In taking a look at Japanese subculture fashion from the early 1990s to the mid-2010s, it is first important to look at how subcultures are defined and then contextualized in a modern historical context. In her book Fashioning Japanese Subcultures, Yuniya Kawamura comes to define subcultures themselves as constituted by groups and individuals who share distinct values and norms that are against dominant or mainstream society” (Kawamura 7). She further notes that the word itself alludes to how subcultures are viewed in a broader context, saying that “the prefix ‘sub’ implies notions of distinctiveness and difference from the dominant or mainstream society” (7). Subcultures are often regarded in a more Western context, with movements like punk and goth coming to mind. Kuwamura also points out that these subcultures are often male-driven and dominated - a fact that is considered to be quite the opposite in Japanese subculture fashion, with women being the leading force in most of the popular style subgroups. It is therefore “the Japanese youth [that] play a crucial role in forming a separate fashion community and producing the latest styles that express their subculture affiliation and identity” (4). 

The street styles as a result were overflowing with superfluous details and accessories, and the young people of Japan, as they became angry and frustrated with the growing sense of despair and chaos surrounding the economic state of Japan. As Kawamura remarks, “When the traditional values and ideologies no longer work for a society to properly function it is only natural that individuals, especially the youth, begin to question the status quo and search for something else” (42).