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The impact Aoki had on the Harajuku district.

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The impact Aoki had on the Harajuku district.

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A very key point, and understanding, as Shoichi Aokis books fruits, highlights the different personalities and sub genres within the Harujuku world, due to the immersive publication of his magazine, it expressed the maximalist undertakes it has

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The power his photography had, in displaying the different sub cultures

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The power his photography had, in displaying the different sub cultures

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Opening up his archives of Harajuku street style in the 90s, Shoichi Aoki reveals the story behind the groundbreaking fashion of Tokyo's most influential subculture

"Fashion is a kind of ability", says legendary street style photographer and publisher Shoichi Aoki, before embarking on one of the unlikeliest, but most accurate, analogies I've heard in response to the eternal question, 'What makes good style'? "It's much like people who are good at football. As you get better, the subtle moves and plays might not be perceptible to the average person, but to football fans they are vital. Fashion also has an element of this. It's a little different than saying that they dress just for themselves."

'They' are the Harajuku kids that Aoki recorded in the late 90s and early 00s for his magazine Fruits (stylized FRUiTS). For these teenagers, style wasn't about dressing just for yourself, or for other people - as has always been the case, it's a little more complicated than that. The nuances of the Batcavers ' proto-gothic use of makeup in the North of England in the 80s, or UK garage's ostentatious label-collecting in the noughties, for instance, have also proved imperceptible to those on the outside - whether that's parents, teachers or politicians.

But the clothes worn in one square mile of Tokyo in the 90s proved particularly resistant to outsider interpretation, even in subcultural terms. The Harajuku 'scene', so-called after the neighbourhood which formed its epicentre, dates in some form from some fifty years ago, but the post-bubble era of the early 1990s birthed a new breed of youth culture in the area defined by its multiple, overflowing styles: Kawaii, Gothic Lolita, Cyberpunks, Decora style, even "Fushigi-chan" ("mystery kids", so called because nobody quite knows what the heck to call them). The styles on display were frenetic, fluid and slightly insane, with girls (and matchy-matchy girl/boy couples) erupting in a surge of saccharine-sweet colour and strange silhouettes. Teenage girls, neither "pretty" nor "sexy" (though many of them cute) told the world what they were, without the world telling them.

Though often associated with goings-on in Harajuku in the 90s, Aoki had been capturing street style photography in the city for some years before he started Fruits. A former computer programmer, he moved to London in the 80s, where he started taking photographs of the nonconforming street fashion he saw there. After returning to Tokyo from Europe in 1985, he started STREET magazine to give local youth a taste of radical street style abroad - as he calls it, his "slice of time and space."

But in 1997, something in the air changed. "I'd been living in Harajuku since 1986, but had never thought to photograph there," he explains, citing the stale fashions of the time. "(Then) in 1997 I discovered a new kind of style in Harajuku that I had never seen before in Japan". The catalyst for starting Fruits, he tells me, was a single sighting of three girls, walking along the pavement. "They had brightly coloured hair, with a mix of kimono items and western clothes," he recalls. "Looking back, we think of these elements as mundane, but at the time they were fresh. These girls made the new style."

Look up the word "contradiction" in the dictionary and you'll find the island nation of Japan. An understanding of the country as a culture based on impermanence, opposites and general clash is one agreed upon by all who have gone there as well as everybody who hasn't. But the idea of pick 'n' mixing tropes of Japan's cultural heritage with the cultural influx of Western ideas wasn't always second nature. As Aoki explains, it was previously largely avoided. "For Japanese people, it is very difficult to mix traditional Japanese clothing elements with Western dress. It's very difficult to get it right," he says, adding, "For fashion designers it approaches the realm of taboo. Even Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto have only done it once or twice." In fact, the Harajuku kids more likely channelled the stylings of their grandparents than the higher echelons of fashionable, Paris-centric taste. "For many years, grandmothers had been remaking their kimono into western clothing, but that is dangerous ground for someone in fashion to enter!"

In the 1980s, Japanese avant-gardeists like Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons, Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake redefined the way we think about fashion. With each collection they ripped up the industry's collective assumptions and started again: at Comme, colour was out, and unruly volumes and defective fabrics were in. While it might be tempting to see at least the anarchic spirit of these designers as echoed in the street stylings of Tokyo's youth in the 90s, Aoki maintains that there exists a huge gulf between these historical moments. In fact, the bold and bright Harajuku style was something of a chemical reaction to Rei and her 'crows.' "The harajuku fashion movement was a counter-movement to the designer boom of Kawakubo, Miyake and Yohji", says Aoki. "In the wake of a boom like that, everything that comes out of it starts to look unfashionable. Bright colour is a perplexing area in fashion...and a challenge to it."

"It is very difficult to mix traditional Japanese clothing elements with Western dress... For fashion designers it approaches the realm of taboo. Even Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto have only done it once or twice" - Shoichi Aoki

In the end, what's so enduring about the cultivation of Harajuku's out-of-this-world style in these years is its absolute uniqueness. Kawakubo may have 'invented black', but so too did Coco Chanel, and John Singer Sargent. But the potent mix of cultural influences that culminated in a section of Japanese youth dedicating their lives (or at least, their Sunday afternoons) to collectively dress like nothing anyone had seen before was, in 1997, a total one-off. "The kids made their own original fashion", he says, citing the mixture of Japanese traditional items like the kimono and tabi shoes with the Western influence of punk and gothic clothing. "The early Fruits years were the first time young people had entered that territory. What's more, I think they gave a perfect answer. There's been almost nothing like it since then."

He's right - there hasn't. Etched in our cultural consciousness as enduringly 'Japanese', the photos in Fruits are nonetheless completely of their own time. Though the magazine is still in production today, the density and cross-pollination of over-the-top styles are a product of a different environment than Harajuku offers today. Aoki, now heading up a global team of photographers for his magazine empire (including Tune, for menswear and the aforementioned Street) stopped shooting Fruits himself in 2002. But the decline began much earlier than that. "In July 1997, the Harajuku pedestrian paradise was shut down. The Hokoten [as it was colloquially called] was a vital place of nurture for Harajuku fashion. In order to let the tiny roots take hold and nurture the small movement that was taking place, we needed the Hokoten. It didn't deteriorate suddenly. Rather, Harajuku became less and less like itself." When he describes his style of photographing his subjects as like "sculptures in a gallery", I'm inclined to agree - the artistry is full of life, but stillness traps them in a particular time frame, and a particular place.

Lucky for us Harajuku fangirls, Aoki is currently working on digitising the entire Fruits archive - 20,000 photos taken between now and the present day, only ever seen in the regular fanzine or Aoki's popular Phaidon publications, Fruits and Fresh Fruits. "There is potential to create a different, equally special thing online", he says. "I've got an image of something like the playlist on iTunes in my mind... But before I do that I'd like to donate the entire archive to fashion institutes or groups around the world for preservation and use. I think I might be the only person who has an archive of 80s London and Paris along with 90s Harajuku, so it's my duty to make it public."

I walked around Harajuku myself a couple of years ago, excitedly seeking out Decora girl gangs and anarchic cyberpunks. But, true to Aoki's narrative today, I found the characters I'd gazed at in Fruits a somewhat endangered species. My beloved Harajuku girls had been replaced by a new breed - Monocle-reading, Normcore-sporting, even ' Daunt Books ' tote-toting teenagers were the new uniform. As so often with records of style subcultures, the urge is to take up arms on behalf of those founding heroines - to give their self-expression a larger meaning, to extend their life with a message. But the Harajuku girls always did resist a manifesto, as Aoki's photography recognised. "90s fashion was creative," he says. "But Harajuku fashion is not a rebellion against something." It is, simply, an ability.

With thanks to Daphne Mohajer for her translation of this interview.

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The photographer who lensed Japan's Harajuku trailblazers

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"Fashion is a kind of ability", says legendary street style photographer and publisher Shoichi Aoki, before embarking on one of the unlikeliest, but most accurate, analogies I've heard in response to the eternal question, 'What makes good style'? "It's much like people who are good at football.

