanese Street style, extremely popular today. In 1997, the magazine "FRUiTS" was published, which published photographs of the most prominent representatives street fashion in Japan. Aki Kobayashi, the first model to appear on the cover of this magazine, shared in one of the columns how she created her individual style and clothes. The style eventually became known as Decorah, and its followers began selling their products in the Japanese quarter of Harajuku. Decora girls wear an insane amount of plastic jewelry and hairpins, wear neon skirts and multi-colored knee socks, and sometimes even wear gauze headbands, which they decorate themselves.

3.Visual kei

The music genre Visual kei arose from Japanese rock as a result of mixing it with glam rock, metal and punk rock in the 1980s. "Visual kei" literally means "visual style". It is characterized by the use of makeup, complex hairstyles, colorful costumes, and its followers often resort to androgynous aesthetics. This style belongs exclusively to representatives of the “stronger” sex.
Thanks to fans, visual kei as a subculture was able to acquire a fashion component. The appearance of the musicians of visual kei groups began to show features of “Gothic Lolitas”.

4. Yankee and Bosozoku

Motorcycle gangs known as the Speed ​​Clans or Bosozoku were popular in Japan in the early 1960s. In the 1970s, female groups of fans of cool motorcycles began to appear. The popularity of these associations affected the statistics of the Japanese police: according to them, about 26,000 residents of the country were members of various biker gangs, but in the 1980s the number of men in these groups gradually began to decline. Which, by the way, did not stop the girls from uniting even stronger. Thus was born the “Yankee” subculture, in which one can see echoes of both Bosozoku and Sukeban styles. Their main attributes were sarashi - a white cloth that is wrapped around the chest, a robe similar to a cloak and a mask. And of course, the main “props” were scooters or motorcycles.

5. Ko Gal

The word "gal" appeared in Japanese usage in the 1980s and means "a girl who loves branded clothes." "Ko" comes from the Japanese word "kodomo", which means "child". Ko Gal representatives try to look as young as possible, while using cute childish accessories. You can recognize them by their school uniforms with shortened skirts, strong tans, bleached hair and permanent high socks. Some people, by the way, use glue to keep the socks on their calves as they should. Over time, the Ko Gal movement transformed into a subculture called "Hime Gal", where the first part means "princess". The main condition for this style is to wear frilly, hot pink clothes from the most expensive brands.

6. Ganguro

Ganguro's light Ko Gal tan acquired an extreme character. Every week, representatives of the style visit the solarium, but they don’t stop there: before going out, they generously apply dark foundation to their skin. The literal translation of the word "Gangura" is "black face". A tan is not the most important attribute of style. Representatives of the subculture always wear shoes with incredibly thick soles, miniskirts, and their hair is bleached or painted in all the colors of the rainbow. Makeup is a different story: the Ganguros don't skimp on black or white eyeliner, as well as white lipstick, and they also wear blue contact lenses.

7. Lolita

Lolita style is the most popular subculture in Japan, which has spread widely outside the country. There are several subspecies of Lolita. Gothic is a mixture of Rococo and prefers dark colored clothing. “Sweet” Lolitas choose pastel colors, as well as lace and bows. Punk lovers combine ruffles with chains. In addition, there is a style direction called "Wa". They, in turn, prefer traditional Japanese clothing - a kimono - embroidered with hieroglyphs. Accessories popular for all types of Lolitas include hats, bonnets, umbrellas, platform shoes with ties, and frilly knee socks.

8. Kigurumi

The Kigurumi style did not last long in the Japanese fashion industry - from 2003 to 2004. And he was a very strange fashion phenomenon. The girls who spent their time hanging out in the Shibuya areas needed comfortable clothes, so they turned to cheap animal-themed sportswear they bought from party stores. In addition to Pikachu or Winnie the Pooh costumes, Kigurumi representatives wore cute accessories in the form of animals: wallets, earrings and others.