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Key note: Aoki made a few appearances in a few short documenter ays highlighting Harujuku fashion

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Key note: Aoki made a few appearances in a few short documenter ays highlighting Harujuku fashion

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The name of his publication"Fruits" is very suggestive, in the concept that each fashion is flavourful? and different.... maybe something to keep in mind when naming my short film

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The name of his publication"Fruits" is very suggestive, in the concept that each fashion is flavourful? and different.... maybe something to keep in mind when naming my short film

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From my understanding of Gyaru fashion, it appears that having a direct view on sources produced by individuals inspired by it, might be more appealing.

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Hello & welcome to The Gyaru Wiki: the home for all things Gyaru! This Wiki is a community built effort to try and bring you as much information on Gyaru and Gyaru-related materials as possible.

This is intended as a space for everyone to learn about Gyaru, whether you're new to the style, a veteran Gal, or just a big fan of the fashion and lifestyle!

There have been 2,728 edits * 141 articles * 2 active users since 7 February 2016‎.

Gyaru (ギャル?) is a Japanese street style and subculture that peaked in popularity in the 1990s and early 2000s. The trends vary throughout each style; Gyaru can often, but not always, be recognised through the use of bleached hair, tanned skin and dramatic makeup.

Popular music artists and media associated with Gyaru include: Namie Amuro, Egg Magazine, Super GALS! Kotobuki Ran and the dance style Para Para.

If you are interested in contributing to The Gyaru Wiki, there are just a few small rules we ask you to abide by:

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Please only post the facts. Fact checking is essential and we like to avoid posting rumours.

Get started into Gyaru!

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Hello & welcome to The Gyaru Wiki: the home for all things Gyaru! This Wiki is a community built effort to try and bring you as much information on Gyaru and Gyaru-related materials as possible.

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 -   how the kimono became a symbol of oppression in some parts of Asia – perfect research for the second chapter; it can highlight aspects of how strict certain fashion tropes were for Japanese women/ preserving femineity in Japan

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 -   how the kimono became a symbol of oppression in some parts of Asia – perfect research for the second chapter; it can highlight aspects of how strict certain fashion tropes were for Japanese women/ preserving femineity in Japan

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A woman in Suzhou, China, was reportedly detained recently for "provoking trouble". Her alleged crime was being spotted outside wearing a kimono. The woman was dressed like a character from a manga (a Japanese comic). Arresting her might seem dramatic but there is more at play here than a simple fashion faux pas.

Clothing is a cultural identifier and, to many, a symbol of national identity and pride. When you think of the kimono you might think of Japan. However, the garment is rarely worn in Japan now, other than at traditional festivals or celebrations. As a result, the kimono industry, which experienced a boom in the 1980s, is currently experiencing a massive downturn.

The kimono worn today, however, is not an indigenous invention of the Japanese. It can be traced back to the 7th century when the Imperial Court began to wear garments adapted from Chinese styles.

Despite these Chinese origins, the kimono is a major cultural signifier of Japan globally. And, in many Asian countries, particularly those which were brutally colonised by Japan, the kimono remains a symbol of oppression.

From folk clothing to works of art

There is a long history of sartorial similarities between Japan and China.

Chinese explorers in southern parts of ancient Japan around the 3rd century BC observed people wearing simple tunics, poncho-type garments and a type of pleated trouser and top. These were similar to clothes worn in parts of China at that time. Images of priestess-queens and tribal chiefs in 4th century AD Japan also show figures wearing clothing like those worn by the Han dynasty China.

The first ancestor of the kimono appeared in Japan in the Heian period (794-1185). Still often worn with Chinese-style hakama (pleated trousers or long skirts), this garment was made from straight pieces of cloth fastened with a narrow sash at the hips. By the Edo period (1603-1868), everyone wore a unisex garment known as a kosode, made from straight pieces of fabric sewn together like today's kimono.

Rainer Haeßner/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

In the early 1600s, Japan was unified by the Shogun Tokugawa into a feudal shogunate (a kind of military dictatorship) with Edo (now Tokyo) as the capital.

Japanese culture developed during this period with almost no outside influence, and the kosode, as a precursor to the kimono, came to represent what it meant to be Japanese.

Folk clothing and work clothes were also based on front wrapping (left over right), drop-sleeved tops and fastened with strings or cords following a basic kimono pattern. The role of kimono-making developed, and the value of some kimonos increased to the level of priceless works of art.

A symbol of Japanese culture

After previous eras of a "closed" Japan, the Meiji era (1868-1912) marked a period of rapid modernisation and foreign influence. The kimono, meaning "the thing to wear" had a proper name and officially came into being.

This was despite a new imperial edict that rejected old dress as "effeminate" and "un-Japanese". As a result, men, government officials and military personnel were encouraged to wear western clothing, yōfuku, rather than traditional wafuku.

But as Japan was undergoing fundamental change on multiple levels, the sight of women wearing kimono was reassuring and a popular symbol of Japaneseness.

Women started wearing more western-style clothes, specifically underwear for women, after the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923. It was felt that a sense of shame in exposing themselves prevented many women from jumping or being rescued from the upper floors of buildings. The possibility that fewer women would have lost their lives in the disaster had they been wearing yōfuku or at least underwear beneath their kimonos was a catalyst for general westernisation.

Japan's Showa era began in 1926 when Emperor Hirohito ascended to the throne. This period spanned two world wars and the rise of strident cultural ultranationalism and has been described as the most momentous, calamitous, successful and glamorous period in Japan's recent history.

For those with a belief in the idea of Japanese uniqueness ( Nihonjin-ron), which became especially popular after the second world war, the kimono (along with other aspects of Japanese culture) was considered superior to the western alternative. While the actual wearing of the garment decreased, the kimono's symbolic status in Japan increased.

By the 1930s, Japan was a major colonial power, having transformed from a weak, feudal society into a modern, industrial, military power in the 1890s. As such, the nation had launched territorial conquests into neighbouring countries.

So, while people in Japan were "dressing the part" in a bold attempt to look powerful to the west, Japanese occupiers in Taiwan and Korea were actively encouraging local women to wear the kimono in order to display Japan's superior role and "greater east Asian co-prosperity" in the region.

A study of how the kimono was perceived in Taiwan and Korea during the Japanese colonial period from 1895 to 1945 showed that the Japanese kimono is clearly linked to Japan's colonial control and war responsibilities. The weaponisation of such a beautiful and elegant item of clothing has clearly left its mark.

As the woman who was arrested in China recently was reportedly warned:

If you would be wearing Hanfu (Chinese traditional clothing), I never would have said this, but you are wearing a kimono, as a Chinese. You are Chinese!

The kimono remains a symbol of Japanese tradition and a reminder of the dangers of nationalism for countries of wartime occupation and atrocities. But as Japan is preparing to double its defence budget, raising questions over its pacifist identity since the post-war period, and China is flexing its muscles in Hong Kong and Taiwan, there should be more for officials to worry about than a woman clad in a kimono.

Ella Tennant, Lecturer, Language and Culture, Keele University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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comment | how the kimono became a symbol of oppression in some parts of asia

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Comment | How the kimono became a symbol of oppression in some parts of Asia

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A woman in Suzhou, China, was reportedly detained recently for "provoking trouble". Her alleged crime was being spotted outside wearing a kimono. The woman was dressed like a character from a manga (a Japanese comic). Arresting her might seem dramatic but there is more at play here than a simple fashion faux pas.