9. Manba

Manba's style is similar in many ways to Gonguro. The word comes from the name of the Japanese ugly witch Yamanba. Due to the harmfulness of frequent visits to solariums, the Manba use a very dark makeup base, hence the parallels with the witch. Gathering in groups, adherents of the style dance to the music of Para or simply move in sync to techno. Manba's clothing and accessories are always eccentric and bright. They also do not skimp on cosmetics: very white lips and huge white circles under the eyes, in addition, teenagers stick glitter and stickers directly on their faces, and their faces are framed by hair of all shades of the rainbow.

10. Otaku

"Otaku" in Japan is a person who is passionate about something, but outside the country, including in Russia, this concept is usually used in relation to fans of anime and manga. In Japan, a slang term is used for otaku who are fond of anime and manga "Akihabara-kei", denoting young people who spend all their time in the Akihabara area and are interested in the world of anime and its elements, such as, for example, maid cafes - establishments in which waitresses are dressed in anime maid costumes. One of the central elements of the culture. Otaku is a moe concept meaning fetishization or attraction to fictional characters.

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The desire to stand out is common to representatives of any nation. However, differences in living conditions and ways of thinking can lead to the emergence of something surprising and even shocking. In this article you will find some examples of what the Japanese care about in their society.

Gyaru (ギャル)

Name gyaru comes from the English word “girl” (girl). These girls are distinguished by their defiant appearance and bright makeup, which are not at all characteristic of. Their behavior matches their appearance.

Gyaru fashion dates back to the 70s and peaked in the 90s. The appearance of representatives of this subculture changed over time, and new trends appeared. For example:

"School Girls" (コギャル)

The name comes from the abbreviation 高校ギャル ko:ko: gyaru, Where ko:ko:- This is high school.

"Black Faces" (ガングロ)

If the name of this branch of gyaru is written in hieroglyphs, it will be 顔 (face) + 黒 (black). This style appeared under the influence of American films, when Japanese girls wanted to look like tanned beauties.

The public is interested in the gyaru language, in which new interesting words are constantly appearing. For example, in the top 2016, the first three places are occupied by words such as “hiita” (pronounced when one is happy about something), “yoki” (good, good) and “raburitsu” (like on a social network).

But still, fashion does not last forever, and ultimately many gyaru change their style.

Shironuri (白塗り)

Unlike Ganguro, who try to make their face as dark as possible, representatives of Shironuri, on the contrary, use white. Literally the name of the subculture is translated as “painted white” ( orphan- white, nuru- paint). Shironuri is one of the least widespread subcultures in Japan. Its representatives try to look like ghosts from classic Japanese folklore or just attractive monsters.

Otaku (オタク)

The word otaku originally means "your home" (お宅). It is believed that it began to be used in relation to people around the late 80s - early 90s, when Miyazaki Tsutomu, who had lost touch with reality due to an unhealthy love for anime and manga, committed serial murders of little girls.

Now this word no longer carries such a terrible meaning. An otaku is a person deeply obsessed with something (in Russian he would be described with the word “nerd”). Both girls and boys can be called this way. This word is usually associated with ardent fans of manga and anime. Such otaku usually collect figurines and posters, buy life-size pillows with anime characters, and so on. If they had a choice, they would prefer to live in a 2D world.

This is what these guys usually look like:

Thanks to photographer Shiori Kawamoto, we have a look at the rooms of otaku girls:

And this is a men’s room, and in a square (an otaku room in an otaku room!)

Rekijo (歴女)

Rekijo can be literally translated as "historical (歴) woman (女)". These are a type of otaku - girls who are obsessed with pre-industrial Japan. IN free time they visit ancient palaces, watch staged samurai fights and read history books. These girls are trying to find themselves in bygone eras. Their interests also manifest themselves in language: at their meetings they can communicate in ancient dialects.

One of the most characteristic hobbies of rekijo is the Shinsengumi squad.

Bosozoku (暴走族)

Biker groups, most common in the 80s. The name of the subculture consists of the words 暴走 bo:so:“to rush at breakneck speed” and 族 zoku"family, group" In the past they worried the public with their wild rides and fights, but now they are due to stricter rules.

Yankee

School bullies. Or young people for whom the law is not written, and who enjoy life as much as possible. Representatives of this subculture can be both boys and girls. These guys love to excite the public. For example, despite observing the rules of appearance and even an original approach, the Yankees have been rioting on Coming of Age Day for several years in a row.

Their photos from coming of age 2017:

Hikikomori (引き籠り)

If some people react to social rules challenge and aggression, then others, on the contrary, withdraw into themselves. Name 引きこもり hikikomori comes from the word 引き籠る hikikomoru“stay at home (locked up), don’t go out.” Hikikomori is not just an unsociable and quiet person. This is the one who refuses society as much as possible, isolates himself in his room and has contact only with relatives with whom he lives in the same apartment. In 2013, a case was even recorded in Osaka where a man’s elderly father died, and he, afraid of communicating with other people, lived with the corpse for two weeks.

A person can be called a hikikomori if he has not left his home for more than six months, has no income and avoids all contact with the outside world.

There is also the concept of ニート niiito(Not in Employment, Education or Training), similar in meaning to hikikomiri. It is believed that niiito– these are people aged 15 to 34 years who live on someone else’s support, do not work, do not attend school and do not perform household duties (cleaning, cooking, etc.). Accordingly, not every hikikomori can be called niito.

Hikikomori is a rather frightening phenomenon of society. The majority of representatives of this subculture are men aged 35 to 40 years. They live with quite elderly parents, and every year the likelihood that they will be left alone increases. To help hikikomori, the Nadeshiko no kai group created a booklet called 「陸のひとりだけ島」 ( riku no hitori dake shima, verb. "lonely island off the mainland"), which gives short stories hikikomori lives are given useful tips about how, for example, to take care of clothes, cook, clean, receive benefits and much more.

Often people become hikikomori because they cannot find a place for themselves in society. They were bullied at school, they were plagued by failures, they were pressured by the rules, so they decided to just leave. Now the percentage of hikikomori has decreased slightly, but this does not at all indicate positive trends. After all, the population of Japan as a whole is becoming smaller...

Lolita (ロリータ)

This is a female subculture, whose representatives dress in the style Victorian era and Rococo. Externally, the girls look like dolls or little girls.

There are several varieties of Lolita style:

"Sweet Lolita" (甘ロリ amarori)

"Gothic Lolita" (ゴスロリ gosurori)

Kigurumin (きぐる民)

These are positive guys who dress up as animals or characters from their favorite cartoons, and delight others by walking down the street dressed like that. The word "kigurumi" (the name of their costumes) comes from the combination of the verb 着る Kira"to wear" and ぬいぐるみ nuigurumi"soft toy". The ending "ming" (民) means "people". That is, kigurumin are people who wear kigurumi. The first representatives of the subculture appeared in 2003.

You can see how cute the kigurumin dance.

There is also a separate type of anime kigurumi:

Zentai (ゼンタイ)

The full name of the subculture is 全身タイツ Zenshin Taitsu, that is, “tightening the whole body.” Zentai dress up in their colorful tight suits and go out like that and shock the public. This is an extremely small subculture, whose representatives feel absolutely protected among the crowd, hiding from others everything that might reveal their personality.

Gyaru - Japanese transcription of gal from distorted English girl(English Girl). The term can mean both the Japanese subculture popular among girls, which peaked in the 1990s, and the way of life itself. The name comes from the 1970s advertising slogan of the jeans brand "GALS" - "I can't live without men", which became the motto of young girls. Today's gyaru, like their varieties kogyaru and ganguro, have earned the nicknames "oya o nakaseru" (making parents cry) and "daraku jokusei" (degenerate schoolgirls) for breaking traditional Japanese taboos and indulging in Western values. The motto of the kogyaru is Biba jibun! (“Long live I!”). They are distinguished by their frivolous behavior, positive thinking, love of bright fashionable clothes, and special ideas about the ideals of beauty. Men, the so-called “gyaruo,” can also belong to the gyaru subculture. Since their inception, gyaru have become one of the most important elements of Japanese street fashion.