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-	A complex Fit: the remaking of Japanese Femininity and Fashion 1945-65 pdf- pdf highlights popular cultural influences, and highlights the socio-cultural movements, and expressions of femineity adopted by Japanese women in a sense talk about the evolvement- good for the video or maybe chapter 2

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-	A complex Fit: the remaking of Japanese Femininity and Fashion 1945-65 pdf- pdf highlights popular cultural influences, and highlights the socio-cultural movements, and expressions of femineity adopted by Japanese women in a sense talk about the evolvement- good for the video or maybe chapter 2

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Highlights Japanese fashion cultures, the aspect of gender and dress up in contemporary japan, has great resources to nitpick

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Highlights Japanese fashion cultures, the aspect of gender and dress up in contemporary japan, has great resources to nitpick

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Japanese contemporary culture, including fashion, has increasingly gained popularity outside Japan, making it a timely topic for both scholarly and wider publics. Most current studies of popular culture focuses on manga, anime, and other such forms of visual culture, and dress and design studies are also emerging as a rapidly growing field. Building on the works of McVeigh (2000), Miller (2006), Slade (2010) and Steele (2010), this book addresses this new interest in an innovative fashion, expanding the significance of dress and delving into a wide range of examples from films, magazines, music videos and literature. By connecting diverse topic areas including dress, gender, media and cultural studies, Japanese Fashion Cultures analyzes the relationship of fashion aesthetics and gender identity within an increasingly interconnected, transnational world. The book pays particular attention to the relationship of past and present. It examines contemporary Japanese fashion trends that adopt and restyle European historical clothing forms: the Edwardian dandy style, Victorian little girls' dresses, and the Rococo and Romantic dress typical of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Japanese fashion culture actively promoted European clothing styles both politically and aesthetically, particularly since the country's re-engagement with Euro-America in 1868. Throughout this book, I refer to the theory of "format" and "product" articulated by cultural sociologist Keiko Okamura (2003) where a cultural form, in this case Euro-American clothing styles, can be seen as a "format" when accepted globally. This standardized "format" becomes a carrier of the locality of cultures, allowing its "local" characteristics to be visible, measurable, and comparable with that of other cultures. Through this theoretical idea, I explain complex cultural theory using compelling examples. For instance, differences in preferred modes of masculinity and fashionability in Japan and Euro-America will be explained via garments and advertisement campaigns of Dolce and Gabbana. This process will therefore reveal the characteristics both universal and culturally specific to the Japanese context, including the ways in which Japanese men and women engage with fashion today. This poses a challenge to a widely held, often Eurocentric notion that Japanese men and women simply desire to imitate their Euro-American counterparts. Japanese Fashion Cultures provides comprehensive insights into representations of clothes and gender in a society still poorly understood by outsiders. I dispel the popular misconception that Japan approves of gender inequalities and that women still occupy inferior social positions to men, expressed also in clothing. I argue that using the lens of fashion reveals the complexities of gender relations in Japan. Four contemporary case studies position the argument: young men's fashion magazines, female performers' use of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" in music video, "Lolita" fashion and Tetsuya Nakashima's film Shimotsuma monogatari (Kamikaze Girls, 2004), and the continuing remarking of "Ivy-League" style in Japan. These four examples are notable for their adoption of historic European and American clothing forms. Their relatively "mainstream" stature in contemporary Japanese culture comes with a "twist" or unconventional characteristics. The "mainstream" standing of these types of popular culture indicates their reach, consumed by a great number of individuals within Japan. Certain qualities they manifest, on the other hand, impose a subtle, almost "delicate" kind of revolt against a set of idées fixes surrounding the relationship between clothes and gender. Using media and cultural texts as a primary source for discussion enables consideration of these complex links between distortion and reality. As Diana Crane (1990) has argued, both are parts of the "real" world where these case studies are first produced. The first important issue this book raises is that, through negotiating male readers' desire to attract admirers and to dress for their own pleasure, young men's fashion magazines endorse the idea that crafting a pleasant look is the foundation of self-assurance and a successful life. Secondly, I show that female Japanese singers allow an accentuation of femininity without necessarily sexualization through the use of Japanese cute (kawaii) aesthetics. The third possibility this book explores is that highly decorative styles of Japanese Lolita fashion should not be read as symbolic of restriction and passivity. The fourth point this book addresses is that, as illustrated by the Japanese embrace of the "Ivy style," both men and women engage with fashion in very similar ways. This is a major point of difference with the role of fashion historically in Euro-America. These readings offer novel ways to understand the relationship between gender and dress, which is often blamed for maintaining repressive distinctions between "man" and "woman" in contemporary culture. Ultimately, this book aims to show that the Japanese appropriation of European clothing forms shows that there might be different, and hence less rigid approaches to understanding the relationship between fashion and gender. Japanese refashioning of European clothing concepts, this book argues, offers a compelling case for the implication of the aesthetics of fashion, gender, and cross-culturalism. "Masafumi Monden's book is a gem. By bringing together and exploring colourful examples from Japan's vibrant street culture and fashion, he artfully demonstrates just how individualistic, innovative, and original the Japanese are. He also dismantles myths and misperceptions about gender relations, sexuality, and social relations in Japan." - Brian J. McVeigh, University of Arizona, USA, "Monden provides a rich and detailed examination of the subtle intricacies of gendering and sexuality in contemporary Japanese fashion. While exploring the extremes of Tokyo street fashion he is able to illuminate some of the mechanism behind the perplexingly divergent ways to be a man or a woman in today's Japan." - Toby Slade, University of Tokyo, Japan, "Masafumi Monden's fascinating and important book, Japanese Fashion Cultures, will be of great interest to everyone interested in fashion, gender, globalization, and youth culture. His research on young Japanese men and their attitudes towards fashion is especially significant, as it calls into question persistent stereotypes about how men and women are assumed to engage with fashion." - Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator, The Museum at FIT, New York City, USA "From the possibility of subversion in lace-trimmed Lolita outfits and petite pinafores straight out of Alice in Wonderland, to the enchantments of Milkboy dandyism, Masafumi Monden's Japanese Fashion Cultures offers up a delightful combination of case studies that reveal the very best thinking in fashion theory today." - Laura Miller, Eiichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Endowed Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Anthropology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA "Masafumi Monden's Japanese Fashion Cultures shines a spotlight on many of the looks that brought the world's attention to an island nation which, like Britain, has consistently punched above its weight in matters of dress and appearance...In Japanese Fashion Cultures you have some most interesting comments about gender and I for one have learned a lot about the less reported (in the West at least) looks for young Japanese males." - Ted Polheums, Author of Streetstyle: From Sidewalk to Catwalk

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Japanese Fashion Cultures: Dress and Gender in Contemporary Japan

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Japanese contemporary culture, including fashion, has increasingly gained popularity outside Japan, making it a timely topic for both scholarly and wider publics. Most current studies of popular culture focuses on manga, anime, and other such forms of visual culture, and dress and design studies are also emerging as a rapidly growing field.

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An episode of snog married and avoid, that focuses on a Gyaru, this episode can be lack lustre due to how it was formatted..

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An episode of snog married and avoid, that focuses on a Gyaru, this episode can be lack lustre due to how it was formatted..

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The Gyaru of Dewsbury - Snog, Marry, Avoid? - BBC Three

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The better episode of snog married and avoid, this focuses on Jessica and highlights a key amount of information on her understanding of her individuality and others' perceptions

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The better episode of snog married and avoid, this focuses on Jessica and highlights a key amount of information on her understanding of her individuality and others' perceptions

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Jessica Is An Abstract Piece Of Art! | Snog, Marry, Avoid?

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Interview with Alana Leah, a Harujuku fashion enthusiast, and content creator, Part 1

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Interview with Alana Leah, a Harujuku fashion enthusiast, and content creator, Part 1

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Possible interviewee?: Alana Leah, a Harajuku enthusiast and content creator

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Possible interviewee?: Alana Leah, a Harajuku enthusiast and content creator

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japans gender-bending history within fashion the key aspect is highlighting japans and tokyos harujuku district.

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japans gender-bending history within fashion the key aspect is highlighting japans and tokyos harujuku district.

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https://items.ssrc.org/from-our-fellows/japans-gender-bending-history-2/

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talks about a Japanese biker chick fashion that breaks rules and norms and the traditional parental values implemented in Japanese culture.

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talks about a Japanese biker chick fashion that breaks rules and norms and the traditional parental values implemented in Japanese culture.

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https://www.messynessychic.com/2022/09/22/in-japan-biker-chick-fashion-breaks-all-the-rules/

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The many style subcultures of post-war and modern Japan are rooted in rejection; a succession of generations refusing to traditional parental values. Each one has formed its own unique uniform of rebellion, but some have taken it to further extremes than others, riding dangerously on the fringes of society...

Anarchic, angry and restless, Japanese rebel bike culture emerged from the ranks of disaffected Japanese youth following WWII; a tribe of anarchic lost male souls, it was initially a male subculture, which refused to accept female members and was inevitably seen by the government as anti-establishment, anarchic and down-right criminal. Whilst some early members of the bike culture were rumoured to have been 'failed' Kamikaze pilots, their hardy and basic biker uniform, often inspired by the military jumpsuits and combat uniforms, was known most appropriately as tokkō-fuku or 'special attack' clothing.

Growing increasingly aggressive, by the early 1970s, they came to be known as the , which roughly translates to 'a runaway train' or 'out of control vehicle', seeking thrills in crime, speed and dress. It was imperative that the integrity of their bikes was maintained but modified illegally for rapid manoeuvre and quick get-away from their petty crime scenes.

Initially, women had no part in the 'real action' of the bosozoku other than to ride as decorative passengers for the most part. But the 1960s saw the rise of political freedoms and feminism. The girls who had perched on the seats of the Bosozoku boys now wanted their own gangs, and with various social changes and youth movements taking hold, Sukeban culture emerged.

Sukeban is a Japanese word referring to delinquent girl gangs or the leader of the gang. The gangs had their origins in disruptive petty criminal student groups in schools and colleges - those who smuggled cigarettes and alcohol onto the school premises. The girl gangs ranged in both size and unashamed titles such as the 'Tokyo's United Shoplifters Group' of around 80 girls and the 'Kanto Women's Delinquent Alliance', reported to have had 20,000 members. The reputation of these criminal girl gangs' exploits was so infamous that during the 1980s, the Japanese police titled their ID culprit-tracing sketches of the girls and their kit as "omens of downfall".

Subekan style via tumblr

Sukeban girls sported a very distinctive look. Japanese sailor-style and western-influenced school uniforms were modified and exaggerated. Skirts were actually lengthened, possibly in rejection of the sexualised school girl miniskirt, while their tops were emblazoned with gang motif embroidery. Under their skirts, they hid an array of light weaponry from razor blades to bamboo swords and barb-wired baseball bats. Life for the girls on the inside of Sukeban society was often pretty rough. Gangs had strict rules, hierarchies and punishment rituals. Disrespecting a senior member or stealing a boyfriend, sometimes considered a petty crime; punishable by cigarette burns for instance.

Subekan style via tumblr

This edgy and dangerous lifestyle in contrast to the rigorous conservative Japanese traditions of old soon caught the attention and imagination of the Japanese media. Their attitude and dress culture would influence fashion over the next decades and the underworld subculture would migrate into film, TV and mainstream Japanese culture, as well as the seedier realm of Japanese erotica, fuelling fantasies further. The appearance, not the necessarily the behaviour, of the Sukeban became a model for popular characters in young adult Japanese comics too. Today, the Japanese media anime and manga tales are awash with exaggerated doe-eyed, super sexy rebel schoolgirls and spiky-haired, weapon-wielding heroes in trench coats exploding from comic book pages and cartoons.

Subekan style via tumblr

The 1980s saw Sukeban's unmistakable look fade out for a period as the traditional school uniforms were abandoned for even more extreme styles. With the punk movement making waves in the West, pockets of Japan's rebellious female youth also morphed in a new direction as girls on loudly-coloured and loudly-tuned bikes began burning rubber under the same modus operandi in anarchy as their male counterparts, the bosozoku. The male motorcycle gangs, commonly associated with the yakuza, had already started to decline by then with strict government crackdowns, but out from under their shadow, a female faction took to the streets - this time, emerging on their own two wheels.

Bosozoku girl via tumblr

Immediately identifiable, their hair was brightly dyed or boldly permed; eyebrows were plucked impossibly thin with almost no make-up except exaggerated dark eyeliner. Their fingernails were exotically and randomly coloured and decorated with an assortment of tints and weapon-like spike and stud accessories. The multiple piercings to their ears, nose and bellybuttons were essential embellishments and 'trademarks'.

The girls also pirated the boys' tokkō-fuku overall jumpsuits, now bright and colourful, plastered with their symbols of allegiance and provocatively worn open to display their bandaged chests. Their clothing, like their bikes, was adorned with garish gang insignia, symbols and slogans. Flashy, outrageously colourful girly-pink graphics and lashings of extra buttons and badges were the final touches to this unmistakeable grungy tough-cookie identity.

Over the years, bosozoku girls have made their own very distinctive, increasingly extreme modifications to their bikes. The standard modern Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki Japanese machines are used instead of the old style western bikes. The Japanese bikes are decorated then 'chopped': the front fairings reworked into assertive and sculptural prows and adorned with a garnish of glittering girly graphics. The fuel tanks are equally enriched, plastered in sparking rainbow colours with motifs of Kamikaze pilots' rising sun icons or gang icons. The entire bike, like their clothes, are typically covered with graphics, stickers and badges and inevitably very, very pink.

Technical modifications are limited to the installation of higher narrow handlebars to aide ease of escape through the tight traffic and the exhausts modified to be irritatingly noisy and attention-seeking. The pièce-de-resistance on their bikes is the seat, a snaking sculptural luxurious chaise-longue for two; super comfortably upholstered high-backed thrones for the pillion passenger and sometimes even a back for the pilot. The whole bike is then topped off with a glowing array of neon lights and fluttering gang flags as they concealed their identity behind surgical face masks.

Some women do take it to extremes, acting as daringly and recklessly as their male bosozuko counterparts, jumping red lights and smashing the occasional grumbling motorists' windows with baseball bats, while others, particularly with the rise of social media, are simply in it for the fashion and their passion for fast, shiny wheels.

What remains of the gutsy Bosozoku girl gangs today is often a cryptic clash of styles from both the earlier Sukeban subculture and the grittier punk look that emerged in the 80s. Riding into the future, if Kim Kardashian trying to make the motorbike trend happen gives us any indication - perhaps it's only a matter of time before one of the big brand fashion houses chooses the bosozokugirl as their next muse. Is it just us or is this screaming Gen Z fashion?

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In Japan, "Biker Chick" Fashion Breaks All the Rules

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Bosozoku Girl via tumblr The many style subcultures of post-war and modern Japan are rooted in rejection; a succession of generations refusing to traditional parental values. Each one has formed its own unique uniform of rebellion, but some have taken it to further extremes than others, riding da

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pdf that highlights the reinforcement of traditional gender norms in japan it reflects the power imbalances of both genders in the fashion world through a feminist perspective. 

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pdf that highlights the reinforcement of traditional gender norms in japan it reflects the power imbalances of both genders in the fashion world through a feminist perspective. 

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a look at gender expectations in Japanese society- this is great as it talks about the Conforming ideas supplemented by the Chinese, which ended up defining Japanese society and created a patriarchal system towards gender roles , outlines persistent gender ideas within Japan and how traits associated with individualism and independence is poorly regarded by Japanese society.

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a look at gender expectations in Japanese society- this is great as it talks about the Conforming ideas supplemented by the Chinese, which ended up defining Japanese society and created a patriarchal system towards gender roles , outlines persistent gender ideas within Japan and how traits associated with individualism and independence is poorly regarded by Japanese society.

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Gender roles are often something we don't think about. We are socialized as guys and gals to behave in certain ways and often don't realize it. Our media reflects these mores. Anime, like any other medium, reflects the expectations society has for its members. Aspects of anime, such as a girl cooking a bento for her favorite guy or guys acting pure and innocent, are a reflection of gender roles and expectations in Japanese society.