The rise in popularity of gyaru in the 1970s was associated with the appearance of the first gyaru magazine, Popteen.
The Kogyaru also have a special slang called Kogyarudo (コギャル語), an essential element of their culture. For example, they call their boyfriends ikemen (Japanese: イケ面 "cool dude"), which is cho: kawaii (超かわいい - "very cute"). The kogyaru herself (gyaru-yatte, "his gyaru") buys gyaru-fuku ( gyaru clothes) in gyaru-kei seppu (gyaru store), if, of course, she can find something that is not “really super sickening” (超マジでむかつく, chō: maji de mukatsuku Gyaru often use foreign words, Latin ones). abbreviations of Japanese phrases or simply foreign endings without taking into account Japanese syntax. For example, the suffix “-ingu” (from English -ing) can be added to words, for example gettinggu (Japanese: ゲッティング, “to receive”). suffix -ra It means “as” or “taken from” and suggests the similarity of the subject of discussion with the pop idol of Japanese young girls, singer Namie Amuro (from whose name the suffix was taken).

In simple words, these are girls and young people living in Japan, engaged in modeling and photography business, who know how to live a beautiful and versatile life, while looking very fashionable, impressive, original, unique... and a bunch of other words that characterize their external and internal world!

The gyaru subculture is not the first attempt by Japanese girls to defend their independence and live contrary to traditional Japanese views on women. Already in the 20s of the 20th century, a layer of young women appeared who followed Western fashion, listened to jazz and ignored traditional Japanese rules of behavior for women. However, due to the realities of the time, by the 1930s these trends had faded away. Subsequently, there were a number of fashion trends among young Japanese girls in the late 1960s, but this did not go beyond episodic trends. It is generally believed that trace the exact date The appearance of gyaru is impossible, and some authors say that “gyaru simply appeared out of nowhere.”

Background

The rise in popularity of gyaru in the 1970s was associated with the appearance of the first gyaru magazine Popteen, which became a cult among Japanese women of that time and taught them to be sexy. Subsequently, many gyaru publications appeared, such as Street Jam And Happie, and most of their creators came from the porn industry. In the 1980s, many gyaru joined the ranks of the so-called “Yankiis”. These were the Kogyaru who were expelled from schools for refusing to wear traditional school uniforms in an effort to demonstrate their independence to adults. The gyaru visited the Shibuya area, where photographers could always find them fashion magazines.

In the 80s of the 20th century, such publications gained increasing popularity, and their articles became more and more obscene and promoted a consumer lifestyle. Some of the magazines even included descriptions of teenage sex in their issues. Unlike their competitors, who have a much larger budget and target audience, such magazines have relied on teenagers who want to join American and European life. This led to the fact that already in 1984 the term “Gal” began to be firmly perceived as the name of girls who are promiscuous. sex life, and, accordingly, then this term had a sharp negative connotation. On the other hand, Japanese men's magazines accelerated the popularization of gyaru by highlighting Tokyo nightlife and using the word to define the young and liberated. TV show stars that time .

Formation

In the early 1990s, young J-pop singer Namie Amuro is gaining popularity. She laid the foundation for many popular fashion elements of future gyaru: for example, many girls copied her "miniskirt + boots" style and spent a lot of time in the solarium to get the same tan as hers. In 2009, she was named "Japan's number 1 fashion icon" by the magazine Tsutaya Online, and in the voting she bypassed her main rival By musical genre- Ayumi Hamasaki. Her fans or simply girls who follow the style were nicknamed amuraa. It was at this time that the term gal begins to actively spread and becomes a fashionable word; they began to call it young girls who made entertainment, sex and expensive branded clothing the main values ​​of life. At the same time, gyaru fashion is being popularized overseas, and appearance Kogyaru becomes a popular erotic fetish.

At this time, the press began to pay close attention to the new subculture that had formed at that time. Initially, the media perceived gyaru as part of the multitude of “young office girls” who love the beautiful life, and then also girls dancing in discos in large platform shoes and wearing tight clothes. Everything changes in 1993, when a journalist Kazuma Yamane wrote an essay entitled "Tack Structure", where the word was interpreted as the name of a subculture of young women obsessed with exaggerated materialism and idealizing the nightlife of wealthy people.