Gender roles are defined by culture more than physical differences between men and women. Certainly, women are pigeonholed into child bearing because guys physically cannot. However, child rearing roles are a product of culture. Japanese and Chinese cultures tend to value different roles than we do in the West. For example, independence is not considered a desirable trait for a man in China ( Sugihara, 2000).

Let us briefly trace the development of Japanese gender roles before looking into the roles found in modern Japan.

Confucian Japan

Japan was a fairly equitable matriarchal society until Confucian ideas immigrated from China. These ideas defined Japanese society up until the end of World War II. The integration of Confucian hierarchical structures where men were dominate shifted gender roles into a patriarchal system. Both men and women shared expectations under the Confucian system: loyalty and courage. Men were expected to be loyal to their lords; women were to be loyal to their family and husband. Interestingly, women could own and inherit property and family position in feudal Japan. They were expected to control the household budget and household decisions to allow men to serve their lord. During the feudal era, men were expected to be well rounded. Unlike their "macho" European counterparts, samurai were expected to be learned in literature and the arts ( Sugihara and Katusarada, 2002).

World War II and Shifting Roles

World War II marked a shift in thinking about gender roles. The Japanese government tapped into loyalty and courage to encourage the war effort. The war also sharply divided gender roles, much to the detriment of women. Women's patriotic duty was to have children. They were encouraged by propaganda to be married to the nation. Magazines portrayed women as managers of the nation's household. Although many women worked munition factories.

Poor women were drafted by the Japanese government to sexually service military men. Known as "comfort women," these women worked in an assembly line-like environment. Soldiers referred to these women as "hygienic public bathrooms" or even as "semen toilets." Officers had access to professional prostitutes. Men were expected to use these services. It was believed that guys who abstained from sex for too long fought poorly (Mclelland, 2010).

Women who stayed at home, unlike their brothers, sons, and husbands, were expected to remain chaste. They sent their men "comfort dolls." Unlike the comfort girls, these dolls, made from cloth and buttons, reminded military men of home. They were thought to have protective properties.

Guys were forced to fight under distorted samurai ideals to the point of suicide. These ideals took the ideas of brotherly love and used them to make men fight to the point of suicidal charges and general waste of life. Kamikazes are a result of this distortion. Loyalty to Imperial Japan and courage were also fuel for the bloody violence. The film, Letters from Iwa Jima is a good illustration of these views.

I recommend watching this film if you are interested in seeing how traditional morals can be distorted to encourage violence.

Modern Japan and Traditional Roles

Post WWII Occupation abruptly changed the gender roles of Japan. Discrimination based on gender was forbidden by the Japanese Constitution. American attitudes about public displays of affection, American fashion and values changed attitudes of men and women toward each other and traditional roles. WWII essentially ended the social feudal system (Mclelland, 2010). Modern Japanese gender roles took on an odd mix of American views and traditional views during this time.

Modern Japanese gender roles revolve around their vertical society where someone's identity is a part of their group identity. That is why honorifics are an important part of the language. They help define how a person relates or belongs to another person or group. Senpai-kohai (senior-junior) relationships are how people are ranked in companies and schools. This structure is more important than gender defined roles. Traits like leadership that don't interfere with this vertical social structure are encouraged (Yamaguchi, 2000).

Loyalty and harmony continue to be emphasized in modern Japan. Loyalty is particularly focused on one's company with Japan's life-long employment system. Women still control the household, household budget, and household decisions, allowing men to devote themselves to their work. This is changing as more women start careers. Both genders are also delaying marriage. The stigma of being single is fading for both genders, most of all for women.

There are a few key ideas about gender that persist (Yamaguchi, 2000):

Men should work outside the home

Genders should be brought up differently

Women are more suited to household work and child rearing than men.

Full time housewives are valuable to society because of their family raising role.

These persistent gender ideas have roots in feudal Japan. The roles also work within the vertical social structure of senior-junior relations. Generally, traits associated with individualism like assertiveness, independence, and self-reliance are poorly regarded by the Japanese compared to conformity, being affectionate, and having leadership abilities. Again, the typical American ideal of the "macho" alpha male is frowned upon in Japanese society. Guys are expected to be well rounded in art, music, literature, and more just like in feudal Japan (Sughara, 2002).

Japanese society has a pair of key concepts that explains the sometimes strange contradictions us Westerners see: tatemae and honne. Tatemae is who one is supposed to be. It is a set of morals people agree upon, such as being loyal or devoted to work. Honne is who someone actually is: the personal opinion and who the person is in reality. The gender roles and traits I've outlines fall under the concept of tatemae. The way people really live in Japan, women having careers and men staying at home, are honne (Yamaguchi, 2000).

Anime's Portrayal of Tradition and Modern

You can see these traits and roles in anime. Girls in anime make a huge deal out of making lunch for their favorite guy because it is a wifely thing. At the same time, the ideal male character is rather feminine to our Western eyes and is able to cook well. Cooking well shows how the character is well rounded and able to support the woman should she have a career of her own. The misogyny you see with women being ...hornier...than the guys is a product of the "comfort girls" of the past and freedom from the constraints traditional society had on women. Some of this shift in sexuality is a backlash from when guys were expected to be highly sexual.

In many anime series, parents are largely absent. Often they are away at work. This is a reflection on the expectation of men (and increasingly women) to be loyally devoted to their workplace. It is also easier to have comedic antics without serious adults around! When parents are around, you mostly see the mom at home with the father almost always away. Again, the traditional idea of women running the household so the man can work. Sometimes you see the roles reversed; in those cases the stay-at-home dad is quirky and weird. This is an illustration of how odd this is to the norm. Although these dads tend to also be modern.

Anime likes to play with the concepts of tatamae and honne. The stay-at-home dad is one illustration of this. Out in public he is often put-together, but at home he is quirky and weird.

A Few Oddities

There are a few small oddities with Japanese gender roles. Sweets are considered unmanly. In order to make sweets manly, some bakeries have taken to making huge portion sizes so guys can feel less feminine about having a sweet tooth. This is an anime trope that is only partially true. Women are thought to like more elaborate and sweeter desserts than men.

Gender roles are more fluid than people think. They are a product of culture and period. Gender roles are mostly a consensus. Rarely are they honne. Gender roles are slowly changing, particularly for women. It is becoming acceptable for both guys and girls to be single for longer. Girls are able to have careers, and guys are becoming stay-at-home fathers. Women have made strides in the workplace, but they still encounter problems. These changes are reflected in anime and other media. In any case, there is very little difference between gender role expectations with guys and girls. The traditional foundation laid in the feudal era will remain, but it will also become more flexible.

It should be interesting to see how this flexibility will be reflected in anime.
References
Mclelland, Mark (2010). "Kissing is a symbol of democracy!" Dating, Democracy, and Romance in Occupied Japan 1945-1952. Journal of the History of Sexuality. 19[3] p 508-535.

Sugihara, Yoko and Katsurada, Emiko (1999). Gender Differences in Gender-Role Perceptions Among Japanese College Students. Sex Roles. 41. p. 775-786.

Sugihara, Yoko and Katsurada, Emiko (2000). Gender-Role Personality Traits in Japanese Culture. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 24 p 309-318.

Sugihara, Yoko and Katsurada, Emiko (2002). Gender Role Development in Japanese Culture: Diminishing Gender Role Differences in Contemporary Society. Sex Roles. 47. p. 443-452.

TV Tropes. Real Men Hate Sugar. Retrieved from http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealMenHateSugar.

Yamaguchi, Kazuo (2000). Married Women's Gender-Role Attitudes and Social Stratification. International Journal of Sociology. 30[2] p. 52-89.

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A Look at Gender Expectations in Japanese Society

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Gender roles are often something we don't think about. We are socialized as guys and gals to behave in certain ways and often don't realize it. Our media reflects these mores. Anime, like any other medium, reflects the expectations society has for its members.

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This Piece highlights the clash of subcultures with Japanese fashion and identity.. and touching base on Aokis work

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This Piece highlights the clash of subcultures with Japanese fashion and identity.. and touching base on Aokis work

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the formation, of understanding of the male gaze through psychological practices

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the formation, of understanding of the male gaze through psychological practices

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The male gaze describes a way of portraying and looking at women that empowers men while sexualizing and diminishing women.

From early adolescence on, we are biologically driven to look at and evaluate each other as potential mates-but the male gaze twists this natural urge, turning women into passive items to possess and use as props.

The term "male gaze" was first popularized in relation to the depiction of female characters in film as inactive, often overtly sexualized objects of male desire. However, the influence of the male gaze is not limited to how women and girls are featured in the movies. Rather, it extends to the experience of being seen in this way, both for the female figures on screen, the viewers, and by extension, to all girls and women at large.

Naturally, the influence of the male gaze seeps into female self-perception and self-esteem. It's as much about the impact of seeing other women relegated to these supporting roles as it is about the way women are conditioned to fill them in real life. The pressure to conform to this patriarchal view (or to simply accept or humor it) and endure being seen in this way shapes how women think about their own bodies, capabilities, and place in the world-and that of other women.

In essence, the male gaze discourages female empowerment and self-advocacy while encouraging self-objectification and deference to men and the patriarchy at large.

Learn more about what the male gaze is as well as its larger impact on both a personal and societal level.

British feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey described the concept of the "male gaze" in her 1973 essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," which was published in 1975 in the film theory magazine Screen. In the article, Mulvey, who is a professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London, explained the way that mainstream media objectifies women, showing the female body through a heterosexual male lens as a passive non-actor secondary to the active male characters.

This concept extends from film to any medium in which women are portrayed as well as, generally, to their experience in real life. For example, think about how women are often shown in advertisements, magazine covers, and social media compared with men, as well as how their bodies are typically framed by the camera. Consider the emphasis typically placed on how women look, dress, and comport themselves-even on their expressions-as opposed to for men.

Since its inception, the male gaze has reached beyond the silver (or iPhone) screen to encompass how the female sex is portrayed and viewed in any context, from being catcalled while walking down the street to being dismissed as golddiggers or for having "hissy-fits." By extension, simply worrying about your appearance, relative attractiveness, seeming "too smart," or how you will be "seen" can also fall under the guise of living under the male gaze.

Additionally, the male gaze also dictates specific characteristics (as the voyeur, the actor, the peruser, the active doer, the dominator) to men-and may even contribute to the stereotype that men are more intelligent than women. In fact, studies on gender bias and implicit assumptions show that many people (without realizing it) assume that men are smarter than women and that negative depictions of women in media are partly to blame.

The argument is that the male gaze controls the narrative, which is that women are not equal actors in the world. Instead, their agency is reduced to that of an erotic or supporting object, with their value as a female form (and person) reduced to how it appeals to the male viewer and/or to how threatening (or not) it is to the stereotypical male perspective. Likewise, this viewpoint also confines the male persona to their specific role as the protagonist, aggressor, sexual pursuer, and consumer of women.

Understanding the Male Gaze

In order to understand the male gaze, you need to recognize it. Typical examples are female film characters whose main purpose in driving the plot seems to be to be attractive, sexy, and/or to feed the sexual interest or agenda of the male characters. They wear heels and tight dresses (even if they are police detectives who may need to pursue a suspect) and while they may be shown in a variety of contexts, their primary motivation rests on being the helper, eye candy, or romantic interest.

Think also of beer (or just about any other product) advertisements with models in bikinis. Female singers tend to perform showing lots of skin, while their male counterparts show up in jeans or a suit.

The bodies of these women are used to sell and attract (predominantly heterosexual male) attention. Female celebrities pose provocatively on the covers of magazines, male stars (usually fully dressed) pose alongside minimally-dressed models or simply on their own. The message is that men are provocative enough without showing a lot of skin.

The Effects of the Male Gaze

To get a sense of the full ramifications of the male gaze, it's vital to recognize how the representations of women within film and various other forms of media filter out from those movies, magazine layouts, and pinup images to inform how women are viewed by society-at-large.

When women, men, girls, and boys routinely see women and girls depicted in this limited, sexualized manner, it's no surprise that this objectified view informs your expectations, culture, and personal identities.

Consider how the other characters within the movie, ad, or social media post react to and see these passive, often nearly-naked women as well as the experience of the people taking it in as viewers. Continually seeing girls and women serve as prizes for men and acting without much agency of their own except to jockey for male attention, influences male and female perceptions of female value, purpose, sexuality, and power.

Is It Harmful?

Certainly, there are many viewpoints on the impact and relevance of the male gaze and how it may or may not have morphed over the nearly 50 years since Mulvey first brought the concept into the public consciousness. However, many would agree that the underpinnings of the male gaze are deeply sexist, patriarchal, and misogynistic and that its influence continues to be pervasive.

Additionally, for people in traditionally marginalized groups, the male gaze is an added burden. For example, Black women have historically been depicted as being hypersexual by the male gaze, which adds another facet of stereotype to the pervasive racism they face.

Similarly, the male gaze also fetishizes Asian (and lesbian women, as long as the man can watch or participate), portraying them as exotic, erotic specimens for male enjoyment. The blonde bombshell (also known as the ditzy blonde or airhead) is another common trope.

On a larger scale, it works to maintain the patriarchal structure, which elevates the White, male experience at the expense of women, people of color, and other historically underserved groups. Seeing women and girls continually portrayed in this way by the male gaze perpetuates this vision.

Particularly salient examples are images of little girls on dance teams or pageants dressed in revealing outfits, faces in full makeup, dancing in a sexualized manner. Instagram is full of posts by tween and teen girls in very short skirts, midriff tops, or bikinis posing with arched backs, pouty lips, and blank or come-hither expressions, often with a group of them all pressed up against each other.

While some aspects of these portrayals may be seen by some as powerful, sexual, or beautiful, they also stem from centuries of visual objectification of women for the pleasure of men.

Is There a Positive Side?

Ultimately, the question is not whether or not girls and women should be able to wear, pose, or represent themselves in whatever way they want-the answer to that is a resounding, yes. There should be no shame in dressing provocatively and owning your sexuality. Plus, it can be argued that there can be an element of reclaiming their own bodies when girls and women purposefully choose to take on this guise. Particularly, when they are doing so intentionally while fully aware of the history.

However, what critics of the male gaze may wonder is why do they want to pose and dress in this manner? Maybe it's just for fun, or to experiment with their burgeoning sexuality or identity or trying on a role.

But what is the underlying motivation? Who are they dressing for? Who is consuming these images and what do they see when they look at them? Does it reinforce or challenge the idea of the female form as an object to be had or as a stepping stone? What do the girls and women in the pictures and videos (and in real life) envision and who do they imagine watching them?

Mental Health Impacts

These are big questions that often don't get much attention. However, that doesn't mean that these issues aren't at play-whether it's consciously or subconsciously. But the accumulated impact of living under the male gaze does more than simply alter how a girl poses for the camera, the types of characters they see in their favorite TV shows, or how it feels to them to be seen out in the world.

In fact, the objectification of women and girls has profound mental health impacts-and social media has become a particularly potent method of disseminating the reach of the male gaze.

Studies show that increasing incidences of depression, anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicidal ideation are related to female objectification.

Interestingly, a 2014 study entitled "Fathers, daughters, and self-objectification: does bonding style matter," found a strong link between negative eating patterns and body shame in girls who grew up with highly attentive and overly protective fathers.﻿﻿ The researchers point to the added attention these dads placed on their daughter's changing bodies and sexuality as an explanation for the girls' added struggles with healthy eating and body image.

Changing the Gaze

Awareness of the influence of the male gaze is key to freeing yourself of its power. Simply considering its pervasiveness and influence may offset a significant amount of its impact, allowing you to see yourself and function in the world simply as you are, without relegating yourself to the supporting role.