It is at this time that the first kogyaru appear. The exact origins of the name are unknown, but some subculture researchers say the word is rumored to have originated from bouncer slang - the name given to teenage girls who were thrown out of trendy clubs by bouncers who tried to break into to get a glimpse of the adult nightlife. girls. Despite some distance between the kogyaru and the first gyaru, it was the first who were subsequently able to form the main backbone of the movement. The popularization of gyaru initially occurred thanks to men's magazines, which, showing interest in women's fashion, described kogyaru in a number of articles about the nightlife and sex life of celebrities. It was in this environment that the term kogyaru entered into common use. So, in one of the issues of the SPA! in 1993, an article entitled “The Temptation of Kogyaru” was published (Japanese: コギャルの誘惑 kogyaru no yu:waku) , in which the author talks about his sexual interest in the Kogyar, whom he called “little sisters 14-18 years old.” Picked up by other publications, by the end of 1993 this topic became one of the main ones in men's magazines in Japan at that time. At the same time, the publication Takarajima publishes on March 24 an article about the purchase of sexual services from schoolgirls with prices, telling about the general decline in morals among Japanese youth.

At the same time, kogyaru became famous throughout Japan due to media coverage of the practice of "enjo-kosai" ("paid dates"), which effectively allowed journalists to make the word "gyaru" synonymous with prostitute. Documentary Baunsu KO gaurusu, directed by Masato Harada in 1997, depicts kogyara and gyaru as young girls who go into prostitution for fashion items and expensive accessories. Not only the kogyaru themselves, but also many Japanese girls became objects of suspicion and criticism for “inappropriate behavior.” It has been argued that the main reason for this problem is the growing materialism in Japan, leading to the destruction of moral and traditional foundations among girls, and also turning them into bad mothers. Despite the almost complete rejection of enjo-kosai by Japanese society, there were frequent cases of school teachers, monks, and leaders being held accountable large companies and even officials for using such services.

Such hype in the press only provoked growth similar cases Ironically, the more girls learned about enjo-kosai, the more schoolgirls flocked to the streets of Shibuya with similar offers. According to estimates from foreign publications, including the NY Times, the number of girls trying to sell themselves grew exponentially; for example, in 1984, 12.2% of schoolgirls were detained for this practice, and in 1996, up to 34%. According to some sociologists, dating for money has even become one of the defining factors of the era, not least because of the economic crisis in the 1990s in the country. All this was perceived by Japanese society in different ways: on the one hand, conservatives and moralists considered enjo-kosai a symbol of materialism and the decline of the morals of Japanese youth, and on the other, radical feminists interpreted this practice as an opportunity for women to manage their position in a male society. Opinions about the reasons for the popularity of the phenomenon varied, for example, the sociologist Shinji Miyadai called the root of the phenomenon discrimination against women in the country and their inculcation of a consumerist attitude towards life, as a result of which they developed a desire to manipulate men for money, and Ryu Murakami saw this as a rebellion, which was supposed to symbolize a call to take action against such a decline in morals in society

Thus, by the mid-1990s, Japanese men's magazines became obsessed with schoolgirls and kogyarus in particular. Young gyaru were described as "wild and sexy", and most publications featured tanned gyaru on the covers. At the same time, within the gyaru society itself, those girls who practiced enjo-kosai were considered lonely outsiders. However, such realities became known only after 15-20 years of practice and the hype around it. All this created disturbing stereotypes for the gyaru image and led to constant social pressure on girls. Thus, a former kogyaru in a 2009 interview for the Tokyo Damage Report website talked about the following:

As a result, the confrontation between the media and adults on the one hand and gyaru on the other led to changes in the subculture. For example, this developed in the gyaru a rude and masculine manner of speaking with strangers, designed to quickly and decisively turn off harassing men. Thus, the gyaru seemed to go inside the subculture, being “nice” to their own, but evil and scary to those around them.

Nowadays

All this led to the fact that in the late 90s and early 2000s, the Shibuya area was filled with kogyaru who bought clothes at the 109 department store and read egg magazine. Although the hype around enjo-kosai still existed, gyaru gradually entered the mainstream and became the ideal of young people who wanted to be fashionable and live luxuriously. Gyaru were almost firmly established in Japanese society, but in the early 2000s, the fashion of this subculture took a sharp turn, creating ganguro. This was a split in the subculture that was noticed back in 1997, when a journalist Hironobu Baba published the book "Shibuya Style vs. Kamata Style". The new gyaru came from less affluent areas of Tokyo, such as the Kamata line in Tokyo's Ota district, or even other cities such as Kawasaki. Unlike ordinary gyaru, the new girls turned themselves almost into mulattos with the help of a strong tan, while combining brightly colored lipstick and traditional hair of silver or other bright colors. In his book, the author expressed the opinion that this, in fact, was a confrontation between girls from wealthy families leading a carefree life, and the daughters of ordinary workers who tried with all their might to imitate the former.