Focusing on and seeking out depictions of women and girls that run counter to the stereotypes of the male gaze also may help to shatter its hold on our collective psyches. Ultimately, discarding the weight of worrying about being seen, who is watching, or fitting into the prescripted "female" role, lets you instead be the person you want to be.

A Word From Verywell

Once you know what the male gaze is and how to spot it, its influence both on your inner self and your body may dissipate. Plus, when you are consuming (or producing) various types of media, you can do so with your eyes wide open to the ways the male gaze may be playing a part in the narrative and visual landscape. Even better, you can create the vision of yourself that speaks to you-regardless of who may or may not be looking.

Ultimately, the male gaze is a social construct that we can disarm by recognizing it and choosing to either tolerate or ignore it-or intentionally take it on and recalibrate it as your own, co-opting its power to define your sexuality, agency, and worth on your own terms.

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The male gaze describes a way of looking at and being seen in the world that empowers men and sexualizes women. Learn more about the impact of the male gaze.

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Male gaze within Japanese culture can be a key focal point, I can express shortly?

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Male gaze within Japanese culture can be a key focal point, I can express shortly?

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Male Gaze - Japanese Media and Popular Culture

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It seems remarkable that until 1975 there was no widely used term for what is now known as the "male gaze." Coining the expression in her seminal essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (written in 1973 and published in Screen in 1975), feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey spawned an entire genre of research into the patriarchal ideological domination of visual media-a phenomenon that was arguably hiding in plain view throughout the history of cinema.

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The masculine gaze as a disciplinary mechanism, in gender and body in Japanese women fiction- this highlights the male gaze in terms of how a “woman should be and the sexualisation of women”

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The masculine gaze as a disciplinary mechanism, in gender and body in Japanese women fiction- this highlights the male gaze in terms of how a “woman should be and the sexualisation of women”

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look at Japanese pop culture, magazines- and images and fashion aspects which in a sense was produced/ created by men.

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look at Japanese pop culture, magazines- and images and fashion aspects which in a sense was produced/ created by men.

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A heavy japanese fashion magazine, highlight Gyaru fashion

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A heavy japanese fashion magazine, highlight Gyaru fashion

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Iconic gyaru magazine “egg” is back! | ARAMA! JAPAN

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egg magazine was a very popular fashion magazine that catered to gyaru fashion and culture. The magazine specialized in reporting on popular trends, both lifestyle and fashion wise…

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article- from 2005 highlighting the “ cool harujuku teens” and the fashion influneces and the impact 

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article- from 2005 highlighting the “ cool harujuku teens” and the fashion influneces and the impact 

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https://www.sfgate.com/living/article/TOKYO-A-GO-GO-COOL-TEENS-IN-HARAJUKU-MAKE-A-2644862.php

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To the list of site-specific fashion archetypes such as Parisian, Sloan Ranger, cowboy and California, it's now time to add Harajuku, an area of Tokyo that is dominated by cool teens and those who want to be just like them. Or at least that's what pop diva Gwen Stefani would have us believe. Her song "Harajuku Girls" praises the blindingly vibrant pedestrian street scene and the pedestrians' ability to accessorize; lists bleeding-edge Japanese labels Super Lovers, Bathing Ape and Hysteric Glamour for the hipness impaired; mentions designers Yoji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano, who've been cutting the edge for years; and sticks in a plug for her own clothing line, L.A.M.B. The only thing she doesn't mention is the burning sweet smell of cooking crepes, Harajuku's signature snack.

Is Stefani big in Japan? Humongous in the subculture of Harajuku? "I get that question quite often," said Shoichi Aoki, the Japanese photographer whose second book tracking Tokyo street fashion, " Fresh Fruits," ( Phaidon Press) has just been released. She's not, he suggested in an e-mail interview, but the looks she describes explode any remaining stereotype anybody may have about Japanese fashion. And Aoki's work, which hovers somewhere in the artistic space bordered by anthropology, fashion, documentary and portraiture, is to Stefani as Jennie Livingston's documentary "Paris Is Burning" was to Madonna's song "Vogue" -- it's the real deal.

"While Madonna culled her style tips from fringe communities in the United States, Stefani borrows heavily from Japanese youth culture," said Rachel Weingarten, a onetime celebrity stylist who is now a New York beauty guru.

Stefani's homage is not surprising considering that Japanese culture heavily influences our modern tastes, ranging from sushi being sold in supermarkets to Quentin Tarantino's celebrating Japanese film styles with his "Kill Bill" movies.

Aoki began recording street fashions in the mid-'80s, after teaching himself photography while living in London. By 1987, he began publishing a magazine called Street in Tokyo, which featured his photographs and emphasized his philosophy about the importance of what people wear in real life versus the runways. "I think the real fashion is what people wear on the streets, the clothes that they wear, they way that they wear them," he said in an in Australian radio interview that coincided with a 2003 show of his photographs in Sydney. "What you see in fashion magazines, on models, has been styled, and it is more commercial, and that's the reason I began Street."

Street, which is published monthly and sold in hip Bay Area shops, features Japanese, American and European designer fashion alongside Tokyo residents dressed to the nines in a city that prides itself on being well turned out. By the mid-'90s, Aoki noticed another strain emerging in street fashion, particularly in Harajuku, where the streets were closed to traffic on Sunday, and there had been a long-running, almost carnival-like scene in nearby Yoyogi Park, with live bands attracting dancers, some dressed in Elvis- era styles, others sporting the filmy balloon pants of " Arabian Nights" fantasies.

He spotted young fashionistas who no longer followed Western trends. Instead, they adapted secondhand clothes, local alternative fashions and customized obi, kimono and geta -- traditional Japanese clothing -- to create styles that are something irreverent, otherworldly and jubilant. Harajuku became a fashion incubator. Aoki began photographing the sometimes outrageous looks, asking the people he selected to explain themselves and their clothes briefly by answering a questionnaire that includes musical and fashion influences, age and job.

In a country with a short history of wearing Western clothing, Aoki found it revolutionary that some no longer needed or wanted designers to suggest what was proper to wear. "In Japan, having a different style is a kind of risk, " he said. In 1997, he launched another magazine, Fruits, which in 2000 resulted in Aoki's first book of photographs, "Fruits."

Aoki recorded punks. He photographed looks that sprang from manga and anime, or comic books and cartoons. He tracked the emergence of decora, which is clothing hyper-decorated with tiny toys and plastic jewelry to create a constantly shifting garment usually in the bright colors found in crayon boxes and children's clothing.

Gothic Lolitas? Aoki captured them in their glory, where 19th century ladies' maids meet the 21st century wearing pale makeup with dramatic eyes and lips, lacy white baby-doll dresses, black lace crinolines, corsets, bat- shaped bags and all the variations the basics can generate.

Wamono, the deconstruction and reinterpretation of traditional Japanese clothing, also intrigued him. What makes him notice a particular look? "It is hard to describe, like music and pictures," he said. It's an ineffable combination of "beauty, class, style."

He records cogals, short for "cosmopolitan girls," with their artistically decorated nails, short skirts and overall perfection, and ganguro, who wear dark makeup and hip-hop styles to copy African Americans. With the exceptions of Lolitas, which Aoki says are "not real fashion," and cogals, the looks defied gender and inspired their own designers and brands: Baby the stars shine bright, Takuya Angel, 20471120 and Ohya received international notice in the magazine and in the "Fruits" books.

"I realized the meaning of art in fashion, which does not come from the designer or the clothes themselves," said Aoki. "I was inspired by the entire shape of the full-length figure when they are dressed. These have to be recorded, or they will volumize in time."

Indeed, Aoki sees his work as "partly anthropology, and partly a record of art." With the art comes a keen sense of fun, which is tinged with just a little bit of desperation, just like high school.

"The idea is that you're a conformist six days of the week," said Peter Macias, co-author with Tomohiro Machiyama of "Cruising the Anime City, an Otaku Guide to Neo Tokyo." "On Sunday, you're allowed the space to show off and be seen. That's for you, to hang out with your friends and eat crepes."

The looks emerge seemingly from nowhere. "It's spontaneous," said Gerry Poulos, a writer for the U.S. edition of New Type, a Japanese magazine on cosplay, or dressing as anime, video game or manga characters in the way some fans dress as their favorite "Star Wars" characters. The author of the forthcoming book "How to Cosplay," the first in an eight-part series on getting the costumes exactly right, Poulos says that spontaneity then solidifies into the precise way to create a look.

"There are magazines of instructions on how to cut your T-shirt just right, how to do your makeup," said Josephine Yun, a 25-year-old Belmont native now living in Baltimore who tracked Japanese youth culture for her book, "JRock, Ink." "In the U.S., people reject what is immediately past. In Japan, there's more respect for what's happened in fashion or music. ... Whether it happened last year or 30 years ago, they're bent on upholding a fashion style or a music style they admire. They take pleasure in it."

Yun, a fan of Aoki's work, suggests that Americans are trying so hard to be individuals, "they're all the same. In Japan, everyone is just like you, you're on the same page of the same book at the same time" in schools nationwide, "so to express yourself, you have to try harder, and there will be at least three people with you."

Highly individualized fashion morphing into a mini-group-think "is bizarre when you try to equate it with something in the U.S.," said Yun. "But what I see is people enjoying themselves. It's obvious they're having fun being with each other, being in the company of friends. I don't think that's bizarre at all."

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TOKYO A-GO-GO / COOL TEENS IN HARAJUKU MAKE A FASHION ASSAULT FROM THEIR IMAGINATIONS

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To the list of site-specific fashion archetypes such as Parisian, Sloan Ranger, cowboy and California, it's now time to add Harajuku, an area of Tokyo that is dominated by cool teens and those who want to be just like them. Or at least that's what pop diva Gwen Stefani would have us believe.

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Short interview with manor same, and the publics reaction to his presence 

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Short interview with manor same, and the publics reaction to his presence 

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The aspect, of how he connects his gender identity, alongside his stylistic choices, and his stance

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The aspect, of how he connects his gender identity, alongside his stylistic choices, and his stance

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Moi même Moitie shop & Mana-sama interview

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Archival video? possible approach for the mini documentary... broadcast a Gyaru alongside some public reactions?>

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Archival video? possible approach for the mini documentary... broadcast a Gyaru alongside some public reactions?>

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1999 Japan, Mobile Phones, Street Style, 1990s Archive Footage

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original stance was to produce a professional desk video to the photoshoot, as if it was a music video? but I realised that may not work well with the current media I have obtained

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original stance was to produce a professional desk video to the photoshoot, as if it was a music video? but I realised that may not work well with the current media I have obtained

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Old footage from the harujuku district, what shows the individuality in peoples expressions, a great source to use for the documentary

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Old footage from the harujuku district, what shows the individuality in peoples expressions, a great source to use for the documentary

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Harajuku 2003 Yoyogi Park - Shibuya Tokyo

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interview highlighting lolita fashion , the different attitudes and influences, and the stylistic choices people may take, the main format I got from this video is how people want to submerse there appearance, and have alternate connotations to there aesthetic and spirtual being.. Mana Sama also touches base in gender, here.

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interview highlighting lolita fashion , the different attitudes and influences, and the stylistic choices people may take, the main format I got from this video is how people want to submerse there appearance, and have alternate connotations to there aesthetic and spirtual being.. Mana Sama also touches base in gender, here.

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Lifestyle of goth-loli girls & Mana Sama interview

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refinery29 what Harajuku girls really look like.... highlights a lot...

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refinery29 what Harajuku girls really look like.... highlights a lot...

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Key quotes:
cat german decora girl- living in Japan studying

“decora fashion is fun fashion, its really against the mainstream of things, its not in a magazine, its not elegant, its pretty much boom in your face, it can scare people a little bit”

While decora may be a direct revelion towards japans strict uniform culture , in a sense it allows people to co inside and fit in within the subculture, while straying away from the direct norms Japanese culture embraces

Kurebayashi-

A Japanese decora influencer with 500 k followers (at the time of the video)

“its not a mask or becoming like a character, were not trying to hide ourselves. The way we feel doesn’t change. Just because we put on a few accessories.

CHAEYON fish breathe through their gills right? They have scales, right? Its like asking why they have them.

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What Harajuku Girls Really Look Like | Style Out There | Refinery29

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the use of style and makeup, within Malice mizer shows the deflation of the male ego, and the reformacy of femininity?...

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the use of style and makeup, within Malice mizer shows the deflation of the male ego, and the reformacy of femininity?...

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MALICE MIZER - Garnet～禁断の園へ～ PV [HD 1080p] (lyrics & instrumental)

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Archival video shoot of Mana sama, and his brand in the Meer 2000s...

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Archival video shoot of Mana sama, and his brand in the Meer 2000s...

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Angellic pretty dead stock footage... for script

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Angellic pretty dead stock footage... for script

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★Angelic Pretty★ 星降る夜のPrincess Dreamy Carnival

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Archival footage from late 990s Japan... can be used for the intro video

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Archival footage from late 990s Japan... can be used for the intro video

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BBC documentary highlighting fashion in Japan

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BBC documentary highlighting fashion in Japan

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Gwen Stefani - Harajuku Girls - Harajuku Lovers Live HD

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compilation , showing the different makeup looks, style and feminine traits, j rock men had

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compilation , showing the different makeup looks, style and feminine traits, j rock men had

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[FREE FOR PROFIT] CLOUD RAP TYPE BEAT "NOSTALGIA"

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ambiance, to show/highlight the struggle and understanding of the topic

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ambiance, to show/highlight the struggle and understanding of the topic

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Happy Sad Piano Music - Forever [Copyright Free Music]

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interview backing, to add empowerment...

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interview backing, to add empowerment...

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No Copyrighted Korean Music | Aesthetics Korean Music | Cute No Copyright

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Zullalas interview, is very fundamental, due to the structure of changes her life went through when it came to the development of her personal style... highlight her comment on her ex partner and how he tried to make her feel a type of way for her harujuku dress style.

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Zullalas interview, is very fundamental, due to the structure of changes her life went through when it came to the development of her personal style... highlight her comment on her ex partner and how he tried to make her feel a type of way for her harujuku dress style.

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How to be a Real Gyaru!    (ಠ . ಠ) Full Tutorial

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The whole ideology of the film, was to feel as if you are watching a more modern, national Geographic documentary, I feel like the stylistic choices where there, however I focussed more on having contextual and informative aspects to it, one main part being the testimonial, video from zullala

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The whole ideology of the film, was to feel as if you are watching a more modern, national Geographic documentary, I feel like the stylistic choices where there, however I focussed more on having contextual and informative aspects to it, one main part being the testimonial, video from zullala

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Even doe I had to dis embark, two other interviewees due to quality issues, I feel like the result was there, and it had a good mixture of things

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Even doe I had to dis embark, two other interviewees due to quality issues, I feel like the result was there, and it had a good mixture of things

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side note/ the ending part of the video, was inspired by those "tragic death" style videos, kind of like a methaphor, I wanted to show the emotional side towards the individualism harujuku fashion has, hence why I ended it on a dramatic pause.

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side note/ the ending part of the video, was inspired by those "tragic death" style videos, kind of like a methaphor, I wanted to show the emotional side towards the individualism harujuku fashion has, hence why I ended it on a dramatic pause.

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Found Dead In A River: Who Killed Reena? | Real Stories True Crime Documentary

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with the research,i found out a bunch of information, surrounding the complexity of individualism and harujuku fashion, I use this as a point, as a lot of people involved in the scene , feels as if the same trait that keeps getting reflected is the male gaze...

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with the research,i found out a bunch of information, surrounding the complexity of individualism and harujuku fashion, I use this as a point, as a lot of people involved in the scene , feels as if the same trait that keeps getting reflected is the male gaze...