Ganguro parents no longer had that kind of money, and they began to add cheaper and simpler things to the subculture's fashion than usual. At the same time, kogyaru began to spread beyond Shibuya, penetrating into areas such as Shinjuku and Ikeburo, and the subculture of Yankee hooligan girls, from which the first gyaru once appeared, was finally absorbed by the latter. Experiencing, on the one hand, the influence of these girls, and on the other hand, ganguro, the image of the gyaru began to undergo strong changes. At the instigation of Namie Amuro, boots with impressive soles became massively popular, which sometimes led to dangerous situations: for example, one gyaru crashed her car because her heels got stuck in the pedals. Then the term kogyaru itself dies, turning into a modern gyaru, and this term begins to be used to refer to all girls who follow this fashion. In the mid-2000s, against the backdrop of ongoing changes in the subculture, the so-called gyaruo appeared - young people who created male version gyaru fashion for the sake of achieving success with gyaru girls. This led to the widespread popularization of metrosexuality among Japanese men and even the significant influence of women's fashion on men's fashion. The lead guitarist of the alternative rock band ViViD, Reno, later noted that in his class everyone was so passionate about gyaru and yankii that, in the end, he himself became a gyaruo, getting a deep tan and dyeing his hair silver, despite the rock hobbies. music and football.

Such a strong extremalization of youth fashion caused a lot of discussion at the time. One of the reasons for such changes was called the boom in the “population” of gyaru, because of which it simply became more and more difficult for them to stand out, which caused a wave of such radicalism. On the other hand, the image of a gyaru was largely based on the desire to attract peers of the opposite sex, and accordingly, young girls, not having the proper experience, simply exaggerated the standard image of a gyaru. But there were also opposite approaches, since the sexy appearance of gyaru attracted many adult men with offers of sex for money, many gyaru simply changed the image of sexy girls to "shocking witches", which essentially worked and practically solved one of the main problems of gyaru.

Gradually, gyaru fashion is becoming increasingly branched into styles. For example, in 2003-2004 the term “arubaka” appeared. So, according to the dictionary of Japanese youth slang, they call “stupid girls who are completely dressed in clothing from the ALBA ROSA brand.” The popularity of this brand has increased so much among gyaru, just young girls and even boys that the media called it an epidemic. After experiencing a boom in 2007, the movement has slowed down slightly while it began to gain popularity in China. Now the emphasis has shifted from RnB performers to traditional European ideals of beauty of the 17th-20th centuries.

To some extent, this can be explained by the influence of lolita fashion on gyaru, in which journalists see the announcement of a “truce” between previously conflicting subcultures, when the appearance of gyaru in the Harajuku area, and lolitas in the Shibuya area looked strange.

Appearance

Slang

The most famous element of gyaru communication is gyaru-moji (Japanese: ギャル文字, “gyaru alphabet”)- a style of writing words in Japanese, the Japanese analogue of the “leet” style for English. Kogyaru also have a special slang kogyarugo(コギャル語), an essential element of their culture. For example, they call their boyfriends ikemen (Japanese: イケ面 "cool dude") , that are cho: kawaii(ちょうかわいい - “very cute”). Sama kogyaru ( gyaru-yatte, "his gyaru") buys gyaru-fuku(“gyaru clothes”) in gyaru-kei seppu("gyaru store"), if, of course, she can find something that is not "really super sickening" ( ちょうマジでむかつく , chō: maji de mukatsuku) . Gyaru often use foreign words, Latin abbreviations of Japanese phrases, or simply foreign endings without regard to Japanese syntax. For example, the suffix “-ingu” (from the English -ing) can be added to words, for example, Gatting (Japanese: ゲッティング, “to receive”). Another feature is the use of the suffix “-ra”. It means "like" or "taken from" and suggests the similarity of the subject matter with the pop idol of Japanese young girls, singer Namie Amuro (from whose name the suffix was taken).

Variations

Those gyaru who are still schoolgirls and combine gyaru fashion with school uniforms are called kogyaru(Japanese: コギャル, short for “high school girl” (Japanese: 高校生 ko:ko:sei) and English girl, in Japanese pronunciation gyaru- "young woman" ). Kogyaru is criticized more often than other types of gyaru, primarily due to its violation of the traditionally strict rules of the Japanese school system and the sensational practice of enjo-kosai. One of the main principles of kogyaru is a freer and more cheerful life than that of ordinary Japanese schoolgirls or women. What sets them apart from ordinary Japanese teenage girls is their unique dress code - higher school skirts, loose socks and the cult of a mobile phone, which is often hung with a lot of key chains and accessories. Gradually, such fashion began to be perceived in society as “a dress code of promiscuity, greed and stupidity,” according to one journalist. Kogyaru largely influence fashion for teenage girls in Japan, so since the early 2000s, more and more fashion magazines have relied on them to study fashion trends and invite them as models.

Despite the fact that gyaru is a female subculture, it also has male directions, for example, such as gyaruo (Japanese) ギャル男, ギャルオ, ギャル汚 ) . The main features of their appearance are luscious shoulder-length brown hair and tight-fitting clothes with a V-neck, for which they are often called Wo (Japanese Vo V男) . Initially, gyaruo fashion was influenced by club and hip-hop trends, but later, borrowing more and more elements from ordinary gyaru, it became noticeably more feminine. Gyaruo themselves are a mixture of male youth fashion and gyaru style.

The result of mixing gyaru and lolita subculture are the so-called hime-gyaru (Japanese: 姫ギャル "lady gyaru", "princess gyaru") , which at the same time are perceived purely as part of the gyaru subculture. This trend appeared in 2007 and represents the desire to combine the image of fairy-tale princesses and a modern glamorous girl. The main elements of hime-gyaru are dresses, mostly pink, inspired by the clothes of princesses from fairy tales, cartoons and movies, as well as large hairstyles of brown curly hair.

gyaru world

Shibuya: shops and infrastructure

Although Japanese youth fashion emerged and began to develop in Harajuku, the children of wealthy parents chose to distance themselves from such extravagant costume trends and centered around the Shibuya area. Since 1988, simultaneously with the popularity crisis of Harajuku, Shibuya fashion begins to gain enormous popularity and connections with fashion houses in Europe. Gyaru of those places were often worn by expensive famous brands, among which were Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Among young girls, many of whom were daughters of wealthy parents, material carelessness and accumulation of wealth were cultivated. However, this situation did not last long.

Soon, girls from wealthy families were joined by girls from the middle class, for whom fashion magazines became the textbook of fashion, and not life in fashionable areas. Now the gyaru look is becoming more accessible ordinary people, but at the same time more radical. The style of gyaruo also changed, which became more youthful, in contrast to the early image of a dandy. At this time, various types of food became widely popular in Shibuya. silver jewelry and diverse American fashion west coast, which significantly diluted the traditional "fashionable" fashion of Shibuya.

Magazines

The leading magazines created for gyaru are Ranzuki, Popteen, Happy Nuts And egg. In most cases, these magazines have their own models who are regularly photographed for them. Magazine egg is the undisputed leader in this field. It began production in 1995 and had a huge impact on Kogyaru and ordinary schoolgirls. Such magazines play a huge role in the subculture; the first gyaru trusted such publications so much and followed their fashion recommendations that some journalists called them “slaves of fashion magazines.” At that time, the number of adherents of gyaru culture was increasing and increasing, but publishing houses were in no hurry to pay attention to them until Street News and Kawaii magazines appeared in 1994 and 1995, respectively. Although the latter was able to firmly establish itself as an important source of information, the most important publication for gyaru was egg magazine, which began its march in August 1995 with the slogan “Get wild and sexy!” Its original target audience was nightclub and beach goers, but magazine editor Yohehara Yasumasa, who had always admired the beauty of gyaru, took a camera to Shibuya and took a series of liberated photographs of gyaru, which he then published in the magazine. By 1997, egg was completely reclassified as a gyaru magazine, and in April of the same year this transition took place officially.

Another magazine Popteen (Japanese: ポップティーン), first released October 1, 1980. This magazine was one of the first to promote the image of a sexy and confident girl. U Popteen also has its own “big sister”, the magazine PopSister. Its main audience is girls aged 14 to about 25.

Ranzuki first came out in 2000 under the title Ranking Daisuki (Japanese: ランキング大好き love rating) . The magazine is published by the publishing house Bunka-sha Publishing & Co and is aimed primarily at teenage girls. Most of the magazine's models use a dark tan; in addition, many articles Ranzuki dedicated to items from the 109 department store in Shibuya. Ranzuki models are called R-models.

Another popular magazine among gyaru is Happy nuts (Japanese: ハピーナッツ happy: natsu) ; Like Popteen, the magazine popularized deep tanning and a fashionable, free-spirited lifestyle for today's young girls and teenagers. The audience of the publication in 2010 was 20-year-old girls leading a gyaru lifestyle.

Criticism

One of the areas of gyaru - ganguro - is becoming the object of criticism primarily for tanning. For example, some media compare them to the mountain witches from folklore. This is according to the author of a book about Japanese hip-hop culture Ian Condrey, is a relic of the ideology of Western imperialists, whose influence on Japan was enormous during the Meiji period. In his opinion, this is where we need to look for the reason for Japanese society’s rejection of “black” Japanese youth.

At the same time, the gyaru themselves and some researchers argue that the public opinion about the kogyaru is largely created by their clothes, and not by the girls themselves, and the media, in a sense, “demonized” the image of the gyaru and already a priori criticize those who wear similar clothes. One kogyaru said in an interview:

Also in defense of gyaru, some researchers note that they have a positive influence on the development of modern glamor culture.

Valuation in foreign countries

September 29, 2009 on the TV channel Fuji TV A release of the Mezamashi-TV program was released, which examined the popularity of gyaru culture and trends of the Shibuya region in general abroad. The authors concluded that the Internet has contributed most to the popularization of gyaru, attracting many young foreigners to come and shop in Shibuya. The release of the program was dedicated to the same topic Tokyo Kawaii TV, released March 25, 2010.

After researching the article “The 6 Craziest Japanese Subcultures” on one [ which one?] from popular American Internet resources in a Japanese magazine MONEYzine it was concluded that many Europeans find gyaru makeup funny, eccentric and generally strange. According to journalists, they could not understand whether the Americans liked it or not. At the same time, according to a report by the British BBC television channel, there are many fans of gyaru fashion in Britain who are also ready to dress in accordance with similar trends.

According to researchers of Japanese pop culture, ganguro is a protest against traditional Japanese ideas about female beauty. It is a response to Japan's long-term social isolation and conservative rules in Japanese schools. At the same time, many young Japanese women wanted to be like the tanned California girls they saw in American films or hip-hop music videos. For these reasons, the media has a negative perception of ganguro, as well as gyaru fashion in general. They are often considered crazy and promiscuous, or even compared to the mountain witches of Japanese folklore.

Gyaru in popular culture and media

The practice of enjo-kosai is often brought up in the context of gyaru. In a computer game Yakuza main character Ryu saves his friend's daughter, who was tricked into taking up enjo-kosai by her boyfriend. In cinema, one of the most famous films dedicated to this topic is the drama “My Rainy Days,” released in 2009 with the popular Japanese model Nozomi Sasaki in leading role. The main character of this film, kogyaru Rio Aizawa, practices enjo-kosai with her friends in order to “earn” money for a rich and luxurious life. In the first part of the film, Rio is shown from a negative side, and according to her, at that time she was only interested in those people whom she could use. But as the film progresses, the heroine falls in love with a young history teacher and, for the sake of love, deliberately begins her life from scratch, correcting almost all her mistakes. Some critics praised the film for being unconventional and really interesting moments, while noting that the film still contains some of the genre's clichés, such as rape and suicide.

Notes

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